Sheetal Rastogi from Treasuresouq.com helping Indians select the best range of silver and gold jewellery online

The myth in our society by considering females limited to only kitchen and family life still exists in our society where a star like Mrs Sheetal Rastogi, has paved the path of change to break the perception with outperformed proven results.
Now a day’s females themselves are coming up to fight against such perception and have become capable and potential contributor not only to their personal and professional life but also to great extent towards society.
Let’s not go only by written words,but a proven data of Tiny pulse survey of more than 100 growing start-ups, those with female founders almost universally outperformed their male-only counterparts. The fastest-growing companies at 200%+ growth are 75% more likely to have a female founder.
With the presented data let me introduce a very talented and significantly vibrant female entrepreneur Mrs Sheetal Rastogi who has got the courage to leave a stable flashy highly designated job and move toward fulfilling her dream of creating an innovative platform for precious jewellery and metallic gift items for all online users. Instead of drawing a big salary and giving orders to team she has opted to start from the beginning to create jobs and business by awarding society with a completely revolutionised concept of jewellery and gift segment. As an Indian she understands the worth of money and through her platform wants to promote Jewellery & Gifts with tangible value. She is here to break the perception of consumers that Fine Jewelry and Pure Silver or Plated Gifts are only expensive. Her platform Treasuresouq.com (https://www.treasuresouq.com) therefore brings forth the largest handpicked collection of Light weight trendy jewelry pieces from brands and designers across India.
Treasuresouq.com aims to bring back the charm of timeless gifting back into the lives of people. Sheetal believes that Silver /Gold & Diamond products have their own sheen and when gifted to self or others has a lasting impact.
Wow …..what a feeling where consumers have an option of buying gifts with a worth and bringing value addition to the asset of the people whom we are presenting the gifts. Such an amazing platform for customers to efficiently utilise the hard earned money with a satisfaction that the gifts are of use not only to delight the memorable moments but also a security for them by beautifully managing a complete work life balance along with positive growth she has given a path to her success keeping along a way for other national and international brands to be a substantial part of this whole segment of market. A big salute to such woman entrepreneur who has served the society with such worthy platform. Lets meet Sheetal and see her entire journey till now
 
1. What is the Name of Your Venture? Any specific reason for this name?
TS Venture Pvt ltd is the company name and Treasuresouq is our brand. The portal name is treasuresouq.com. The idea behind keeping this name is the meaning of our portal which is treasure as precious and souq in Arabic means an open air marketplace.

2. Who is your target Audience/clients?
Our target audience is young Indian consumers residing in Metros and Tier 2 cities, avid internet shoppers or people who consume internet on daily basis, looking up for trendy unique products which they aren’t able to find in traditional retail channels and are also looking for best prices, quality and services at the convenience of their home/office.
3. Where is your venture based (city, state, country) &what are your geographical target areas?
Our venture is situated in Delhi. Target Geographical area is across India with a focus on tier 1 and tier 2 cities. Specifically metropolitan cities like Delhi NCR and Mumbai
4.What problems do your venture resolve? What are your products or services?
Indian jewellery industry is largely fragmented and still follows the old model of retail where people still want to buy from their Trusted Brands/Jewellers and fortunately or unfortunately the Silver Gifting collection is also retailed mostly through jewellers in the same format. Such brands are available to customers through their outlets mostly situated in a jewellery dominated market where the leading brands and regional retailers and the local jewellers would have their outlets. They are a handful of brands of have broken this barrier and reaching out to the modern Indian consumers by showcasing their catalogue for customers to browse, select and purchase of online. But this still comprises a very small % of the overall market. Since the market is fragment and is dominated by regional players and the local brands – curating their catalogue to the needs of Modern Indian consumers basis their likes, fashion and lifestyle is what is really going to solve the problem and bridge the gap between the offline retailers and designer brands and the modern & young Indian consumers and that is what Treasuresouq.com aims to do.
Secondly as mentioned above that which changing times the preferences of customers have changed drastically and so have jewellery and gifting preferences. Both the dressing and the mindset of modern Indian women have evolved and they are constantly moving onto options which are more trendy , easy on pocket and have a large variety /option when comes to jewellery. And thus in recent time more and more women have adopted Fashion and Costume jewellery. Treasuresouq aims to unlock the largest collection of affordable trendy fine jewellery. All this with assurance of 30 Days Free return, Lifetime exchange, Free & Insured shipping, same day dispatch facilities.
5.Share the idea or story behind the venture. How did it came to an existence? What motivated you to start your own venture?
Coming from a family background of Jewellery and Gift wholesaling, I always wanted to venture in Jewellery & Silver Gifting Retail. Having worked for almost 8 Years at leading positions in Sales and Marketing domain, I started contemplating upon my long term career plans. One day while suggesting a silver gift to one of my office colleague I discovered my love for this category and also understood that nowadays such products are not in the consideration set of people while planning to buy a gift for themselves or their loved ones. So I finally decided to take a plunge an build a platform to showcase trendy & affordable fine Jewellery and Gifts products.
6.Who are your biggest competitors and how do you differentiate yourself from them?
We don’t have a completely similar competitor in the market. There are players like Velvetcase.com, Johrishop from Bangalore and very few other e- commerce sites who are dealing with multi brand jewellery products but we are altogether a different platform With a clear focus on affordable fine jewellery and metal gifting range.
7.How did you identify your co-founder? Tell us something about your co-founder/s
I have started this venture in association with one of my dear friend who is an IT Alumni. He takes care of Technology aspect however he is not full time associated with us. I am also assisted by Mr. Vimal Kumar – who takes care of the Strategic and Financial aspects of the venture. He holds over a decade of experience in various aspects of Financing.
8. How did you hired your first team members? What skills do you want in your employees/team?
We have hired our first team members from reference and from job portals. The skill set that we see while hiring people is broader vision and hard work. Along with that the most important quality that we look for is adaptability to work for startups in applying knowledge and skills.
9. What expansion plans are you looking for the next 2 years, next 5 years?
In next two to five years we are planning to add more brands and more quality jewellery products in our retail jewellery segment. Build the largest online catalogue of Affordable Fine Jewellery and Gifting Products with brands from major Indian cities onboard with us.
10.Where do you want to see yourself in next 10 years?
I want to create an women led Unicorn which transforms the way fine jewellery is perceived and purchased in India.
11. Have you raised any funding? Or have any plans for the funding?
Currently the venture is self funded, However we are looking out for suitable funding partners/investors
12. What were the problems you faced during the starting days and how did you resolve them?
Starting a new venture is itself a great challenge and starts right from quitting your stable job, setting up, office infrastructure, employees, finances – I mean all these challenges which are a part of the entrepreneurial journey and makes it more exciting. Kept resolving things as they came.
13. What was the most challenging part of your journey till now? How did you overcome those challenges?
So far the journey has been fortunate enough for me to have more trust in establishing my venture however initially it was a funding issue and attracting brands to come on our portal. As our venture was quite fortunate in attracting good brands at initial stage which has helped to create good demands in the initial stage of our business. This has ultimately solved the problem of funds to some extent. which has further boosted our confidence in increasing our business.
14.Are you married, single or in a relationship?
I am a happily married woman and blessed with a baby boy.
15.What are your hobbies? What do you do in your non-work time?
My hobbies are Cooking and travelling. In my non-work time I spend my time with my 2 year old son.
16.What’s your favourite food & holiday destination?
My Favourite food is Chinese and Italian and my favourite place is a Yet to Discover
17. Whom do you consider your idol or biggest motivator?
My father has been my idol and my husband has been the biggest motivator constantly pushing me to pursue my dreams
18.What do you feel is the major difference between entrepreneurs and those who work for someone else?
In Job there is limited responsibility and limited scope to utilise your potential but entrepreneurship calls for taking full responsibility of each and every aspect and continuously steering things in positive direction
19.If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
Would have started my own venture much earlier
20. How has being an entrepreneur affected your family & Social life?
I love multitasking and entrepreneurship helps me do that and allows me to maximise time and productivity. Thus I am able to maintain a better family and social life.
21. Anything you would like to say to our readers or upcoming entrepreneurs?
I Have faith on yourself and your dreams.
22.Tell us something about your education & family background.
Married to my best buddy and have a 1 year 9 month old son. I hail from Kanpur with a family background of Silver and Gold Wholesale. I hold a masters in marketing from Narsee Monjee(NMIMS, Mumbai) and have 8 years of Industry experience.
23. What is your USP which makes it unique & different from other start-ups in similar domains?
Our Product Category and focus is very different. We are here to build the largest online brand for affordable fine jewellery and gifting products .
24. What do you think is the biggest threat to the success of small businesses & Start-ups today?
On time financial availability
25. Do you consider yourself successful and by what means do you measure success?
We are following some key metrics of assessing our success so far. Thankfully with the response and association of our partner brands and faith they have entrusted in us we have been successfully able to achieve the desired results.
26. Please share complete name, address, phone number, email id & website of Your Business & Contact Person
Mrs Sheetal Rastogi
[email protected]
https://www.treasuresouq.com