ShopTok: Lessons from Small Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, Freelancers and Creators

What would you say if I suggested that you should build a new brand in a mature, highly fragmented, price sensitive industry? And what if I also challenged you to grow it at the same speed as a tech startup? Well, you'd likely say that's crazy talk. But it really isn't. Today we are speaking with Sneha Visaria, Founder and Director of PDD Falcon, a leading Indian stainless steel home and kitchenware brand, that started just about a little over four years ago. And it's been more than doubling revenue every year. A feat that I think is beyond many VC funded startups as well. So we're going to ask her about her journey, and also some of the tips and things that she's learned to get so successful in such a difficult industry. 

If you liked the episode, and I'm sure that you will, do give us a five-star rating and please follow ShopTok to get the best small business insights from across Asia.

Show Notes available here.

Starting and running a business isn't easy. A good idea is just the starting point. From there on, you need to build the product, find a way to market it cost effectively, get enough people to buy it, and try to achieve at least a breakeven point quickly. So, you can become self-sustaining. These are all hard things. And I know personally having had a startup in the past it didn't work out. So these are all hard things, that not all businesses are able to make it happen, even if they have a good idea and put in all the hard work. One such business is the children's post, which despite being a great idea, was just not able to gain enough traction to be able to sustain itself.

And today, we will be speaking with Nidhi Arora, founder and CEO about her journey, and the lessons that she learned on the way. We hope you will enjoy it.

Show notes available here.

When we talk about business success, we usually think about the Founder, the person who set up and grew the business in its early years. But in many cases, a successful stable business, especially a family business is passed on to the next generation who then take it forward into the future. So how does the new generation make their mark? And what are the challenges in making a transformation towards a new way of doing business? 

Today, we talked with Mridula Shridhar, CEO of Kido enterprises, an early childhood education firm. And unlike the fabulously well-funded ed techs of the world, they run a sustainable profitable business that's been  making a profit and has been around for nearly 20 years before passing on to the next generation. And we learned from her what it takes to take a mature business forward and find the levers for growth and take it to the next level of skill. 

Show Notes available here.

We all have business ideas from time to time. Speaking for myself, I think I get one every week but when we think of it, we convince ourselves that the market is too crowded, there won't be any takers. Yet another shop, another consulting firm, another podcast even. So with so many well established choices available, why would a customer want to try yet another option? And yes, that may be true in the broad sense. But who says you have to go broad? When you're starting out, you don't need much to be successful and success could well come from targeting underserved niches. Segments of the market that others haven't spotted or cannot serve effectively or profitably. Do check this episode and let us know what your thoughts are on our Linkedin. 

Show Notes available on our website here.

What do you think of when you hear the word business? I for one, imagine a shop or a restaurant, or maybe like an accounting firm. But stop for a moment. What about artists, writers, musicians. They have to make money selling their work as well. What are the challenges they face and is that a tension between the desire to make high art and the mundane everyday business of making money? Today we talk with Tania, an architect by training. And the extremely talented founder of Padme Hum and Tanya studio which are ceramic studios based in Singapore and India. 

We're going to ask her about her journey and the lessons that she has learned that you could apply to your own art based venture. 

Check out our newly updated website for show notes here.

Are you a budding entrepreneur who thinks you need to have the perfect idea to get started? Or someone with a great idea who’s unsure whether you can actually build it? And then you aren’t even getting started. Who knows how many good ideas died that way before they ever saw the light of day? But you know a secret? It doesn’t have to be like that. You don’t need to have the perfect idea and that idea doesn’t need a million dollars to start

Today we talk with Karthik Sridharan, founder of Flexiple, a talent marketplace, who found a way to start AND grow his business to seven figures on just a $60 tech stack. We’re going to discuss his career journey and how he came upon the opportunity that he’s now building into a powerhouse. And also get from his secrets on how to build out a grand vision on a shoestring budget.

Show Notes available here.

Articles about entrepreneurship make it sound almost as though you start a business, work hard on it for a few years and then reap the results, as if it all goes in a smooth straight line. But reality isn’t like that. Entrepreneurship is more often like a maze, a few steps forward, a roadblock, a pivot, then a few steps forward again, till you eventually figure out how to make money or realise that you’ve hit upon a dead end. What do you do then? Do you give up and get a job or do you start all over? And when do you know you need to keep going?

Today we talk with Nishit Rawat, my friend and batchmate from the Institute of Management who’s started and persevered through multiple businesses, learning, pivoting and refining his ideas till finally realising his dream with his latest venture, Bluvium. We’re going to ask him about his journey as well as lessons he has learned that you could apply to your own venture. If you want to check out the work of Bluvium, here is their website. 

Show Notes Available here.

By the by, we have set up the CrazyTok community to with a mission to deliver quality professional content so you can accelerate your career, grow your business and build wealth. If you want to continue the conversation and delve deeper into topics of interest, join our community.

After starting your own venture, you'll think you are the master of your own time and no more pressure of meeting deadlines and constant anxieties. Maybe you think you can truly enjoy the freedom of your own venture. It sounds like a dream but mostly it feels more intense than the corporate job. There's a constant call for accountability on yourself and no one else to blame for failures. Today, we discuss how to avoid burn out in your own venture with Shagun Malik , who quit her corporate job to follow her passion after working for international companies  and founded Yoga Superfuel. Check this out and see if you could feel a little bit lighter.

Show notes available here.

By the by, we have set up the CrazyTok community to with a mission to deliver quality professional content so you can accelerate your career, grow your business and build wealth. If you want to continue the conversation and delve deeper into topics of interest, join us here.

Have you ever had a brainwave and couldn’t wait to leave everything and start on it, only to realise that things didn’t exactly work the way you thought it would? A lot of times reality check, the actuall implementation, execution etc makes one realise that the idea needs tweaking, and possibly even a proper mutation for it to work. And through the journey, the end result may end up differing a lot from the initial seed idea. 

And that is imperative. You have to be flexible like in everything else in life,  to adapt and morph the idea in sync with reality. A stubborn approach to not deviate from it, ay not be the right response. Today we have Priti agarwal, who has lived the journey of going through multiple iterations in her personal entrepreneurial venture spanning a decade.

Show Notes available here.

By the by, we have set up the CrazyTok community to with a mission to deliver quality professional content so you can accelerate your career, grow your business and build wealth.

It's fantastic to run a consulting or service business. Unlike product businesses and tech startups, you get to meet clients and see the results of your work firsthand. And, best of all, you start making money right away.

Your shed. The deals are contingent on your customers. And business growth is entirely dependent on the number of people you can hire. So it's no surprise. Uh, venture capitalists prefer to fund SAS businesses over service businesses. So, is that a way to connect both worlds? Can you create a profitable service business? Let's listen a few tips from Sandeep Mittal who has done this transition recently and share what you think in our newly founded community.

Show notes available here.