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This Entrepreneurial Story is about a Couple who Founded ‘Craftsvilla.com’ located in Mumbai, India
Team Introduction
- Monica Gupta
Education – MS in accounting from San Diego State University from US. Before founding Craftsvilla.com, Monica was actively involved in Handicrafts industry in India for three years. She has extensively travelled across India, including remote areas of Gujarat and Rajasthan and build strong relationship with multiple artisans and organizations including Gram Shree, Kalaraksha, Sahaj, Sadhna etc. She has very good understanding of categories like Women’s Clothing and Accessories like Bags. She is also associated with multiple NGOs in India on informal basis. She is currently heading Web production and Social initiatives for Craftsvilla.com.
Reach her at http://in.linkedin.com/pub/
- Manoj Gupta
- B.Tech from IIT Bombay,
- MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad
- MS from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- CPhil from University of California, San Diego
Before founding Craftsvilla.com, Manoj was Principal at Nexus Venture Partners which is one of the leading venture capital funds in India with a fund size of $320 million. While at Nexus, Manoj was board member of Bigshoebazaar India (which owns Yebhi.com), Sohanlal Commodity Management and was board observer of Snapdeal.com. Manoj has been very active in Internet, Technology, Wellness and Agri/Rural ecosystem in India and has been involved in grooming highly scalable businesses in these sectors. Prior to Nexus, he co-founded a semiconductor technology company, WIT, in US which was later acquired by Chrontel. He has filed several patents in the US.
Reach him here http://in.linkedin.com/in/
Location: Headquarters in Kandivali (E), Mumbai. Studios in Jaipur and Delhi NCR
What Motivated you to start your Business?
Monica was on one of her road trips to Kutch and on the way, she came across several artisans making beautiful creations. She believed that they would be earning well but on enquiring further came to know that many were on the verge of quitting their jobs because of low pay.
These rural artisans didn’t have the resources to market or sell their products and hence were forced to sell to middlemen who paid them paltry sums and then themselves sold it at inflated rates in the market.
Monica believed that if the scenario continued, a time would come when many of these ethnic crafts would go extinct and our next generation wouldn’t be able to witness these exquisite creations.
This became the turning point and along with her husband Monica Gupta, started Craftsvilla in late 2010.
Tell us about your Business
Craftsvilla is basically an online store for unique handmade and handcrafted products. We sell everything from jewellery, bags, clothing, organic and natural products, books to home décor items and ethnic Indian crafts.
It is basically a platform where an artisan or crafter directly gets to connect with global consumers. They can open their own shop and upload their products while we promote and help them to sell their creations.
Seller only has to pay us a commission fees (between 15%-20% of the total price of the product) when he gets a sale, else not.
What is a Day in a life of you like?
Our normal day consists of reviewing the products on website, talking to new sellers and thinking of new products we could offer our customers.
One particular skill you got right and gave you best results…
Our best skill was to hire right set of people who were aligned with company’s goals and our passion.
What have been your biggest challenges in running your Business so far?
The biggest challenge that we faced came in the early days of business because many sellers were skeptical of selling their creations online because they had never done so before. It was hard to convince them that such a platform could be a great marketing tool and sustainable platform.
How did you overcome these challenges?
So we had to personally buy stock from them and then sell them online.
However once sales started coming through, we earned the trust of many of these artisans and then via word of mouth and promotions, more sellers came forward to join our business.
What have you found the most effective way to get new clients?
The best way is word of mouth from our satisfied customers and addition of unique products at good price points.
What advice do you give to other business owners?
Treat customers, employees and sellers well and you will have a scalable business.
How did you keep motivated through difficult times?
My kids are a great inspiration, who teach me to stand up and try hard, how so many times you fall. Both of us give encouragement and support to each other in times of need.
Whats your Your Marketing, Funding and Team Building Strategy:
We believe in organic marketing. We have 75,000+ products with different price range and different requirements.
As for funding, we are well funded by Nexus venture partners and Lightspeed venture partners.
We already have a team of efficient 75 people at 3 locations (Mumbai, Jaipur and Delhi NCR) and are always on the lookout for people passionate about this field and to service others with dedication.
Your Achievements:
- Our achievements lie in the appreciation of our satisfied customers and on good sales of our sellers.
- We have been mentioned in reputed Media houses like Times of India, Economic times, The Hindu, Techcrunch and many more.
- Karmayogini award was given to our Founder, Monica Gupta by honourable chief minister of Maharashtra for her work as a women entrepreneur and for empowering so many other women entrepreneurs.
Whats your favorite quote?
Who inspires you?
Mahatma Gandhi
Do you have a Business Philosophy?
Our business philosophy is to serve with full dedication and work with full commitment. Customer is GOD.
Contact links
Website | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | Pinterest
More Info
https://www.startupfreak.com/
Startup Freak wishes Best of Luck to Craftsvilla!
