Aditya Sharma, Co-Founder &
Director of The Souled Store discusses his entrepreneurial journey, building a
D2C apparel brand around pop culture and upcoming trends with host Gautam
Srinivasan.
The start-up ecosystem of India has
grown tremendously in the last decade. India has emerged as a predominant
player in the global startup ecosystem and is a home to various successful
startups and innovative entrepreneurs.
The "Crafting
Bharat - A Startup Podcast Series" powered by AWS, and an initiative by NewsReach, in association
with VCCircle, unlocks the secrets behind these successful entrepreneurs’
journeys aiming to equip aspiring entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts with
invaluable insights. The podcast series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, famed
for hosting a diverse range of TV and digital programs, currently consulting
editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Forbes India, and The Economic Times.
Digital adoption has made shopping
online effortless, and a zestful and passionate entrepreneur, Aditya Sharma,
Co-Founder & Director of The Souled Store, is putting the ‘pop’ in pop
culture. In the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series, Sharma talks about his
entrepreneurial journey, building a D2C apparel brand around pop culture and
upcoming trends.
Explore the tales of Indian startup
founders' transformation from dreams to reality, navigating challenges to seize
opportunities through the Crafting Bharat Podcast Series.
Video Link: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxs4PAsRFgk
Segment 1: The Incubator
How
confident were you of a product-market fit considering India was a very nascent
market for such options?
The only way to get official
merchandise in India was either to call a relative who is abroad to get it for
us or to buy fake merchandise from the street side. We saw the gap and knew
that there definitely was a demand because people wanted it. There is a very
low barrier to entry to start an apparel brand in India as it requires very
less capital.
Dealing
with challenges of ecosystem peer pressure and an urge to grow fast. How did
you handle this phase?
When we raised our first round of
funding, I wouldn’t call it pressure but more like responsibility to use the
funding at the right place. We had a lot of cash in the bank, so we decided to
increase the marketing spend which in turn increased our revenue. We burned
cash in the short term but eventually it helped us in the long term. We did two
things with the cash, one we increased the marketing and branding spend and
second, we started hiring aggressively. To cut the long story short, we wanted
to achieve the growth in 2 years which would have ideally taken us 5 years to
achieve. After 2 rounds of funding and making the same mistake of achieving
fast we established that the business would take its time to grow, we need to
make sure we’re not burning cash, is profitable and at the same time if your
product is good then your success is going to be a little delayed but it will
come for sure.
What
was the reasoning behind going physical considering most of your revenue still
comes from the website and mobile app?
We did real-life AB testing with the
store. The store was 500 sq ft in size, which was a lot of cost to us back
during that time. To our surprise the store worked well. Unfortunately, the
pandemic hit, and we had to slow down but we managed to pick up the pace and
reached 23 offline stores. There was no pressure from the investors, but we
wanted to give the offline channel a shot. The Indian audience loves to shop
online but there is a great chunk of the audience who wants to shop offline to
get the touch and feel of the products.
Segment 2: The Accelerator
From
a cost-benefit perspective for a startup, what are the do’s and don'ts of
working with influencers and celebrities to drive brand popularity?
I would say that be true to yourself
and the brand. What we’ve seen through our journey is that whenever we try to
do something for views it never works out. Our brand endorsement with Hardik
Pandya aligned with the brand because the type of apparels he wears is like
what we sell, and he genuinely loves our products. If we would have done this
with someone else from the Indian cricket team whose vibe doesn’t align with
our brand, it won’t work as effectively.
As
you evolve beyond Superheroes and Sitcoms, what’s the next pop culture
phenomenon that you are looking to tap into at The Souled Store?
The next pop culture
phenomenon we aim to tap is Anime. We’ve been working heavily to get
a Japanese brand like Attack on Titan. We are trying
to get these brands to India and generally Japanese brands have very strict
requirements. It’s a matter of them understanding that there’s a huge market
here in India and we want to be the first ones to bring it to India.
The Indian startup
ecosystem has not only disrupted the traditional market but also created new
markets and opportunities, showcasing India’s potential for innovation and
entrepreneurship.
Stay tuned to the Crafting Bharat
Podcast Series as we bring you these inspirational entrepreneurs for insightful
and candid discussion with Gautam Srinivasan.
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