The Leather Story is a tale of passion & entrepreneurship that brings forward a range of premium leather accessories that can be used in one’s day-to-day life-enabling functionality as well as style. It offers a range of premium products such as wallets, luggage tags, cell phone cases, notebook covers, accessory organizers, and more.
Aditi Kapur Chawla, an entrepreneur, a mother, a wife, and a woman – started The Leather Story right before the world came to a halt in lieu of Covid-19. Even with the challenges faced as a new brand, the world crisis did not stop Aditi from pursuing her passion for shaping a brand that speaks all things accessories. One thing that keeps her going is the constant urge to learn and evolve in the lifestyle space. As an independent business owner, her advice to other young entrepreneurs is to constantly keep ideating to think outside the box.
One example from her own personal experience is of The Leather Story itself. The brand was launched in February 2020 keeping the gifting category in mind, and in lieu of the unprecedented times, the brand shifted gears to diversify and add value to its customers and the market needs. Given the times when travel was at hault, Aditi came up with an interesting category called ‘Work from home’ that further evolved to add Tech Accessories, keeping the changing shift of real to reel life.
Given the circumstances, a homegrown premium brand would usually shy away from experimenting with product categories, yet Aditi choose to take the plunge based on her learning about the market gap in leather accessories for the modern Indian who would love to organize by investing in products that add value for the purchase.
“We as women, usually forget that we foster a very strong community amongst ourselves & can be great strengths to each other. It’s about breaking that barrier to enroll in communities that offer to learn a lot from fellow entrepreneurs.”
Aditi Kapur Chawla, Founder, The Leather Story
Apart from learning and growing, and being a brand amidst the pandemic, Aditi comes with a fair share of her own challenges and lessons even after being fortunate enough to not face major discrimination as a woman. Considering her years of past experience in the industry, she believes every start-up faces speed breakers. To name a few, it could vary from registering a company, having an office address, shaping agreements that validate your business, and more. These barriers, tend to become irritant when the process prolongs over a period of time. Having said that, Aditi believes women can multi-task, and if that can be played as your strength – this quality can help any start-up that requires management for its early days.
Being a part of the startup journey, Aditi found herself being the sole person behind everything the brand required, from QC to packaging to even coordinating with the logistic partner. Rather than letting these factors demotivate her, she took it as an opportunity to plan ways of working and designed an SOP that could be followed by her team.
Some insightful take back from Aditi that young entrepreneurs can stand by are as follows:
- Before you launch, indulge in objective research and learn about your audience by reaching out to them to understand exactly what they want or what they are missing. Ensure your idea fulfills that need.
- Add value to a product or service that fulfills or solves a problem.
- Be open to any feedback and constructive criticism, as you’ll always need a Devils’s advocate to keep you ideating.
- Lastly, Don’t give up on your belief and accept failures as it’s true, that you can’t keep everyone happy, you’re not selling ice cream! Even if you are, there will always be someone who dislikes a flavor. So, get going, ideate, evolve, innovate and keep up the spark, as no one will ever believe in your idea as much as you do. All you need is to catch on a wave that takes you on a ride and solves a problem or adds value to a need. Rest, we all sail through the rough waters to reach the island called success.For more details and to purchase,visit: www.theleatherstory.com
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