Architectural Maverick Keith Menon started Spiro Spero in 2010 and he believes that observation and mental processing plays a vital role in influencing people.

With keen interest in designing and creativity, Keith Menon's journey to become an architect started when he was 12 year old and became a helping hand of the architect who was working on the design of his own house which was brought by his parents.

"I would work on Linux and Dos to try and do CAD style layouts when I was 12 and the architect who was designing the house was really sweet and encouraged me a lot and did incorporate a lot of my ideas in to the design," Menon said.

Menon started Spiro Spero in 2010 and he believes that observation and mental processing plays a vital role in influencing people. He said that he is constantly influenced while travelling and overanalyzing situations and enacting them in his head.

"I am constantly overanalyzing situations and enacting them in my head, whether it's a design or it's how to solve a complex Sudoku. I'm constantly influenced while travelling and I think it's the one thing that really goes well with my interest to observe a problem and then try and solve it," Menon added.

Speaking on the customers' need, he said that the best way to find out what your customer needs is to be the most difficult customer you can ever imagine in the room, yourself.

"If you can convince and calm your angriest self with the explanation you're giving then you know it's a start. You have to step out of your zone and be there in the crowd that you're trying to sell to. When we started Spiro Spero, our aim was to create spaces tailored to the hospitality industry but also spaces that we ourselves would enjoy," he said.

We identified market gaps, including the lack of vibrant bars catering to women and we introduced the concept of bars with community tables. Many believed these concepts wouldn't attract customers seeking to avoid strangers. We challenged these perceptions because we knew we'd use these places, and so would our friends, he said

Menon further added, "This same ethos guided us when we expanded into the hotel sector with Circle. Our approach is to create spaces that convince us first before they convince others. We're mindful not to make promises we can't keep, but we're always striving to reach the level where we can fulfil them someday."

Menon believes that balancing creativity and business is tough but one learns through experience and understand ideas more as one creates them and for different clients at different price points so you eventually tend to understand what it is going to cost you to make something and you know if it works or not.

Currently Spiro Spero is working on projects in different cities simultaneously. The Little Easy, Blah and two other projects happening in Bombay, a luxury weekend home in Lonavala and Goa, a bar in Bangkok, a hotel in South Goa, two bars in Pune besides some that aren't announced.

He is also working on building two animal rescue centres, one in Kolad and the other in Goa. "Each of these projects has it's own unique challenges and problems and we love that. It keeps our team on our toes constantly," he added.

He advices creative people who struggle to think big that they should always believe in themselves despite probable obstacles as it is important for growth and success.

Factsheet

Number of employees: Over 300 employees

Annual turnover: 35 crore

Year of inception: Spiro Spero, established in 2010

Key customers: Hospitality & Real Estate sectors