Home hospitality company Pinch has the perfect answer for people’s everyday woes at home
Jyotika has a rare job, unheard of in India. She is a “Lifestyle Manager” helping her customers from all walks of life with their day-to-day tasks at home to take the pressure off them and make time for themselves. She assists them in planning trips, organising their children’s birthday parties, buying groceries, ordering meals and medicines, fixing medical appointments, booking cabs for their elderly parents, getting home appliances routinely serviced and interiors renovated. Gurgaon-based company Pinch is bringing to life a gamut of lifestyle management and home hospitality services, an increasingly popular concept in the West but the first of its kind in the country. Their aim is simple – to help everyone lead meaningful, stress-free lives and focus on what truly matters to them.
Pinch offers a variety of services through its Lifestyle Managers, who help reduce the everyday stress that customers face. This idea struck its co-founder Nitin Mohan during the pandemic. He has to his credit an array of startup experiences behind him – as popular tea brand Chaayos’s VP of Marketing & Operations and as SVP, Growth Strategy, at Stanza Living. The 41-year-old recalls the time when he returned to his hometown Lucknow after the lockdown and his father met with an accident and broke his shoulder. Nitin says, “Luckily I was there and could rush to my father’s aid. I realised that the same incident could have happened when I was not around. What happens then? Who would I have called for help since most of my friends are outside the city? Often, working professionals have this constant guilt of not doing enough for their family members. We want to create a service for them.”
Pinch strives to help individuals and families in all facets of life through their Lifestyle Managers, by providing concierge services for out-of-home errands, experiences that create lasting memories, food and nutrition plans, repairs and maintenance, childcare and eldercare, alongside trained domestic helps and chefs. Minor tasks, such as a leaking toilet, a disarranged wardrobe, pending bill payments and meal preparation play at the back of many people’s minds throughout the day. “These everyday microstressors cause a lot of anxiety in most people. They accumulate over time and start to show up on the body through lifestyle diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, etc. We are a home management company that takes away the irritants you have to face daily, so that you can live a more meaningful and purposeful life,” says Nitin.
As Jyotika browses through her WhatsApp every morning for messages from her clients for tasks for the day, she secretly wishes she had a Lifestyle Manager of her own. While she helps them narrow down their choices and handpick the perfect electronic equipment or furniture for their house, she says, “We’re always in a rush with so many things every day that a concept like Pinch makes our lives easier. Everyone in this generation is on the run and leading hectic lives, where they work for 12 to 14 hours. If you have someone you can go to and trust, just like your own family member, there is nothing better than that. And we are here just to make that happen.”
Meal planning is a crucial aspect of their food and nutrition programme, where they take the onus of managing the entire family’s daily meals. Nitin points out that on an average, a family of four spends close to two weeks every year simply answering questions around what has to be cooked and what needs to be ordered from outside. “Just calculate the value of those weeks. We don’t value our time like that,” he says.
Other prominent features at Pinch are elderly care and child care, keeping in mind the increase in nuclear families and with many youngsters moving to cities for better career prospects while leaving their old parents behind. Pinch helps arrange caretakers for elderly parents and trained nannies for newborns and mothers. Plant care and pet care professionals are additional services, alongside personal chefs, drivers and tailors at home.
A standout feature of Pinch is its concierge service for out-of-home errands such as bill payments, address change at the bank, or making reservations at a sought after restaurant in the city. The lifestyle management company also helps weave together memorable experiences, such as arranging a party at home, planning the perfect getaway or having a gift sent to a loved one. With its team of trained service professionals at their disposal, Pinch in its own unique way is helping people lead a life full of happiness and well-being. For Nitin, helping people live a better life is his one and only motivation that energises him. He is on his way of making that vision come true, one household at a time.
