Q) First up, elucidate how and why did you start your journey as an entrepreneur? 

@Manya: The reason for starting my journey as an entrepreneur is my family circumstances as my father left us on 20^th November 2021 and I was just 16 at that time. We are 4 siblings and I am the second eldest, so all the responsibility came on me and my elder sister. I am a fashion model, but due to lockdown, there was no modelling consignment too, so there was anxiety to earn. I wanted to do something for my family, this is how the store @thestuff_youlike came into existence. During this period, I had no single penny to invest in the business, but I had a few of my jewellery, like earrings, so I just clicked the photo of those earrings and added them to my Instagram page. Soon after a day, I received one order from someone and I told everything to my mother. She supported me and she gave me Rs.500 for investing out of which, I bought a few products. The investment of Rs. 500 turned to a profit of Rs. 2000 for me as I got my orders. My business is on right track from 1-2 orders in a week,  to now receiving  200+ orders in a month. I am blessed for my #thestuffyoulikefamily and blessed to be working with Oyela too.

.Q) when you were to start an online store, what all stratagems did you follow?

@Manya: People often call me a social butterfly because I am starting for hours on Instagram, looking for online shopping stuff. This stuck with me with starting my store. The major step for starting your store is- BELIEVE AND PATIENCE. The key ingredients are most important in business because, in the beginning, you receive only 3-5 orders in a month, so believe hard in yourself and have patience, rest everything would fall in place. 

Q) With the zip-zap of your daily routine, make us understand how you keep yourself motivated to go on with your store? Whether it is a part-time thing for you or a full-time business?

@Manya: Right now, my only focus is on the store. Oh, it is for sure a full-time thing to me as I work 12 hours or more in a day. It is my business that keeps me motivated because I am aware of the hard work I put into this business. From start to now, my spirit to achieve someone keeps me going through all of it. 

Q) Moving ahead, as the pandemic attenuates, do you plan to go ahead with your store?

@Manya: Absolutely, I mean this is what I do for a living right now and will never stop working for it. I even plan to expand the store to make it large for my customers to choose from. Oyela has surely provided me with a platform to get me some kind of recognition and appreciate it very much. 

Q) We would love to know your working experience with Oyela and how we can help you sustain your store?

@Manya: Oyela is definitely helping with customers investing their trust in us. We are well aware that people mostly BELIEVE on website pages and that Oyela is one such platform for them. While all other websites charge around 15-20% or more for using their website, Oyela is allocating everything for free to us which is quite amazing. To me, it has for sure become a left hand.

From my experience with Oyela, everything is positive and super easy. It is helping us in our sales and also providing us and the customers with so many attractive offers.

Q) The naïve entrepreneurs would love to hear some advice from your end, what are your suggestions to them? Are there any steps that need to be followed?

@Manya: I would love to add something to help them. Many people have the mentality that they need to make a big investment for opening an online store, but to be honest, if you wish to do something, you need not look for a certain period, just make it happen because every hour is like a pearl to make use of. Money is not the only requirement for setting up a business, you need your phone and internet, and boom, you are good to go. 

Q) You have been there in this business for a long, tell us about any sort of bad experiences which you have been through while making your business happen?

@Manya: Yes there has been quite a few, the very first one is, abusive customers. Many big personalities ask for free products and then if I deny, they demean you, this feels bad. While most of the bad experience for me is, abusive customers, anyway I feel that it is also the part and parcel of a business. There is always teaching from any sort of experience, good or bad. Bad experiences are better as they teach us life lessons. 

Q) Wrapping our sesh, talking of online business in broader perspective, how do you see it going forward after the pandemic?

@Manya: Amm… I think it has bloomed more after the pandemic as the sellers can explore more and the customers have a wide variety to choose from. I feel, the pandemic has made customers shop online and there are 80% of people who love to shop only online because it saves their time. Being a fashion model, the online business in the fashion world has helped me to grow drastically and has been a brownie for my store too. I don’t think people will now move towards fast fashion because they are well aware of the pros of sustainable fashion. 

We are absolutely delighted to know our Oyela SheEo much better and hope you succeed onwards and upwards from here. Oyela is grateful to be with you through this journey and make it worth the experience.