Tell us about your start-up journey (eShack)? When and how did you get the idea of starting Beer business?’
The idea of eShack came to my partner (Ashwajeet Singh) and
I while we were in Bangkok for my fathers 50th Birthday. We were drinking beer
from Beer Towers and playing Beer Pong when we realized the potential of these
products in India and that’s how we came up with the idea. With e-commerce
roaring in the country we though why not put the products up online and thus
eShack happened.How much funding initially needed, where did you get the start up funding? Any angel investors helped you?
Unlike most student start-ups or small businesses the
initial funding required was much more. We took the capital from our parents
who have been extremely supportive and encouraging from the very beginning. We
did not receive funding from any angel investors but are open to funding in the
near future and are looking for avenues and opportunities as we grow.
What are the new offerings in your e-Store compared to
traditional stores in India?
Unlike traditional e-stores and regular retail stores which
offer theme based party products and party products for young kids and
teenagers we offer a range of alcohol/drinking and party accessories for the
age group of 18-35, people who love to party wild. We offer beer towers, beer
bongs (single and double funnel) and alcohol dispensers. In addition we also
offer products like whiskey stones, ice shot glasses and drinking cups. Our
most special product is the beer pong table and we are the only store in India
to offer this product.
Share some of the biggest challenges you faced in your
entrepreneurial journey?
We have faced many challenges in our entrepreneurial
journey. For starters we have no background in sales, marketing, e-commerce or
even online business before we started. All we had was an idea with a few very
interesting products and we learnt on the go and now we have an up and running
store. As students of a law school we have faced numerous challenges with our
studies and trying to keep a balance between work and academics.
Doing Beer Business means lot of things to consider and
legal matters to settle how did you tackle them as a student?
We have been asked this multiple times but no we don’t deal
in Alcohol. We only deal with alcohol and bar accessories and thus there has
not been much legal hassle. All ends of our business from logistics to payment
gateway to web development were clear that these were only accessories and not
alcohol hence it has been fairly smooth.
Tell us about aha moments (great joy) of your journey?
As student entrepreneurs starting our own venture and doing
work on our own in itself was an ‘aha’ moment. Everyday has its highs and lows
but every moment is an ‘aha’ moment because there is a lot to learn from each
day. Our largest order has come from PepsiCo for the launch of a new juice
brand that was a very good moment. Other than that Fashion and You, DesignDeal
and Baggittoday to retail our products through them, have approached us and
that has been great as well.
Share us your future plans, are you planning to expand
eShack, in what way?
We are looking to soon expand our range of products and also
enter into merchandise and events. We want to start our own line of
beer/alcohol and party merchandise and then move to Beer Pong competitions in
India as we feel there is a huge population who would be interested in it. We
are thus on the look out to tie up with a Beer Brand who can work with us to
make it a huge success.
Who are there from the beginning of eShack and how and when
you recruit new teammates?
The idea came to my partner (Ashwajeet Singh) and I and we
co-founded eShack and have been working together since. Till today we do all
aspects of the business, from taxing to accounting, sales to marketing and even
web development and design are done by us. We handle logistics as well. Its been
only 5 months since launch but this summer we look to expand our team and get
more enthusiastic and young college graduates onto our team.
What is your advice to young entrepreneurs, which one is
better starting right from college or from company?
I believe that it is very important to pursue your education
and academics and one could even start out later in life and let life takes it
course but if someone has an idea and the passion and believes it is the right
time then the plunge must be taken.