entrepreneurial journey

‘The Perfect Black’ Story: How the obsession for BLACK became a startup journey

Anurag Kanoongo along with his wife Shikha started the startup ‘The Perfect Black’ where they only sell premium black clothing and accessories.

Napolean Hill believed that “Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle” and ‘The Perfect Black’ is an example of just that.

As the name suggests, The Perfect Black sells all things Black. Anurag Kanoongo after struggling to get premium black t-shirts and shirts without breaking a bank decided to take matter into his own hands. He along with his wife Shikha started the startup ‘The Perfect Black’ where they only sell premium black clothing and accessories.

They believe that for many people out there, black is their go-to colour and instead of searching through several stores or sites for that one black attire, customers would rather come to their website every time they need one – a basic Black Tee or a casual Black shirt and more.

The idea of The Perfect Black is to help people focus on what exactly matters to them, simplifying people’s lives in the smallest way possible.

Why Black?

Well, Anurag & Shikha believe that BLACK is a Color of Comfort, Convenience, and Power. Black is the only color that makes each body-type look beautiful as it appeals to any skin tone, height & age and gives confidence to the person who wears it. It is a colour which you can wear on almost any occasion. As Anurag says, “When in Doubt, Wear BLACK.”

Challenges faced during the initial phase of a startup?

When asked about the challenges that they faced, Anurag mentions that right from the ideation stage, the challenges were staring both him and Shikha in the face. While the idea of creating only BLACK color lifestyle products was exciting but both of them had no experience of creating clothes and accessories. Anurag mentions the top challenges:

Defining the technical specs of your product

“When we decided to start with creating a premium quality solid black t-shirt the first challenge was to define “Premium” What should be the fabric like in terms of its composition, GSM, treatment, etc. What should be the measurement chart? What should be branding and packaging like? Figuring out answers to all of these with no technical expertise available was tricky.”

Finding the right manufacturing partner

“This was the most challenging and crucial part. Finding the right manufacturing partners was not easy. When you are looking to create premium quality products, you need to partner with setups who have the know-how, skillset, and technology to create premium quality. The first few meetings were very difficult, and seeking time as well as the attention of the promoters of big manufacturing companies was a task. The discussions in the initial meetings were difficult to comprehend since they would speak in a lingo which was loaded with a lot of technical terms of that industry.”

Meeting the MOQ requirements

“Bigger and better manufacturing units are only willing to work with you when you can commit big numbers, the challenge was to negotiate the MOQ or Minimum Order Quantity. When you are bootstrapped, you are always short on funds and it is difficult to risk your money with a large amount of inventories. Also, the per-unit cost goes higher if the quantities are less, making it difficult to launch your products at an attractive price point”

Performance Pressure

“While our families were largely supportive of our decision to quit a double-digit salary and get into unknown waters, their worries started to build when months passed by and still there was no product in hand. Since we were obsessed with the idea of creating premium quality products, we were not willing to cut corners on anything, even if that resulted in a longer duration of product engineering & manufacturing. We witnessed, days when there were heated arguments, disappointment and doubts on what we were doing and if we were doing it right”

Low on Marketing Budgets

“Once the products were ready and inventory was received in our warehouse marketing ourselves online was a challenge in terms of our capacity to spend on Branding & Advertising. The Customer Acquisition Cost or CAC is very high in the initial days and it can exhaust your wallet really fast”

While they were surrounded by a lot of challenges, for them it was like delivering a baby! You take care of the child no matter what and bring them to the real world!

Anurag and Shikha Kanoongo, Founders, The Perfect Black

What are the hurdles in front of you on a daily basis when you run a startup?

“Since we are self-funded, thankfully we are not answerable to anyone else on a daily basis. However, the real challenge lies in being self-motivated to do better every single day. The beauty of being a start-up founder is that you have got to find a solution to a new problem every single day. For us, time management is the trickiest bit. You have to make time for handling production issues, speaking to your vendors and partners, writing content for a website, social media marketing, making cold calls for business development, follow-up with your team members and agencies, etc., maintaining accounts, and yes cleaning up your office on days when your maid is absent and much more…”

If given a chance to go for another startup what are the learnings that you will take from the mistakes of your previous venture?

Anurag recalls what they would have done differently. Here are a few things:

Followups

“I have learned it the hard way that even though you are paying people for their services you need to do constant follow-ups to ensure your work happens on schedule.”

Meeting More & More People

“Meeting people and engaging yourself in meaningful discussions and deliberations helps a lot to come up with solutions. I would like to do this much more.”

Keeping Track of Compliances

“I will be honest here, I have paid a late fee for missing out on ROC related compliances. No matter how much you may dislike investing time into maintaining records, accounts, and filing up, these need to be done on time and the penalties on missing out deadlines are heavy. So the next time, I would not let my hard-earned money get wasted in paying penalties, although I really wish that the compliances are reduced for startups so that they can focus more on creating great products and services.”

Where do you think you and your startup is going to be in the coming future?

“We started THE PERFECT BLACK with 3 products in the men’s category and then added another 2 products last year. In the next 2 years, we aim to expand our product range rapidly. We are working on launching the women category followed by accessories. The idea is to complete the list of essentials for both men and women.

Our Vision is to become a brand which is everyone’s first choice to buy BLACK color clothing and accessories from. We want to create products that truly deliver the right value for the time & money invested by the end-user. Check out www.theperfectblack.in.

To read about the founders of The Perfect Black and their stories in detail, click here.

How BLACK brought colours in the world of Anurag and Shikha, founders of retail start-up ‘The Perfect Black’

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.

5 Ways to recover from entrepreneurial burnout even if you feel like giving up

If you want to be successful in your life and business, you need to know how to safely set both on the balance beam.

If you want to be successful in your life and business, you need to know how to safely set both on the balance beam. Two years ago I started an online business. I was thrilled and scared at the same time; the thought of strangers paying me to implement solutions I recommend was far from what my 5+ years of college education taught me.

But that excitement was short-lived. While I was inaugurating my online business, I started a new life as a graduate student in an accelerated nursing program. Now my life consisted of these things: writing blog posts, social media promotion, interviewing guests, studying for classes, going for clinical rotations, working my almost full-time job, and launching an online business.

For the first time in my life, I was diagnosed with critically low vitamin D levels. My memory suffered as I could not keep up with the demands of school, running a blog, and creating a course. Finally, I crashed. It has taken me 2 years to regain my mind-body balance and get back in the game.

Here’s 5 things that I’ve learned about the recovery process after burnout:

1. Check where your intention is coming from

With the number of online entrepreneurs closing down shops, pivoting to other business ideas, and just getting burned out in general, it is important to address your WHY.

Making money is cool but ask yourself why you’re really doing this. Are you in business to cash in on the next marketing fad or organically working your way towards building an audience? Are you just concerned with conversion tactics and traffic instead of selling with integrity?

This sounds very trivial, however, the only thing that would keep you from pulling the plug on your business on days you don’t feel like showing up is your WHY. Your intentions for starting your business will always find a way to become relevant when you’re stuck with indecision. When you feel like you’ve lost your voice in the sea of entrepreneurs who operate in similar niches like you, checking in with your intention will give you a boost in clarity.

“Self-awareness is your most important attribute.” –Gary Vaynerchuk

2. Don’t go gung-ho with your passion

Before you jump on the next popular challenge to create a video or audio series, know your body and mind more than anyone else. At some point during my burnout period, I was sitting in front of my laptop for 12 hours straight.

There were social media posts to schedule, lead generation systems to automate, CSS and HTML to be learned, and tons of webinars to sift through. If anything, what your passion needs right now is serenity. Delete the multiple checklists on your desktop to allow serenity to prevail.

3. Pivot to a business model that works for YOU

In July 2017, I exited the online copywriting scene with relief. Prior to that, I listened to some coaches and online mentors who want you to do things exactly the way they envision them, with their exact blueprints, in their exact language. If this makes you cringe or makes you want to claw your way to freedom, I’ve got good news for you.

It is okay to only do work that excites you. It is absolutely okay to be brave enough to hold pause on a product that seems like a cash cow but locks you in an unsustainable lifestyle. If producing monthly content for a membership site gives you anxiety every month, you need to examine why you think you need this in your life. You should never sacrifice your health or relationships for money.

4. Develop tiny sustainable habits instead of to-do lists

For the longest time, I hated to-do lists and always found procrastination more fascinating. To me, these lists were never ending and was always a sign of busyness and lack of freedom. So I did away with all lists and what every marketing expert said I should do.

This sounds like a controversial way to be productive but it soon paid off. Instead of sticking to lengthy to-do lists and schedules, I focused on little incremental changes I could manage and track.

For example, waking up an hour early than my usual time made me realize that my thoughts flow better when there is less chatter around me. Before I wasn’t aware of this but this realization now comes handy when I need to schedule time for content creation.

So, ask yourself, “Would I be able to do this thing for the next 21 days, unhindered?” Commit to little tiny steps to get in the habit of respecting your time and energy. As a result, you will know where your margin is and how you can optimize this creatively and productively.

“Meditation is not about stopping thoughts, but recognizing that we are more than our thoughts and our feelings.” –Arianna Huffington

5. Seek a community that embraces and supports the entrepreneurial spirit

If you are currently navigating the space between being an employee, a hustler, and a full-time business owner, the realities of what it takes to be an entrepreneur can be frightening. There are days when you will question your calling and be tempted to quit because you aren’t making sales. Maybe your most recent promotion flopped despite all the careful planning and expenses on a strategy coach.

In moments like this, I have found membership in a community that embraces the fragile dynamics of the entrepreneurial life to be comforting. Sharing and marketing your work can be scary, soul-draining, and make you want to hide under the covers. Yet, as an entrepreneur, you simply can’t do it alone. Just as you would feel compelled to share your wins and successes, you need a community of like-minded people who will rally around you and encourage you to take the next adventure.

Recovering from my burnout has taken over two years but it has now equipped me with the strategies I need to thrive as a creative entrepreneur.

Have you ever experienced an entrepreneurial burnout? How have you recovered from one? Please share your thoughts below.

Author: Margaret Olatunbosun

Margaret Olatunbosun is a writer and creative entrepreneur who helps passionate & creative misfits uncover profitable ideas so that they can design a life and business on their own terms and build meaningful brands that leave a legacy. Most of her work is dedicated to helping you find your path to creative freedom through her insightful weekly emails and free ultimate guide on how to create profitable offers dream clients want. Her thoughts on career and entrepreneurship have been featured on MSN Money, Thrive Global, The Huffington Post, Career Contessa, UYD Media, Inspired COACH magazine, and many more.

How Vijay Shekhar Sharma started – Life of Paytm’s founder

His Journey is inspirational to every Indian Entrepreneur.

The man, who always wears a welcoming smile, stands true to every word he wrote during the most difficult times of his life.

From being a small-town boy from Aligarh who bought second-hand tech magazines to the founder of one of India’s most trusted technology brands, Vijay Shekhar Sharma has come a long way.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma owns a company whose current value is a little over $3 billion in the market in 2016, a dream dreamt when he was struggling to make ends meet with Rs 10 in pocket.

His journey is inspirational to every Indian entrepreneur, lets go through his journey with this Infographic showing how he started.