in conversation with harshada samudre, founder & ceo of prestige identity and eden springs gifting & warehousing system
Harshada Samudre, Founder and CEO of Prestige Identity
1. What issue is your startup trying to solve? Certifications, if any.
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Prestige Identity provides corporate gifting services in the most effective and convenient ways possible. It is a one-stop-shop for all your corporate gifting needs, helping companies achieve desired and creative options for their employees at any given time and around festivities. Prestige Identity is known for being the most convenient and go-to option we also provide with personalization services to our clients in corporate sector. We are bridging the gap by building our services to be one of the most affordable ones in the most competitive market space.
2. What was your eureka moment? What led to the inception of the company?
While working at a corporate gifting company I saw the exploratory arenas for growth and networking and got inspired to create some personalized gifts, leading me to start this company in the same field.
3. When was it founded?
We started Prestige Identity in 2018.
4. Where is it based out of -- any particular reason to choose the place as your base?
Mumbai is the headquarters; we have an office in Pune too. Although we do business with several corporates outside of Mumbai. Operations and sourcing feasibility helps in running this from Mumbai itself.
5. Details of the founders – age, educational background, work background. Where as the founder working right before they started the company?
Harshada Samudre , Graduate, Unicommerce Software companies.
6. Why did you select this particular name for the company? Any story or significance behind it?
Upon research and a few recommendations from family, I chose Prestige Identity as the company name as it seemed the best fit in that moment.
7. How does the operational model work? Please explain the process right from the conception of a product till it reaches the shelves.
We have an inhouse R&D division that scout new and innovative products, and then next step is to approach the company by sharing the Catalogue and samples with them.
Once we have their interest we work on creating samples. Later once the samples are approved the purchase order is processed as per the quantity. Finally after a thorough quality check we deliver the complete order with extras within the given timeline.
I am personally involved in each and every process from the inception till the final output, and this gives me immense joy and push as we are achieving little milestones every single day.
8. Share details of sourcing citing a few examples. Is the formulation, R&D, manufacturing and packaging in-house or outsourced?
Mumbai and Pune are our main cities that drive business. Sourcing city is Mumbai as many vendors are placed within this area.
We have a team for R&D that develop and scout new innovative products that help in amplification of the business.
9. What is your revenue model? How much do you charge for your product? Share details of the products?
We provide a wide range of products from pens, mugs , diaries and even to electronics. With this massive products range of up to 200 variety of products we reach a global audience. Average Price range of the same is from Rs 5000/- , average order quantity is Rs 1,00,000/-
10. Who is your target audience? How did you acquire your first customer? What marketing methods do you use to acquire your customers now?
Any corporates looking for innovative and experiential gifts is our consumer or target audience. Quality and finishing of our first samples is what converted my first order. We have initiated email marketing and some modes of performance marketing to acquire more consumers.
11. What is your customer base? Name a few notable important clients? What is the customer retention rate? Where are your products available? Do you have any offline presence?
All corporate and brand businesses are my customers. I have a roster of global and household brands like Mercedes, HRX by Hrithik Roshan, Saint Gobain, Walter, Vector, and Wurth to name a few. Uptill now we have retained 90% of our clients enabling repeat purchase orders.Products are available on our website prestigegifts.in
We currently do not have an offline presence.
12. What are your revenue data – average monthly or annual revenue, revenue generated last financial year, and revenue you are targeting for next year? What is the year-on-year or month-on-month growth percentage of revenue?
Annual revenue is 20 cr. Revenue generated last financial year is 16.95cr. Revenue Target for next year is 60Cr.
13. How much did you initially invest to start the company?
It is a Bootstrapped company with negligible investment and started making a profits from the first order itself.
14. Have you raised any external funding, please share the details?
No we haven’t raised any external funding as yet.
15. Who do you see yourself competing with? What is the USP of your startup?
Brandstik, Gift Planet, Gifting Ideas are a few of the competitors. However, we have been able to make a name in the industry given our delivery turnaround to be the fastest and most efficient hence we have been able to retain almost all of our clients. Our product service wrapped with quality in the delivery of our products is what makes us different in our industry.
16. What are the challenges that you have faced so far? How did you overcome them?
Being a female entrepreneur in this male dominated industry is one of the greatest challenge that I faced while growing this business. However , this helped me negotiate and break barriers with the vendors over the years giving them repeated business.
17. Future plans? Do you plan to raise funds, geographically expand or launch new products or services? By when? Any new products that you plan to launch?
I am very ecstatic to launch my award /reward warehousing system which helps clients to bring their bulk/ single orders that can be conveniently placed from the website. Future plans in particular would be to house and aid more international corporates.
18. What are the few trends that you noticed in the corporate gifting space during and post the pandemic?
As post pandemic, people have switched to having their own platforms and reaching the global audience. Environment- friendly gifts have also surged this year as there is a lot of trust the customers have in sustainability.
19. What are the trends in the gifting segment that you feel will make headlines in 2023?
Digital gifts and tokens seem to be inviting for the global audience to engage in a wider customer base. Also, enquiry on corporate gift cards is on the rise. This way, customers can buy what they need in the future too hence opening up opportunities for conversion of such digital items.
For more information, Please Visit: https://prestigegifts.in/
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