Hobby India Shark Tank India
The Shark Tank judges were so impressed with the wisdom of the founder of Hobby India, that Aman Gupta jokingly asked him if he would invest in his company BOAT so that he could learn a few things from him.
The judges were baffled by the clarity of thought and business acumen that the founder showed at the young age of 26. Amit Jain commented that he looks like a seasoned Entrepreneur.
Even though the judges were not much convinced by their industry, still Amit Jain and Vineeta chose to give an offer, they were just betting on the skills, wisdom, and potential of the founder.
Hobby India DIY Store
Hobby India is Art, Craft & DIY product. They have 5000 plus products and 15,000 plus variations in them. Almost all their products can be customized.
They are a one-stop solution for all the Art and Craft supplies.
Vision: To be India’s biggest Art and Craft customized store.
Their main categories include:
- DIY bases
- Canvas
- HomeDecor
- Kids’ Art and Craft
- Photo Prints
- Boxes
They have hired an all-women staff because they believe that men have a lot of other opportunities.
Let us check their Unit Economics:
- Average Order Value- ₹1,280
- Product Cost- ₹410
- Shipping- ₹160
- Processing Cost- ₹170
- Website and Payment gateways- ₹30
- Customer Acquisition Cost- ₹180
- Balance- ₹330
Net profit in July 2022- ₹6.5 lakhs
(2022-2023) estimate profit- ₹2.75. Crores
Hobby India Founders
Vaibhav, Shruti, and Khyati Sutaria are the founders of Hobby India. Vaibhav and Shruti Sutaria are husband and wife and Vaibhav and Khyati are siblings.
Vaibhav had started this business when Shruti lost her job she joined him and looked after accounts. The cartoon animation company in which Khyati worked closed down and she too joined her brother.
Vaibhav Sutaria was the star of the pitch and the sharks couldn’t just stop praising him.
Let us check out some of his amazing business Strategies:
- Build SOP
In order to customize and ship the order ASAP, he has built an SOP (A set of written instructions that describes the step-by-step process that must be taken to properly perform a routine) Each order is customized in a batch of 15 pieces to save time and effort.
It comes in handy when he is not there to manage for a few days everything works smoothly and the products are dispatched as per the standard protocol.
- Focus on SEO
He has a team of 2 SEO executives, 2 content writers, and 1 graphic designer. They have managed to rank for a lot of keywords related to their industry in the top 5 Google searches within just one year.
- Learning Budget
He has an equal amount of learning and traveling budget. With this budget, he attends seminars and other tools to update his knowledge.
- Customized Product
They have more than 5K products, along with more than 15K customized options which give customers a lot of varieties. It also contributes to their repeat customers which is more than 50%.
Deal or No-deal
The founders had asked for ₹50 lakhs for 3% of their equity.
Namita explained that there is no U.S.P and the market is crowded and she does not find it investible.
Anupam and Aman also backed out.
Vineeta and Amit gave the combined offer of ₹50 lakhs at 20% equity at ₹2.5 crores valuation.
The founders gave the counter offer of ₹50 lakhs for 4% equity.
Vineeta and Amit gave the final offer of ₹50 lakhs for 15%.
Hobby India did not accept the offer and the deal fizzled out.
Concluding Remarks
Entrepreneurs like Vaibhav Sutaria prove that without any outstanding or extraordinary product also you can build a profitable business. What matters is continuous learning and regularly upgrading your knowledge combined with teamwork and organizing your work.
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