What I learnt from my Startup Skinztagram.com

It was in 2011 where a friend of mine asked me what business he could do and make some cash in the side till he finished college.

My Girlfriend and also my Co-founder (She gave the initial idea for a business) suggested that we start a customised phone accessories business, at that point there were no major players in India.

I told my friend that I could help him source the materials and machines (I had no clue how to do that) and he was on board with the whole idea, I went back home, did a small google search and found a YouTube video that taught me the whole process of making my own customized phone cover using sublimation in 30 Minutes, I then found manufacturers in China and placed my first order within 7 days.

I had Zero capital at that point and was promised by my friend that he would give me the initial amount to get the materials from China. Fast forward a couple weeks, He was in his hometown and I called him to make the first payment to the manufacturer, this is how the call went.

Me: Hey! I just placed the order with the manufacturer and I’m waiting for you to send me the amount.

Friend: Yeah! I’m not sure about the payment, my dad hasn’t given me any money and I can’t make the payment to the manufacturer.

End of the day I had to borrow money from my dad and my girlfriend (now fiancé) and purchase the machines required from the local market and in 30 days I was ready to sell. I was inspired by Instagram for my company’s name Skinztagram. My total investment roughly was about $4000 and that was a huge amount for me at that point.

I had setup my website with no knowledge about E-commerce and wasted about $200 on a website on which I couldn’t sell (It was more like a portfolio site). I started taking orders through Google Forms and fulfilling them on my own, this went on for about 2–3 months.

In the 3 months of selling door-to-door, I learnt how an E-commerce website works and setup my first Wordpress website with some help and again, spent about $350 on the website. Later, I learnt about Shopify (made my life so much more easier) and tied up with Paytm for a payment gateway and FedEx for shipping.

I started selling on marketplaces online and on my website and was making a decent amount every month (roughly $500 a month). I had a few customers who were running their own company and purchased their own designs in bulk (I stayed up till 3am to finish these orders because I wanted to make sure I ship them the very next day). I made product videos on my own.

By now I had more than 700 customers and about $15,000 in revenue of which almost half was re-invested in the company, I ran the company for about a Year and 8 months and that was when I decided to move on and start something bigger and better (currently working on an App called Buno with Jay Capitan and hoping to launch by the end of March, you can sign up for a beta on the website).

I sold my company for roughly $5000 (not the amount what I really wanted but I was okay with it) to one of my friends’ friend and now I just advise him whenever he needs help.

This was my first Startup, and I wouldn’t say I failed because I learnt a lot in those 2 years of running a small business. It has taught me how to talk to clients, make sales calls, marketing, managing finance and other day-to-day business activities. Let me remind you that I was the only employee in my company and was doing all this on my own.

1. Hire a team to help you grow the business

I was too stupid not to hire people because it was hard for me to trust them with my business. I was working on my own and thought that I could run this on my own and make it big. Never make this mistake!

2. Spend more on marketing

I only used Facebook as my marketing channel and had no team to market locally to friends. I was crushed by a bigger company who started a year later and their marketing was on point (even though their products were 2x my price)

3. Do not buy too much of inventory!

My friend (who was supposed to be my partner in this) did not calculate the exact inventory required and we ended up investing more than what we could sell.

Never invest in inventory until you have sales, because you don’t know how long you are going to sit with that inventory — Lori Greiner (Shark Tank S05E08)

4. Sell the company to a person who understands your vision

I sold my startup to a friends’ friend for about $5000, and he couldn’t see the vision I had. I see my company dying because I did not sell it to a person who understands the whole business (I sold it to someone who has no clue about anything in this business). I’ve given him enough advice on how he can take the company to the next level but he never wanted to spend a single penny on the company. He thought that buying it from me would instantly give him returns.

I’ve never written an article before in my life and this was my first attempt, I hope you liked it :)

If you would like to know more about my new startup visit bunoapp.com

Feel free to share your thoughts with me @deepesh.sondagar