In this immensely competitive world of digital marketing startups, it has become very difficult to stand out in the market but Mr Vigneshwaran Pitchai and his colleagues believe in Performance marketing and gaining new milestones when their clients achieve new milestones.
He talks about his struggle back in the day in 2017 when he and his partners started a small business in Shopify which is flourishing today. Keep reading till the end as he gives some great business ideas too!
Tell us more about your company QuartrDesign?
We are inveterate E-commerce storytellers!
From website creation to performance marketing, we are with you, writing your story, integrating your views and creating a niche for your brand. We give your brand the nourishment it needs!
Our company designs stories with the right mix of imagination, innovation and entertainment. We concentrate on weaving a web of events with the kind of personalization, which helps a brand to develop an everlasting connection with its customers. Involving creativity, imagination, real events and entertainment- we provide varied services for all-around development and undertake effective measures to increase online presence. We blend all aspects and build a meaningful and powerful brand presence.
In brief, First-generation entrepreneurs took a loan of 10 L and generated a 3 crores turnover in 2.5 years and yearly growing 240 %.
How did you get your idea or concept for this business?
Where it all started
So, the three of us were colleagues at a legal tech company- with a common passion for technology and marketing. Backed with multiple years of experience, we wanted to implement all our learning in a business.
Coming from humble backgrounds, our years of savings, a loan went into starting a small business in the line of fashion accessories, Quartrinch- a completely new area to explore, had to do a lot of research, long nights, long days, lots of travel- we moved cities- believing it will all come together. The struggles made us release the true story of an entrepreneur, lots of sacrifices- but it was all worth it- we build our own Shopify site and got the ball rolling. We did everything with our capacity- we had the design, tech and marketing all covered. Our client loved the products; every ping that was received indicating a sale on the Shopify store- would make our day. It was a dream come true- we started a new business in the year 2017.
But as days went by the sales were coming, new clients were building, but somewhere we didn’t have the funds to sustain- It was an expensive space to be in even if we were breaking even in 6 months, that wasn’t sufficient for us to sustain. At this point, we were on the verge to quit and get back to our 9-5 jobs, back to what our families believed was the right thing to do, back to what was the norm.
So, this is where our website brought us a ray of hope. One of our customers loved the website we had built on Shopify- so, they wanted us to build a site for them, a new brand, an enthusiastic entrepreneur, a big dream- we just couldn’t say No- This was the start of Quartrdesign- our journey with Shopify, the first step towards our dream.
How do you cope up with the intense competition in your field of digital marketing and web development?
Most digital marketing companies charge clients based on Advertising spend- we follow a very different approach, we charge based on milestones. Our primary focus is Performance Marketing. This approach helps us grow with the client for a longer duration- It’s a very satisfactory experience. QD works like an in-house market team, our main aim is to build powerful and impactful brands, each brand we work with starts building an identity of its own. This has helped us grow through word of mouth.
What ideas and techniques make QuartrDesign stand out in the market?
Like I mentioned earlier, we take the in-house marketing team strategy. A full-fledged team is available at the client’s disposal 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. This helps us reach millstones quicker and the revenues multiply faster.
Another approach, Apart from design and development we also assist recruit a resource to co-ordinate with us from their end this way we take care of marketing, the client takes care of production. Additionally, we come out with product development suggestions and help the client invest and get invested, when ready.
After all this success, what do you struggle with now?
Always, one cannot be a winner. Sometimes we make the right decisions, wrong in the day-to-day operations of the business. Starting a business and running a company successfully for years is easy. Most of the time issues arise while scaling up and not having the right resources. Always, hiring the right resources is the most challenging part of any business.
Who is your role model and why?
I started my career with Zoho. My inspiration and aspirations grow over time looking at entrepreneurs and market changers like- Mr Sridhar Vembu, Mr GirishMathrubootham, Mr Aravind Parthiban, Mr Suresh Kumar etc.
How do you plan to expand your business?
We honestly take each day as it comes. We grow in a direction that makes us better than yesterday and strives to improve quality and customer satisfaction. Every client milestone is a milestone for us.
Yes, in the near future a bigger team. In the latter half, we want to explore the Saas Industry.
What is your opinion will be your biggest achievement?
Professionally, our client going IPO J
Personally, there is No achievement in life. We may fail or succeed during this journey. At end of the day, a happy and healthy lifestyle is all that matters. Whenever we hit rock bottom of life, we will bounce back again stronger.
Tell us about a project or accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career.
Quartrdesign helped our clients, Using Shopify technology generated revenue around 80crs and shipped 3.5L orders and ads spend 2.5crs in yeas of 2020 and growing 3x revenue generation of our clients.
From 2017, Quartrdesign has been nothing short of living everything we wanted to do. There is no looking back from here- We continue working with our first client that came with a sale of 25,000 a month, today they clock a sale of 3 crores a month- close to being a market leader in the near future.
In 2020 – Our clients, using Shopify technology generated 36 Crores revenue, shipped 3.5L orders and Spent 2.5 Crores and grew 3x.
70% of our clients are women entrepreneurs making 50L- 3crore business from home using Shopify technology.
If you had one piece of advice to someone who is just starting his or her business, what would it be?
If you want to start a business, please work for someone in the same industry for a year to understand his or her operation. When you’re investing money into the business, always start with a small investment. For the first couple of years, you can’t take money out of the business. The initial phase- it’s about survival and running your company and paying your team.
Maintaining the positive cash flow in the company is important- It helps you run your business peacefully. So try to control your unwanted expenses like furniture, interior, laptop and office in the big city etc. Do it if you require it. Mostly try to keep the cash balance to take care of your employees.
When you’re into business if something is not working change your decision at some point to improve the organization, don’t be adamant to accept your failure. Nothing is wrong with it.
Kindly choose your partner carefully. Always don’t fight for your leadership role and having power in the company. That will not help you to grow in the journey together and your partner should be valued by the relationship not by money.
