At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring to our community some of the finest stories from the entrepreneurship world. As part of this endeavour, we invited a passionate entrepreneur – Akshay Wadhwa for an exclusive interview with us. Akshay is an Entrepreneur, Leader, Fashion Designer, Consultant and Mentor. He is the Founder of Bluerickshaw. Let’s learn more about his inspiring journey, his background and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Akshay:
Talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please;
Before starting Bluerickshaw, I worked as a fashion designer and manufacturer.
I studied fashion design in Milan and started my own label in 2009.
For 11 years I worked on my brand Akshay Wadhwa which sold to 130 stores across 30 countries (including Indonesia, UAE, Canada, UK, US, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand).
As a designer and manufacturer, I began to identify several patterns with respect to working with international buyers as a small-to-mid Indian manufacturer.
(1) Broadly speaking there is a lack of trust and credibility with respect to Indian suppliers due to previous experience of poor quality, delayed shipments, and a lack of understanding of buyer requirements in terms of design
(2) Once you earn and establish that trust, repeat business is high and lucrative
(3) Due to the above reasons the market works primarily through existing long-term relationships and is difficult to penetrate for a newcomer
(4) Those who have penetrated the market and have existing business still face a number of logistical challenges in terms of quality control, transparency of process and shipments
I realized there was a huge gap in the market and a platform could serve as a bridge helping address the challenges above. Bluerickshaw was created to ensure buyers across the world access all that India has to offer and make it easy for them to do business with one another.”
I conceptualized Bluerickshaw during the nationwide lockdown in India (starting April 2020) and a few months later the company was formed, we had our CTO & Co-founder Krishan Chandak on board.
Krishan has over 23 years of experience in the IT industry and the Indian startup ecosystem. He is credited with developing the first flight information display system (FIDS) which is being used by the Airports Authority of India.
Initially, I was juggling both Bluerickshaw and my fashion & manufacturing business (though it had slowed down due to the lockdown). 60-70% of my time was spent on Bluerickshaw.
In March 2021 I shut down my fashion & manufacturing business and have been working on Bluerickshaw full-time leading the operations side, Krishan brought the business idea to life by building the core technology team and ensuring that the platform went live in a short span of time.
What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
As it turns out, I was not the first in my family to venture into entrepreneurship. My grandfather migrated to Delhi. He was a hustler who started selling on the pavement near AIIMS hospital in New Delhi and with the money he made, he bought an Auto rickshaw to ship and sell fabrics to merchants across Delhi. He painted it ‘blue’ so that he stands out and creates a memory in people’s minds.
Afterwards, my dad also got into dealing fabrics and set up a chain of stores across the public capital.
When I chose to emulate their example, I chose to name my new pursuit ‘Bluerickshaw’ as a reverence to my foundations. Also, the blue rickshaw purchased by my grandfather actually sits gladly at the organization’s base camp as a proud remnant of the family’s rich history.”
Deep down, I’ve always known I wasn’t meant to have a corporate career. My life has always been surrounded by art, craft, and entrepreneurship.
Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving?
Key problems Bluerickshaw is solving:
Usually, export transactions are very expensive which is a great barrier for small manufacturers and artisans who want to expand globally. Bluerickshaw ensures credit to small buyers and a trusted ecosystem to secure their payments while reducing transaction costs.
Indian handicraft products are in great demand in the international market but due to the absence of market intelligence, small artisans face difficulty in growing their reach. Bluerickshaw provides various marketing and promotional tools for these small businesses ensuring they reach a bigger audience.”
Situations of delayed or inaccurate payments are never faced by our stakeholders, buyers, or sellers. Software on our platform is fully equipped to track and streamline payments between buyers and sellers.
What makes this particular concept different?
There are various factors that make us different from the rest:
– Features of our platform such as Order A Sample, Online Negotiation, Product customization with MOQ (minimum order quantity) as low as one, and freedom to get in touch with the seller.
– The quality and authenticity of our products- Through our selection & quality check process, we make sure that each product is in the best condition depicting the master skills of our artisans.
– Credit to small buyers and a trusted ecosystem to secure their payments while reducing transaction costs.
– 100 per cent transparency right from order arrival to order delivery.
– Platform has transparent and easy payment options and gives full support to track down the transactions between the seller and the buyer.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
Due to the second lockdown almost every city was shut, whereas we started receiving orders from USA and Canada in a few days of our launch.
Logistics costs went up by 5X due to restricted international flights and almost every supplier’s operations were shut.
We solved this problem by getting in touch with the expatriation flights from India to Canada and US and taking our orders, alternatively contacting our suppliers to run their operations with permissions which we helped them secure.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
To build a successful startup, you have to be ready for big challenges and not be daunted by them.
Big challenges give you the chance to excel, and getting through them proves that you still have what it takes.
The key is to never give up and always be prepared. This is what I truly believe in, this is what I practice.
What is your biggest source of inspiration/motivation in your daily life?
Honestly, I have always been an artist and art is what really inspires me and always does.
My source of motivation on the other hand is the challenges of life. I’m motivated the most by the situations where I’d have to prove my worth. For instance:-
When I walked out of Vancouver Fashion Week after being interviewed by top media houses and being declared one of the Top 10 Designers, I was on such a high! The next day I took a few samples and walked into a few stores on Granville St in Vancouver oozing with confidence. To my surprise, they didn’t give a care about who I was and literally kicked me out of the store. Something similar happened to me in NYC a year later.
That’s when I realized that if someone like me – who’s had so much opportunity and comes from a more privileged background – can’t make it out here, how do other sellers back in India stand a chance? I started hustling, I knew I had that capability and knowledge to prove the worth of not only me but every other artist like me, who dreams of making it big.”
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
Building a strong team and getting people who are better than me.
In your opinion what are the keys to success?
Trust and Transparency as I feel that if you can win this you can win the world. At bluerickshaw, we have tried to build the same in our culture as well as the company’s core value proposition.
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
Be open to learning and it’s absolutely okay to not know everything at the beginning, but give your best to everything you do.
You are your biggest competition, so aim at being the best version of yourself.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
