The trio, Ankit Anubhav, Shashank Srinivas, and Jashwanth Cheripally met while working at FXkart. Ankit and Shashank belong to marketing background, whereas, Jashwanth is working as a software engineer. The trio’s passion for handwritten letters brought them together, which eventually led them to conceptualize The Indian Handwritten Letter Company (TIHLC), which allows anyone to send high-quality handwritten personal letters to friends and family for various occasions, such as birthdays, return gifts, marriage invitations and more.
Please provide a brief overview of your product/ service.
We believe in crafting high-quality, personal letters that makes all the difference to those who receive them and those who send them, as receiving a letter is much more personal than opening an email. Knowing that someone has taken the trouble to put pen to paper will make you feel that the person cares about you. So instead of dashing off a quick email or facebook message or tweet to congratulate your friend or relative, you could send them a handwritten note instead. We love the feeling of touch but barely have time, so we will help you make your feelings flow through the pen and ship it.
How it works –
Log on to www.tihlc.com
Enter the details of the person you wish to write to and their details
Pay & your letter is scheduled to be shipped asap
What the customer gets ?
Your message, handwritten on our special premium paper
Packaged in a premium envelope and shipped through Indian Post
Snail-mailing your letter directly to the recipient on your behalf
Email notifications once the letter has been mailed
All this for Rs 99/-
Problem we solve – Making a message personal and creating a lasting impression on the reader
Value Creation –
B2C – Helping people express to their loved ones on special occasions or any other thing.
B2B – Helping corporate companies reach out to their customers in a very personal way, thus creating better recognition and recall and most importantly customer loyalty!
Become a fan of our startup as –
We help you write awesome love letters
We pen impactful cover letters
We make your parents or grandparents smile while you are away
We help you connect with your long distance friend once again personally, birthdays, return gifts, marriage invitations or your preferred customers.
We help your resign in style too or anything where you wish to express in style we come to your rescue
Call it old fashioned but we still think it’s pretty amazing when someone writes a letter, so we are here to make handwritten letters cool again!
What inspired you to build the above product/ service?
These days we seem to be plugged into everything. Hand-held devices to wifi platforms, everything is making it possible to stay connected everywhere we go. Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter and texting have become the preferred method for keeping in touch with people. There is no doubt that it can be very stimulating to feel so connected and yet it can hardly be denied that there is a feeling of underlying emptiness. Somewhere we have lost something. The more plugged into things we get, the more disconnected from people and feelings we are. That’s why, we came up with the Indian Handwritten Letter Company where we could pen real letters for people with meaning on their behalf. Thus bringing back the value of vintage feelings and telling the person in front that you care a bit for them.
What is your life mantra?
We as a team believe that as people we should be alive in terms of what we do and give it our 100%.
What was the most challenging part of your journey till now?
People love handwritten letters but the way everything has translated into digital its very difficult for people to get back this feeling and get people to write.
For us the biggest challenges have been –
Wanting people to use our service and giving them the feel that we will draft it in the best possible way and convey their feelings. Getting more letter writers to join our team
How did you overcome those challenges?
We are constantly getting feedback from our customers who are using our services and this is helping us making the product and the process better.
We are constantly on the lookout for people who have a passion for letter writing and somewhere we have been able to run operations smoothly.
Share some details about the investments that you have been able to fetch for the business till now.
At this point of time, we all three founders have invested in our own capacity. We are still looking at clocking 6 more months of sales and then we would be looking for seed capital.
How do you protect yourself from the problem of Brain Drain?
May be its not a big problem for us at this time as our team is focussed and our passion for letter writing keeps us together.
According to you, what are the three qualities an individual must have to achieve success?
Must have the willingness to fail & learn from those mistakes, Never say die attitude, and Being open to feedback
Which online tools/ services/ apps do you use the most and would like to recommend as well?
Mailchimp and Indian Post
Share any one habit which you think makes you more productive.
We three trust each other on the different roles and responsibilities that we take up. Thus it helps us run in different directions and implement our strengths in the best possible way.
Share any one habit which you wish to change in yourself.
We need to stop ordering in desserts daily while working.
Answer in less than 50 words
If you can imagine it, you can achieve it!
- One mistake you believe every individual must avoid:
There is nothing called as success, we think success is getting out there everyday and making your product better than yesterday
- One most important lesson that you have learnt till now:
Customer is king and only their feedback matters
What are your plans for next 3 years?
Be the world’s No 1 handwritten letter company
If you get a chance to start your career again what would you do differently this time?
Not wasting more time in thinking and executing it faster.
What are your top three getaway destinations?
Norway, Istanbul and Santorini
Share a quote that inspires you the most.
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”