Nayantara Sood is all excited about the launch of her latest fashion line. However, launching the high-end products store was not easy as it was her first venture and there were many risks involved, agrees the designer. Still, the young entrepreneur took her chance and came up with her own store, Taramay, in Meharchand Market.
In spite of difficulties, limited resources and capital and risks of returns involved, many youngsters are taking up the challenge and starting their own ventures. And it’s all about calculated risk, says Nayantara.
“Deciding on the capital, from where to source the investment and how much to invest in the beginning are some of the biggest challenges. Taramay being a high-end store, I had to put in quite a large investment. It was a risk I had to take. Even a simple thing like how many units of a product to be made can be very scary. From patent cost, which could easily be around `5,000, to development cost, that can reach up to `25,000, and then there are set-up, manufacturing and marketing costs. Even one pair of footwear can cost in lakhs,” says Nayantara.
When music lover Yashita Tripathi decided to start her own studio, Soundspeaks Studio, she thought she had it easy. “But setting up the studio and buying all the equipment cost me around `35-40 lakh. And then there was the pressure to recover the initial cost. At times I used to get worried but as soon as the studio became functional, it started doing better than I had anticipated,” says Yashita.
However, the going’s not as smooth for everyone. Sometimes, one has to be patient and wait for the returns to slowly trickle in. Ankit Gupta knew this and had braced himself for it. It’s been one and half years since he started an online venture that helps people create their own website. Even now Ankit has to spend around `4 lakh per month from his own pocket. “Finally, we are finding investors who are interested. But apart from lack of investors, another issue at the beginning was finding the right infrastructure. Delhi doesn’t have any infrastructure for those who want to start a new business. Gurgaon has some places but their prices are prohibitive. Finally, we had to settle in Shahpur Jat which is not really an ideal location for business set-ups,” reveals Ankit.
Apart from setting up office, finding the right people who believe in your idea and stay the course can be a tough task. You need an enthusiastic team that is willing to work as hard as you, says Rohit Chadda, co-founder of Foodpanda. “You need to take calculated risks. The ideal way is to go for small commitments and see how effective they turn out to be. A proper research can come very handy. After research we decided to start our online food venture from Gurgaon, which has many singles and small families settled there. Now we have business in about 11 cities but even now we get about 18-20 percent profit from Gurgaon,” says Rohit.
While starting something new one needs to look for cost-cutting ideas. Apart from building network and not starting production until a reliable clientele was in place, Himanshu Malhotra talks about other cost-cutting measures he and his partner Kareena adopted. “Since our store, House of Blondie, is about vintage fashion, each outfit costs us a lot of money. Making different sizes would have resulted in higher investment. So we decided to make each garment in sizes that can be altered into 3-4 sizes smaller. This way we avoided making three-four pieces of each design. Also, facilities like free home delivery and cash on delivery at home have also helped us build a strong clientele. While starting something new is risky, believing in yourself is the mantra,” says Himanshu, who now has stores in DLF Promenade mall and Shahpur Jat as well.