Explaining bits and bytes of startups and entrepreneurship.
Category: Founders Diary
Founders Diary: It is not easy to start a startup or a business, a founder has to struggle a lot be it a financial struggle, mental struggle, holding together the team, handling the uncertainty, etc. The story of a founder’s journey is not only worth reading but also very motivating. In this series, we bring out the real-life journey of various startup founders and entrepreneurs, how they started and made it big!
Recognizing the opportunity for young entrepreneurs to capitalize their business through Amazon FBA, the Zabierek brothers decided to launch their second business venture, “The Zab Twins”.
As entrepreneurship has become more popular than ever to the millennial generation, there has been a wave of young individuals quitting their corporate jobs and pursuing their dreams of becoming entrepreneurs. When Brian and Arek Zabierek had this realization, they utilized the skill sets and capital that their corporate job gave them and decided to not only create their own start-up but to share their knowledge with other young aspiring entrepreneurs.
After a year and a half in the corporate world, the Zabierek brothers left their undemanding 9-5 jobs and were running a successful start-up through the Amazon FBA model, generating over $1 million dollars in sales. Recognizing the opportunity for young entrepreneurs to capitalize their business through Amazon FBA, they decided to launch their second business venture, “The Zab Twins” and found themselves coaching over 200 entrepreneurs in how to launch their products through Amazon with the mission of inspiring a new generation of entrepreneurs and guiding them through their journeys.
While offering services such as Implementation & Automation, Group and One on One Coaching, a 12-week intensive boot camp and more, The Zab Twins took the feedback from their students and decided to launch a new program, “The FBA Start-Up.” This new program will be a revamp of the previous 12-week program, built to keep the students more engaged while giving them more flexibility.
When getting into the Amazon FBA space, The Zab Twins recognized they were falling into “information overload” due to the amount of content they were consuming. In order to prevent other entrepreneurs from experiencing this, The Zab Twins have limited the amount of content their students will consume at once while implementing an interactive component to the program to ensure students are retaining the information most important to their success. In addition, they spend time with their students in core components of the business building process to ensure that they gain the confidence they need to build a sustainable business and skillset.
The Zab Twins have taken their years of knowledge and experience to create a program for entrepreneurs that holds them accountable, while also creating a community of support. Allowing students to access The Zab Twins team of mentors, entrepreneurs can also seek knowledge and support from other successful business owners in hopes of giving confidence to new sellers.
The Zab Twins recognize the opportunities available to aspiring entrepreneurs and hope to motivate, teach and support individuals in reaching their full potential in the business world. To hear more from The Zab Twins, you can also listen to their podcast “The Young Start Up” on Apple and Spotify for more information on entrepreneurship and Amazon FBA.
Manav Garg, against all odds, managed to take the startup plunge and excel by founding Eka Software Solutions.
When dreams are as high as the sky, nothing else matters. It doesn’t matter if you’re from the commercial capital or a small town, as long as you want it and strive for it, you get it.
Manav Garg, against all odds, managed to take the startup plunge and excel by founding Eka Software Solutions. Manav was born in Moga, Punjab, and belonged to a middle-class family.
He graduated from NIT Jalandhar with an engineering degree in Instrumentation and Control. Thereafter, Manav pursued his MBA from IIFT, Delhi.
With a good package in a trading company in Singapore, there was no looking back for him. He travelled across Southeast Asia as a coffee trader meeting several people from about 400-500 companies.
During that time, he realized that there wasn’t any system which was able to manage the risks and trading in the business. Thus, he decided to work through that and see what could be done.
He left his job, and did not tell anyone about the big move. Due to his father’s failed entrepreneurship journey, both his parents were not open to the startup idea, in fact, they were quite against it. Moreover, Manav did not know enough about software but he was sure that he would be the one to fill the gap that he had found out.
After quitting his job, Manav was back in Delhi. His initial plan was to start in the national capital since it was also closer to home. However, one visit to Bangalore changed his decision, and he finally started his company in the good weather software city.
In 2004, Manav’s startup saw its first product. And while the operations were initially financed by Manav himself, he got seed funding later by his former employer amounting to a million dollars.
In 2009, Nexus, a venture capital, funded 10 million dollars to Eka, whereas $40 million was received in 2013 by the Silver lake.
Today, Eka has over 100 customers across the globe including Cofco, Unilever, Cargill. Eka helps businesses in adapting as well as overcoming challenges in several domains including supply chain, trading and risk, business collaboration as well as financial management.
With more than 400 employees, Manav has created a niche in the market for himself. His dream of coming back to India and creating something has come true. He was attracted to the energy India has which none of the other countries could offer him.
Today when you hear Manav talk, you’d by no chance even think that he’s the same man who didn’t know how to converse in English until the time he went to college.
Munchilicious, a Mumbai based granola brand is a result of Rohit and Purvi’s experiments with healthy snacks. Munchilicious was founded by Rohit and Purvi Pugalia in the year 2015 for our health-conscious time-starved Indian population.
In times when people are looking for healthy, hygienic, and convenient snacking options, Munchilicious Granola has come across as a boon. Munchilicious Granola is a roasted mixture of nuts, seeds, dried fruits, oats, and honey. Every bowl of Munchilicious is power-packed with nutrients that are rich in proteins, fiber, and micronutrients.
The inception of Munchilicious Granola
Munchilicious, a Mumbai based granola brand is a result of Rohit and Purvi’s experiments with healthy snacks. Rohit is prone to acidity, which got him into eating smaller but healthier portions of food every couple of hours. As there weren’t many healthy snacks available in the market, his wife Purvi would pack him 5 tiffins that contained varieties of healthy snacks like salad, roasted vegetables, granola, and more. That’s when the idea of Munchilicious germinated.
Munchilicious was founded by Rohit and Purvi Pugalia in the year 2015 for our health-conscious time-starved Indian population. The products are rich in nutrients, easy-to-whip, and convenient to eat.
Founders of Munchilicious Granola (A Soch Foods LLP Product)
Founder & CEO Rohit Pugalia is an enlivened leader with extensive experience. Over his entire career, he has headed corporate departments and various projects single-handedly.
While Rohit is the brain behind Munchilicious, Purvi is at the heart of it. Purvi Pugalia is a passionate homemaker and she loves to explore varieties of recipes and Munchilicious Granola is now her well-known creation. Purvi also holds a bachelor’s degree in Literature and is a certified graphologist.
The emergence of Munchilicious Granola
The founder couple came up with this idea while Rohit worked at a Stockbroking firm in Kolkata and decided to move back to Mumbai.
Started from a home kitchen, the founder couple delivered their fresh-foods through online portals. After receiving a great response from their customers, they started a small outlet in Mumbai. While running the fresh-food outlet, Purvi curated three granola recipes that reached the shelves of retail stores with the brand name of Munchilicious.
Future Expansion
Munchilicious Granola has seen rapid growth in the past one and a half years. The brand is available in 350+ retail stores across the country. They have a presence in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune, New Delhi, NCR, Bangalore, Chennai, and Rishikesh.
Munchilicious Granola can also be availed from online portals like Amazon, Flipkart, Smytten, Spencers, Nature’s Basket, More Megastore, and LBB store.
Speaking about the future growth plan, Soch Foods LLP is planning to expand its presence in the Northern, Western, and Southern regions of India in the next quarter.
Certification Granted to Munchilicious Granola
Munchilicious products are tested in Asia’s most trusted and well-known TUV SUD lab.
All the products are ISO 22000 certified.
Munchilicious Products
Munchilicious started with three variants, namely Original, Dried Fruits, and Dark Chocolate. Later the Masterchef of Munchilicious Granola, Purvi Pugalia curated two more variants viz, Desi-Twist to suit our Indian palate and Grain-Free, specially designed for our Vegan folks.
Currently available in 500 gm packs, the products will now be available in 40 gm packs.
Following are product profiles of Munchilicious:
Original (Specially curated for breakfast)
500 gm – Rs. 500
40 gm – Rs. 50
Kanoongo and his wife Shikha are as they’d like to call themselves, “Black Addicts.” The idea for their start-up The Perfect Black came in primarily from one simple need, the need to buy premium quality black t-shirts as well as shirts.
Christian Dior once said, “You can wear black at any time, any age & almost any occasion.” Well, that’s what Anurag & Shikha believe in too. Their love for black clothing is so deep that they decided to make a living out of selling black clothing & accessories to the ones who share a similar love for BLACK.
Anurag Kanoongo and his wife Shikha Khandelwal are as they’d like to call themselves, “Black Addicts”. The idea for their start-up The Perfect Black came in primarily from one simple need, the need to buy premium quality black t-shirts. Both the partners in crime and permanent roommates have several things in common – their love for travel, exploring different cuisines & cultures, and most importantly, their love for the colour BLACK.
Both of them before jumping into the black sea they created for themselves, worked in the corporate sector for more than twelve years. In fact, the whole corporate exposure helped them learn the nuances of every possible business function.
One day, after a long heated argument before leaving for work, they intensely discussed as to how they were stuck in the corporate cycle and how badly did they want out. They decided to give themselves a break and invest about three months to come up with an action plan. Anurag left his job first and after serving a month-long notice period, here he was with a small amount of savings in his bank account and cluelessness as to what would be the next step.
They took a few days of break, travelled and breathed into the time they got. Then began the phase of googling, reading and ideating for ideas but to their disappointment nothing came up and then as Anurag mentions, it was a Eureka moment for them.
The idea of their start-up was not a direct result of their hours and months of thinking. It was as coincidental and extemporized as it can get. When Anurag was organizing his wardrobe, he looked at his worned out Black t-shirt and said to Shikha “I will again need to hunt for a solid black tee, I really wish if there was a brand I knew where I could just buy good quality staples in Black” – BINGO! He looked at Shikha and even without saying a word to one another, they knew what the look was all about. They discussed and deliberated on this thought for days and reached a point where they now had a potential idea to work upon.
High on idea orientation & risk-taking Anurag has a very interesting & varied experience. A B.E., MBA he has worked with leading brands across Telecom, IT, Education, and Internet & Digital Media domain. In his last stint with Times Internet he was leading pre-sales, business operations & marketing for some of the best brands which include MensXP, iDiva, Indiatimes, itimes, and WhatsHot. Continuing to work in one of these brands would have sent him on top of the corporate map any day, however, both life and Anurag had different plans, that too pitch black ones that would bring in enough light in his career.
Talking about the woman behind it all, Shikha had always been inclined towards business, and being an entrepreneur was her natural calling. A Chartered Accountant by profession, Shikha has over 15 years of rich corporate experience. During her stint, she has worn many hats including one of Marketing, HR & IT, and of course Finance. In fact, she was the founding member of the team that has built and established a leading retail eyewear brand that has over 50 stores across India. She is blessed with analytical skills and is high on thoroughness.
Initiating a startup has been a herculean task for them like any other, however, their passion and togetherness kept them going! Their working style is inspired by the Indian way of doing business (as they call it). For them, business is not all about generating income but also about engaging themselves in doing something meaningful which helps them to grow materially, intellectually, and emotionally.
When asked about his lessons, harsh realities and dos & don’ts for the young generation budding entrepreneurs, here is what Anurag had to say:
There is no right way of doing business
“During my MBA days, I had learned many theories and frameworks for solving different kind of problems and the best practices to do business, but I have come to realize that the best way is your own way of doing it! The way your business shapes up is a reflection of your personality and value system. So don’t let people tell you what’s right and wrong for you. Trust your gut and make your own decisions.”
Product/Service has to be the Hero
“Get your product right! Invest a disproportionate amount of time in working out the minutest detail of your product/service. Your product should give you the confidence that it is the best thing available in that category.”
Be ready to become ‘Jack of All Trades’
“When you are about to start on your own, most of you will not have the luxury to spend your dollars on everything, so be ready to learn new skills and do things which you haven’t in past. For eg. I believe I have a fair sense of design and so I decided to build my own website using readily available online tools and saved money which I invested in hiring a professional agency for creating our brand identity including brand logo, brand elements etc.”
Don’t expect Glamour and Flamboyance
“We hear success stories of startups and perceive that the journey is going to be full of glamour. Well the reality is that you have to work in the trenches and it’s a lot of hard work and perseverance. The glamour comes only when you reach a stage where you can narrate your story and inspire others!”
To read about their startup The Perfect Black in detail, click here.
