Meena Bindra on Creating a Pan-India Brand Like BIBA

Meena Bindra

She started her designing business with a Rs.8000 loan from the bank and today she has grown it into a pan-India brand. In the last 30 years, Meena Bindra has created a success story called BIBA thanks to her love for what she does.

From a home-based business, Meena Bindra has created a pan-Indian brand of ethnic wear

Interview with MEENA BINDRA: Source: http://idiva.com/interviews-work-life/meena-bindra-on-creating-a-pan-india-brand-like-biba-diva-in-focus/20461 

    Q. How did you set up BIBA? 

Meena Bindra

I was a housewife who had never worked before. I had no knowledge or experience in business and I was not a qualified designer. Also, at that time (the early 1980s), there weren't any courses in fashion design. People usually bought fabric and had their garments stitched because readymade garments were rare. But when I told my husband that I wanted to start designing and making ethnic wear, he was supportive and agreed to get me a loan of Rs.8000 from the bank. I'm not sure why he got me Rs.8000 and not Rs.10000 or Rs.5000, but eight turned out to be a lucky number for me!

I had my first major break when I found a very good block printer. He was an educated young boy who understood what I wanted. Soon I began to spend hours everyday at the factory as I enjoyed my work and also the yummy Gujarati food that he would serve me there. 

I started my business with around 40 printed salwar suits that I had priced at about Rs.170. I was making them for about Rs.100, so I thought I was making pots of money (laughs).

Q. How was business in the initial years?

Meena Bindra

I received a good response from people and gradually started increasing my stock. These were fun years because I got to experiment with various fabrics, cuts, colours and more. A short while after I began, a small boutique in Mumbai began to retail some of my creations and later Benzer came on board too. I did not ever have to do any marketing. People just kept coming to me. 

The market also opened up and there were retail chains like Shopper's Stop and Pantaloons who approached me. That's when I realised the importance of professionalism. From pricing to timelines, I had to be accountable and deliver on time. What's more, they wanted to see different ranges, so I had to be aware of the fashion seasons too.

  Q. What was your vision for BIBA right from the very beginning? Did you expect it to become this big?

Meena Bindra

When I started, I had no long term vision. I simply wanted to keep myself occupied and earn a little extra money. But growth kept happening. Now our vision is to keep growing and of course, enjoy the journey. We currently have about 107 stores over 46 cities but we want to open more stores in certain cities as well as expand to cities where we have no presence. In a year's time, we want to be a 500-crore company.

We also want to launch formal wear, bridal trousseaux and the likes. My aim is to make BIBA the one stop shop for a woman's ethnic wear needs.

Who does BIBA cater to essentially?

Meena Bindra

BIBA has a range for girls from the age of 2 to 12 years and our range for adults can be worn by women right from 20 to 70 years. However, it is most suited for younger women. 

What are some of the ethnic wear trends for the season?

Meena Bindra

I think a lot of asymmetrical cuts are in vogue. They add that bit of edginess to your everyday ethnic wear.Anarkalis are also extremely popular, especially the long flared kurtas that we wore around 15 years ago.

In terms of colours, pastels and bright colours like lime green and fuchsia are the shades to sport this season.

How do you think styles are evolving over the years with the modern Indian woman looking for comfort over tradition?

Meena Bindra

When it comes to ethnic fashion, I have seen all the cycles. Trends keep coming back into fashion with a little recycling here and there. But styles really have evolved in the last 30 years. Today, cuts, prints and fashion accessories are extremely important. But because of the variety available, I think women can have both comfort and tradition!

What does it take to be a successful woman entrepreneur?

Meena Bindra

The most important key to being successful is to enjoy what you are doing. I enjoyed immensely what I did and I wasn't worried about making money. 

For about 5 or 6 years, I worked out of my house and would constantly have people come over. I made a lot of friends too and there was never any pressure on them to buy. In fact, if someone bought something and didn't like it, I'd return the money and maybe even throw in a free dupatta. I just wanted my customers to be happy.

What is your advice to stay-at-home moms who want to start their own business?

Meena Bindra

The opportunities to work from home are endless, so nothing should stop you from venturing into what you love to do. Whether you want to bake a cake or write a book, do what you are passionate about and the results will follow.

Enjoy the fact that you can work. There's always a sense of achievement when you do!

How do you balance work life and home?

Meena Bindra

I make sure that I give equal time to my work and home. Even when I was working from home years ago, I would shut shop by 5 PM. I never extended my work time.

What are some of your hobbies?

Meena Bindra

My hobbies have changed over the years. I love to read but I have got into more serious, spiritual reading these days. I also listen to western, western classical and even Indian classical music. Another thing I really enjoy is meeting up with my friends.                                                                                                                                  

Laxmi Khanolkar

CEO & Co-Founder

Apar Games

Short Description

Entrepreneurs in gaming industry.Dream! Follow it! Make it happen! You’re the one whom people look upto to make their dreams come true!

Brief about company, offerings and foundation of the company

Apar Games was found in May 2007. We have a widespread range of products right from outsourcing art work to conceptualization and developing games on various platforms like PC, smartphone, tablet and social networks. From a 4 member team, Apar games has culminated into a 60 member team with a head office in Mumbai and a support office in Chennai. We work in technologies like Flash, HTML5, Unity 3D, Objective C, Android NDK and Augmented reality games.

Risks involved in business and way of addressing

Information security is crucial , Developing talent is a challenge (not risk really), Retaining skilled talent.While offering game development as a service, as gaming is all about developing experience, every thing cannot be defined in  the scope of work. You have to introduce certain features that may not be part of the initial defined scope and yet deliver the product on time. This may hamper  your budget for the product and the entire thought process goes for toss. However, we minimize these risks by having detailed GDDs and prototype in the production cycle.Secondly we believe to build a long-term relationships with our clients to get an advantage over the competition.

Some of the difficulties faced while building product/ solution

When we were a 4 member team without any “brand” backup, we faced various issues  like attracting  talent, retaining them,  making the global market believe in us to give us the “First “ chance etc. Only way to tackle it, was the determination of creating a difference. 

Different actions if I rebuild my company from scratch all over again

Nothing! Each step in building this company, consider it as a pros or a con, has added to what it is today. ‘Experience makes a man perfect!’ It’s the same here. Every experience in terms of may it be a project, client or resources have been the ladder to Apar Games success.

Motivation and Drives factor

 “Creating a GAME”

Unique about my way of motivating troops

Nothing in specific that is individually practiced by only me. I am just passionate about games and I know the idea of creating, designing, talking, playing & living GAMES is what motivates me & my troops both. I believe creative people are motivated to evade into another world by even a ray of light in the dark.  

Way of choosing my people

Hiring a talented person is easy but nurturing and creating a cutting edge talent is what a company should look at for every individual they hire since it’s beneficial for both the company and the individual. We at Apar Games believe in the same and hence have always inspired people to take up challenging projects guiding them through the process. With Intel as our partners, we research and keep ourselves and the team updated with the upcoming technology and give them freedom to explore it. 

The challenges and lessons learnt to get first customer

When we started the company we all had our share of experience working in the gaming industry. The combined experience and exposure of our team convinced the client that we could deliver the desired product in the said time. Our approach is to “help” rather “service” them in their game development need, gave us the big break.  

My role at different dimensions as the company evolved

The journey of starting from scratch and leading the company to this level in a matter of just 5years means you have been through all phases involved in the company. Right from identifying the right talent, to training them in the desired manner to deriving the desired output. Apart from pitching for clients, conceptualizing the game, design, programing, stemming, we also maintain the game till the said time. Initially I was involved in even minute processes rather I would say I still keep a tab of each minute processes but now obviously it has scaled down a lot. 

As a leader how I make sure that I am connecting the right dots

A leader is never a one if he/she does not possess the qualities of being one. Being calm, listening and acting at the right time with precision is my mantra. Of course, I have had my share of falls but important is we were able to stabilize them. 

Best company I admire globally

POPCAP. They create games to entertain people, do not really go by the set path. But they have a specific goal and follow a specific process, eye for detail. etc. 

Advice for fellow entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs in gaming industry.Dream! Follow it! Make it happen! You’re the one whom people look upto to make their dreams come true

Source: http://www.siliconindia.com/startupcity/entrepreneurs-stories/Laxmi-Khanolkar-hUQRDwAl.html

Naheed Muqeetulla

VP

Mastibids

Short Description

Naheed Muqeetulla : Naheed Muqeetulla is the Vice President & Treasurer of Imperial Online Services which owns and operates the auction website Mastibids.com.

Company Profile

Mastibids.com, which is owned and operated by Imperial Online Service Pvt Ltd, was founded by Sameer Masarath and Naheed Muqeetulla. We started operations in June 2011. Mastibids is essentially a disruptive startup that aims to revolutionise the E-Commerce sector by introducing an element of entertainment in the users’ online shopping experience. It is an auction website with a twist, where members will have to bid against one another to become the last bidder and get a variety of products for incredibly low prices. We offer a wide variety of products ranging from electronics to accessories and vouchers.

Leadership Quality

Although we have had only a few, our mentors have provided us with invaluable tips on how to efficiently run a business. Perhaps the greatest contribution they have made is on how to go about raising capital and how to scale operations. We have learnt from them to always stay focused, but to allow room for flexibility so as to adapt to changing market conditions and consumer preferences. They have also taught us the importance of execution. Anyone can have a good idea for a business, but only a few can turn a good idea into a great business venture through their skill and dedication.

Getting Customers

The first few customers had signed up with us even before we were operational. Once the site was ready for business, we started an SMS campaign to draw in traffic quickly, followed by some affiliate marketing. Some of the challenges we faced were that the quality of the registrations were not that good. We learnt that targeted marketing would have been more beneficial since that improved our registration to sale ratio dramatically. Customer acquisition, media buying and marketing are very tricky areas of business. It is difficult to determine the right mix when one is starting out and a trial-and-error method is the only way to determine the proportion of funds that must be allotted to the various marketing methods. What we also learnt was that different industries find different media more effective in delivering results. Social Media is mostly for branding and PR while SEO proves more successful in customer acquisition. For quicker results one has to employ Affiliate and PPC campaigns. However, the effect of these will be more short lived.

Work Culture

We encourage a relaxed atmosphere so that each member can work to the best of their ability. We’ve realized that if the work place becomes hostile for any one person, the standard of service we offer to our customer drops. It is important that the work culture is such that there is freedom for each employee to work in a manner most comfortable to him, but at the same time focus should remain on attaining the company goals. The importance of customer service also forms a core part of our work culture. No matter what the issue, no matter how small, the customer should always be made to feel important. It is this attention to customer satisfaction that has helped us become one of the key players in the industry.

Sharing Experience

Never lose sight of your goal. When one starts a project, they will first think of the idea and how it works and why there is demand for it. Once you start working towards that goal, many obstacles and opportunities may come your way and it is very easy to get side tracked. It is best to remember why we started in the first place and aim for that goal relentlessly. Have a clear-cut plan in mind as to what needs to be achieved and in what time frame. Without a proper paln of action and budgeting for different activities, it becomes very difficult to guide an organisation in the necessary direction.

Advice to young entrepreneurs

Trust your instincts! If you think your idea can make you lots of money then it can as long as you put in the work. If you are surrounded by people who have only negative thoughts then it is best to leave them behind. Put in the hard work – It is a pre-requisite for success (and luck).

Source: http://www.siliconindia.com/startupcity/entrepreneurs-stories/Naheed-Muqeetulla-c0taSbn6.html

Meena Shah

Co-Founder

iView Creations & iView Labs Pvt Ltd.

Short Description

She have done bachelors in Computer Science, Have more than 6 yrs of IT experience. Worked with companies like Lionbridge Technologies, Benq India Pvt Ltd and Atos Origin India Pvt ltd.

Company Profile

iView Creations, started in March 2011 with a concept of providing innovative technology solutions for branding which generates a unique experience for the consumer to recall. Soon in six months we realized that the business model, which we had, would not generate the value for thecompany, which we had foreseen. We pivoted and started focusing and building interactive solutions, which engaged and enhances user experience. Our core remains same but our business model and market focus areas changed. We offer touch /multi touch based solutions and gesture recognition interactive solutions. Our prime focus is to get natural interaction in the technology world. We incorporated our new company with this focus as iView Labs Pvt Ltd this year.

Critical Decision

The most critical decision was to pivot and change our business model completely. As when we started we had a picture, which was completely different than, actually what was the fact.Its truly said that business teaches you a lot of dynamics, where every decision is critical especially when you are a startup. Each decision is a make or break decision, which can either, lead you to success or failure.

Doing things differently

If I were to build this again, I found start it from garage ;-), as most of the companies which were built from there became successful. Just Kidding…If I were to rebuild this again, I would choose to start it from a different location.Though my current city has lot of benefits of keeping the cost low, but getting the talent and right customer who values these solutions is difficult.

Motivating Employees

For us, nobody is like an employee and no babu system here. Firstly as the technologies we develop solutions on are very interesting and exciting for them to be motivated to learn about new things. Also we offer solutions like product equity for the right person and right product. (Courtesy Steve Jobs, As I was inspired by this model from his book)Every order we receive we have a party to celebrate that. Though these are few moments ;-) considering a startup.

Making correct decisions

I don’t know whether the dots are right or not. I am just connecting them and realizing it later whether they were right or wrong. In entrepreneurship, there is no full proof system. You have to fall, accept and rise.

Advice for entrepreneurs

•Right team can always make you cross boundaries. So find the right talent for your company. •Don’t look at today’s overheads but look at it against the revenue you could generate out of them, so go ahead and take risks.•Be adaptable for the changes as per the market demands.
Source: http://www.siliconindia.com/startupcity/entrepreneurs-stories/Meena-Shah-iW6zdOfI.html