As part of our quest to get you meaningful and powerful stories from India and around the world, this week we invited yet another passionate entrepreneur– Saksham Chaudhary for an exclusive interview with BrilliantRead Media. He is the Founder of Empyrean Luxury. Let’s read more about his inspiring journey, his background and his advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Saksham:
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem, talk us through your background and your journey as an entrepreneur, please.
I have this natural drive of solving problems. if you come to me with any sort of problem even If I know nothing about it, I will try to solve it anyway.
I was 13 when I saw a personal problem that my car doesn’t look good, so I started customizing cars using an App for myself as well as others and I created an account on Instagram where I used to post images or customized designs. I made some money from that too as I used to sell those designs for cheap rates and that money used to get wasted in the school canteen.”
So yes, I started making money young. Now, when I came in 9th standard and stopped selling designs, I got introduced to a subject which is called financial market management. Mr RK Keshwani was the teacher who taught me this subject also used to give extra knowledge about various subjects related to the business world.
I regard him a lot and he is my guru. So, when I heard stories from him and all that extra knowledge, my perception which earlier was to be an automobile engineer now changed to being a designer and a businessman. From standard 9 to 10, the 2 years laid the foundation of my interest towards business – entrepreneurship and design.
I came in 11th standard and choose commerce as I was already attracted and moved by the power of money and the business world. Naturally, I knew it was my thing. So, from 9th to 12th standard, I studied business, design and everything related to it. every other subject which was not related to what I wanted to do felt like a waste to me and it was also the reason that my grades in the 11-12 standard were better than what I scored in the 9-10 standard as I had commerce in the final 2 years. I realised that you can learn real business by executing existing knowledge and regular learnt knowledge practically. so, I took admission in DYPDC Pune for automobile design because it had to be learned in college.
Now, this is where the real deal begins. It is October 2019. I have no money and I can’t ask my parents for money. It’s not that I don’t belong to a rich family. I do belong to a rich family, but I just didn’t want to ask for money because I started feeling that I have grown up and till how long will my parents feed me and I wanted to start earning, I wanted to do something. I had no food now and there were still 22 days left to go home for Diwali vacation.
So, my friend took me for a ride as I was sad and kind of lost on what to do. and while we were going across, I saw a shop which sold mobile covers for rs.50 so I told him to stop. I bought 10 covers from the shop from my friend’s money and asked him to take me to a mall. I stood right in front of a shop which sold covers at high rates, and I stole his clients, or we can say I won his clients. I sold every cover for Rs 200 after telling them that it is for Rs 300 but for you, I will give a discount.
So, from those Rs 500 I made Rs 2000 in an hour. I gave my friend rs.1000 and repeated the same thing for the next 5 days. On the 7th day, the shopkeeper came to me and asked me to sell my covers to him as he was facing losses. I agreed to it and when I came back home for Diwali, I booked the flight tickets with my own money.
This is the story of me and the brand of empyrean luxury that we have today. This is how empyrean luxury started. I came back home with Rs 45000 in my wallet on Diwali and after that, I did not stop.”
I started selling on Instagram and my major supplier was the person who had a shop in the mall. I have struggled a lot and spent days on packed food and like 1-2 meals in a day for 22 days, before I came home. it’s not just about October, I was struggling from march 2019 as I wanted to do something but failed over and over again. Empyrean luxury started by selling mobile covers but as I gained knowledge and experience, I wanted to help people and society so I decided that we will make vegan luxury footwear as there were rarely and brands doing so.
What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
See when you are an entrepreneur, you are the decision-maker, and you are not bound to copy and accept things which are wrong. you have the authority to think, create and experiment.
Your creativity, knowledge and talent, everything comes under play when you are the main person and that is what it is, flexible as well as rewarding.
‘EMPYREAN LUXURY’ is such a unique name; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving.
Empyrean mean heaven. When we talk about heaven, it is a place where people are happy. Our brand is working out to make lives happier by helping the environment in several ways. We are on board with PETA, and we are working towards saving animals and making people aware of the harm that cruelty causes us and the planet.
We are against animal cruelty. if we don’t have animals, life will start getting over soon. We are making cruelty free products with a mix of luxury, so the name is as it is, empyrean luxury. The main and major problem right now is how we can ensure the better survival of all species on earth and how we can overcome global climate change.
What does your company specialise in?
Our company specializes in luxury and designer fashion which is vegan and cruelty-free.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
As people are not that much financially healthy, we have reduced the product prices, offered free shipping and we have taken the business online and to be honest, these strategies have worked well for us.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
The fun of winning is when people want you to fail, and I use hatred and criticism as motivation. I am confident enough to try again and again. Even if I fail 100 times, I will still not give up because that is what life is all about.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
Mr Ratan Tata is someone I admire a lot; I have learnt so many things from him and I want to meet him one day.
Mr Bill Gates is also a source of inspiration for me. alongside, late Mr Steve jobs, Mr Elon musk and my failures, my hard times. All these have played a critical role in helping me succeed.
What are the business mantras you have embraced as you sought to establish your success story?
Don’t just try to make your life better, do it for society. what we give is what we get. live for the people. don’t be scared to try new things, learn, and evolve and just be a good person.
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
There are a few:
1) Not quitting
2) Always willing to learn and improve
3) Taking extreme ownership and responsibility for my actions Courage
4) Ability to take risks and trusting the process
Please share with us – what has worked well for you so far?
Never harming the culture and values of the ecosystem.
What are the three most important lessons you have learned building your startup?
– Don’t quit if you gave a good idea
– Not everyone will support or appreciate you
– Your life is in your hands so take the charge for it
Given the rapid pace at which the world is changing, what are the leadership traits that are necessary for success?
The quality of treating everyone equally in the company and respecting them for things that they do along with the importance to everyone’s voice and opinion.
You are always positive and motivated, what keeps you going?
My motivation comes from the Sun. no matter how many years it sets but it still rises every day and that is what we should do. no matter how much we fall, we should have the courage to rise.
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
I will say it straight that there are many factors but if you really have to have the key elements then to me these are the ones:
(a) Learning and updating knowledge
(b) Responsibility for actions and mindset
(c) Standing up for the right
(d) Being true to yourself
(e) Being confident
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
There is only one piece of advice that I want to give.
If you believe in yourself, you have the courage to pass every test that life throws at you and if you are willing to learn new things every day then go ahead and face all the challenges, one day you will be successful.
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.
