Ritika NangiaFounder of funcart.in Published On: Tuesday, July 28, 2015 Views 3020

"When you have a passion for your work, what ever might be the hurdles, you will take it with a stride"

Coming from a business family, it was somewhat foretold for Ritika Nangia to join the league of entrepreneurs out there. She first completed B.Com from Jesus & Mary College and further pursued retail management from NIFT New Delhi. She has also done specialized course in strategic management & international business.

Although she had enough business qualification, the moment to build startup came surprisingly one day when she realized there is no such platform where people could buy fun commodities within their means. This is how with a desire to create something of her own, she founded funcart.in, an online marketplace for party merchandise. She had earlier worked in exports field for almost 4 years, which abetted prominently to kickstart new venture. Read more about her and this unique startup

Please provide a brief overview of your product/ service.

Funcart.in helps you celebrate in style with your special people in life. One does not have to go running around to find party supplies for a kid’s party, bachelorette party, baby showers, theme parties etc. You can do so sitting on your laptop or your mobile and ordering from 2000+ products in less than 5 minutes. Our mantra is everyone must party, without burning a hole in one’s pocket.

Our Average price point is 100 Rs. We offer good affordable products, which one would not find at a nearby brick and mortar store. We stock our own inventory, so at any given point of time, we will always have the product to dispatch. If orders are placed before 12 noon, we dispatch it the very same day.

What inspired you to build the above product/ service?

Party supplies in India are in a fragmented state. There is not a single good brand or company supplying good stuff at economical prices. The party, which really made me feel that I should start this business, was our youngster’s party. My brother in law wanted me to help him out with the stuff for a good youngster’s party. We went mad searching for good props and accessories, which would be fun to wear and at the same time not be too expensive on the pocket. We got few items from a nearby store and that too at a price, which was almost 5 times more expensive than what we sell now. This is what I kept thinking that oh my god – people are charging exorbitant rates. Parties are for fun. Not to give stress to the host, then why make him/her so burdened up with heavy bills. When I started Funcart.in -our tagline is Celebrate in style. We feel everyone must party.

What is your life mantra?

Enjoy what you do and success will follow. When you have a passion for your work, what ever might be the hurdles, you will take it with a stride.

What was the most challenging part of your journey till now

The biggest hurdle we faced in ecommerce is primarily the logistics. Logistics is not in our hands and being a third party organization, it sometimes becomes difficult for us to coordinate and understand the status of various shipments. Even the best of companies can lose shipments or delay shipments. Therefore, you really cannot guarantee your customer a definite time.

How did you overcome those challenges?

We advise all our clients to order 5-7 days in advance if ordering from remote areas and 3-5 days in advance if ordering from metros. We do offer clients an express delivery service for 48 hours for metro cities. Still chasing logistics companies becomes quite a challenge.

Share some details about the investments that you have been able to fetch for the business until now.

We have invested Rs. 30 Lakhs, which is mainly on stocks.

How do you protect yourself from the problem of Brain Drain

Ecommerce is really at a boom in India . I see a lot of high potential individuals wanting to join in a start up or do something of their own. Gone are the days, when the west had the best to offer. Indian economy is growing massively, so please want to stay back and enjoy the privileges of the growing successful India.

According to you, what are the three qualities an individual must have to achieve success.

Willpower
Patience
Passion

Which online tools/ services/ apps do you use the most and would like to recommend as well?

We are using Shiprocket for our logistics , which is a good company. We are using Refiral, a referral programme and they are quite good as well.

Share any one habit, which you think, makes you more productive.

Besides work, I enjoy traveling and exploring new places around the world. Being a start up, it gets difficult to take out time for longer breaks. However, short breaks keep you energized and make you a lot more productive at work.

Share any one habit which you wish to change in yourself.

Short tempered. I get too hyper when logistics companies delay the shipments and do stupid errors, and customers are chasing our team to deliver. This is something which is not in our hands. We dispatch the very same day , but at times these logistics companies keep the stuff in their warehouse for days without any notice to us. This makes me very hyper and I loose my cool.

But at the end of the day,I feel those guys also do their best to try shipments reach on time.

Answer in less than 50 words

One tip to success:

Set your priorities of the day and be focuses mentally as well as physically for the same.

One mistake you believe every individual must avoid:

Worrying about things we have already lost

Important lesson that you have learnt until now:

Happiness is not based on external status, it is an internal state.

If you get a chance to start your career again what would you do differently this time.

Definitely get into the online space. E-commerce is a great business for times to come.

Tags: Ritika Nangia Funcart Interview