Ten&Below: They care for kids with best natural products

Here are the excerpts from the interview.

Can you take us through your journey as a businesswoman?

As a woman entrepreneur it's exciting, in terms of seeing how my vision of kids having fun is really working out and that parents now are more than happy that their kids have a place to have fun. As a woman entrepreneur I am happy that I have at least stepped into this field of business and that women are also equally talented as men and I am also happy that I can bring change in the day-to-day life habits of kids.

What is the concept behind your startup?

For me, as a mother, I want nothing but the best for my kids. The best childhood, the best friends, the best lifestyle and most importantly the best memories. "Ten and below" is one such place where I feel kids can get that. Along with memories, kids will learn about self-pampering and self- care, which is very important to love oneself. We are not doing something new. It is all what our grandparents used to do. Maintain the skin and make you look perfect.

How different is your store from other similar ones existing?

I don't know if I really have a competitor as such right now because we have built such a unique place, a one-stop place where you have a salon, spa, clothing shop and we're now bringing up an end-to-end play area. This is a place where anyone ten and below can come down and have fun.

Can you tell us about the struggles and challenges you faced during the initial days of the store?

If you see the sector that I have picked up is an area which we have to be very careful about. For instance, you wouldn't want your kids to go into the hands of someone who has no experience. As you've seen, the clothes here are all in-house, the fabrics are all hand-picked to find the highest quality possible clothing material and setting. All together it was quite challenging but I'm glad I was able to pull it off well.

How much time and money did you spend to start this business?

The cost part, I would like to keep it confidential for now. But in terms of time, I've given almost all my time and effort for at least a year. I've also taken the time of my kids and my friends' kids because they were my guinea pigs where I had to test everything on them because if I am not happy for my kids to wear it, I'm sure nobody else would feel the same.

Have you applied for a bank loan, if yes, do banks give loan easily or is it time taking?

It's a family funded business, by my husband, mother and myself. When I got the idea of opening the store, my family encouraged me. Therefore, we did not have to go for a loan, but in future if I required, I might go for it.

What kind of products do you use at your spa and salon, as kids are sensitive?

So far as the salon and spa are concerned, we use all non-toxic products. If you see, the nail polish is imported from Canada. The products we use for the skin are all natural and non-toxic such as natural cocoa powder and natural brown sugar. These days, a lot of them are having problems with letting their kids be cared for elsewhere. We are trying to encourage people to get their kids into a child-friendly environment at a nominal cost.

What are the ways you are using to market your store?

I was only able to make the products available at the store but it was Pradeep and his Axlrdata team did the yeoman's task of marketing for us. They have done a really good job of marketing our products in the right way possible.

What could be your advice to people who want to start a business?

First up, I would say is believe in yourself. If you have a dream, it will come true. What I would also suggest young entrepreneurs is first try to do your market research. Spend some time to understand what is the scenario and see how people are reacting to your thoughts. Every business is new, you might expect yours to go in a certain way and it might happen in another way but there are always ways to correct it. You need to build products or do something for the people and not for yourself and I learnt it the hard way. I'm really liking the initial days of business where I am getting to learn what parents and kids are liking so I'm able to explore and expand my brand. For everyone out there, just take time, and put your time and effort into it.