Ahmedabad based ‘The W Trunk’ promoting women entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is a celebrated word among the millennial, more so if one stays in Gujarat. Corporate executives have left high paying jobs to pursue their passion and step in the shoes of entrepreneurship. Students have started start-ups immediately after the college. Women have started their home business in jewellery, home decor, fashion or baking after their career breaks.Each one, be it corporate executive or a student or a woman entrepreneur, looks for a broader audience for their business but only few manage to tap the pulse. What if someone managed all the visibility hassles for you while you focused on developing the product?

 

Dream come true right?

Well.. ‘The W Trunk’ is one such e-commerce portal based out of Ahmedabad, started by three friends – Priyadarshini Rathore, Vishwa Bhatt Weir and Dipit Kochar. They act as a catalyst for women entrepreneurs and help them by showcasing their products in front of a global audience. It is an online destination for those women who dream of fulfilling their desire to start up something of their own. They curate and showcase new talent on their portal – www.wtrunk.com

Ahead of their upcoming exhibition named ‘The W trunk ‘17’ , Team Ciceroni got in touch with the founders to get an insight about their portal, their journey and future plans.

Read on the excerpts from the conversation…

1. Share the story with us about inception of The W-Trunk?

The W Trunk began its journey in 2015 with an aim to create a platform for women where they can transform their dreams into a tangible reality and turn them into businesses that make good money. To do this, we are increasing their reach to their potential clients through our networking and e-commerce platform.

In March 2016, we launched our online portal www.thewtrunk.com which is aimed at forming a community of women entrepreneurs who lead small/medium scale businesses and to provide them with a platform to sell their products online. Over the last one year, we have reached out to over 150 women entrepreneurs through our website and our on-ground event.

2. What were the challenges that you faced when you started ‘The W-Trunk’?

We are a team of three at ‘The W Trunk’. We all share our passion for fostering women entrepreneurship and that got us together to create this platform. Yes, we did face challenges while setting up ‘The W Trunk’. Primary challenge was to change the thought process of people and make them go online. It was a task to source such women entrepreneurs who would want to take the next step and go online.

Most of these talented women entrepreneurs offer customised products; therefore the longevity of their products on the website depends on a number of unique pieces they create. They work on a small scale therefore at times they do not realise the power of good photography and presentation.

We had to explain them the benefits of going digital and presenting the product in an aesthetic format.

3. How has ‘The W-Trunk’ evolved since 2015?

Since its inception, The W- Trunk has brought to town two on-ground exhibitions which saw the participation of over 150 women entrepreneurs. Both these events gave us an opportunity to offer them participation on our online platform. By way of these two platforms – online line visibility and on ground events, we have been able to bring to the forefront many talented first time entrepreneurs.

4. Why should people visit the ‘The W-Trunk’ exhibit when there are already so many other exhibitions in the city?

‘The W Trunk’ is essentially a platform for enabling and fostering women entrepreneurs. We work on subscription basis model with women entrepreneurs while offering them hassle free front end and back end management. We do not charge any commission on their sales. Our curation is our forte.

Our exhibitions around Women’s Day focus not only on promoting women entrepreneurs but also on creating awareness around women’s issues. We aim to be an ecosystem that promotes creative dialogues and business opportunities centred around women.

5. Out of all the labels that you have been associated with, which are your personal favourite?

It is difficult to pick and choose! All these labels are outstanding in their own way, but to name a few Atrangi, Nauka Shah, R – Clothing, Design Yogi, Hygiene and you are some of the brands we follow.

6. Are there any criteria that you look forward while selecting labels for your curation?

We mainly look at the uniqueness of the products, the entrepreneur’s zeal to take the brand forward and their creativity.

7. How do you support women entrepreneurs in their promoting their business?

I always choose comfort over style. I have to go to studio every day and I need breathable handwoven fabrics to keep me comfortable all through the day. However I do add some interesting element in case I have to attend an evening function straight from work.

8. Among the new breed of designers, who are the other contemporaries that you like?

Our online platform offers these women an opportunity to display their products digitally at no hidden costs. We do not charge commission on their sales and we offer them an opportunity to sell products for free till they achieve a sale of Rs. 5000 on the website.

Subsequently, they are free to choose a half yearly/yearly subscription option where we offer different services to them.

By doing this, we are removing the first barrier of how and why of digital presence for these entrepreneurs. Most of them are home based entrepreneurs who are not very well versed with technology. ‘The W Trunk’ helps them gain a broader customer base across country and increase the brand credibility.