An idea can change your life. Like Swiggy and Zomato, Tatkallorry is the online delivery platform for tiles and sanitaryware manufactured in the ceramic capital of India, Morbi. Tatkallorry is a venture of a woman entrepreneur and it specializes in the drop delivery mechanism—first mile to the last mile—in the door-step delivery of tiles and sanitaryware. Nikita Maheshwari, co-founder of Tatkallorry talks about her plans and the importance of the online delivery platform in the tiles and sanitaryware sector.
How would you describe your journey as an entrepreneur?
The common denominator in all successful entrepreneurs is resilience, and it takes a lot of courage to be exceptional.
Give us an insight into Tatkalorry’s services.
Tatkalorry is a specialized logistics and supply chain management firm specializing in ceramic tiles and sanitary products. We are experts in drop delivery techniques – from the first to the last mile. We are essentially the Swiggy of Tiles and Sanitarywares from this small town in Gujarat, and we charge just for delivery.
What are the marketing strategies applied by you for Tatkalorry?
We mainly go by door-to-door and direct marketing. Since Tatkalorry is a business-to-business service, personal contact is encouraged more
What is the one thing that always motivates you to grind and work harder?
The notion that you are constructing something greater than yourself. When you create anything with the intention of making it larger than yourself, complications are inevitable. The issues may not necessarily originate as a result of your actions; they may come as a result of market conditions and a range of uncontrollable external variables. According to you, your business may be operating brilliantly. Even so, it would not have been prepared for a flood, an all-India strike, Covid, or a variety of other unforeseen circumstances. My father used to tell me a phrase – “Guzar jayega, wakt hai. “Raste se rasta nikal jayega,” which translates as “Time does not remain constant; it is constantly changing.” Continue forward, and you will discover a way out.” You must maintain movement. When you are responsible for a team of 50 people, you truly do not have the choice of giving up and making individual decisions without consulting them. Thus, what inspires me to work harder is the desire to assist individuals in becoming better after meeting me. The true flex in today’s society is that you improve the lives of those who come into contact with you.
What would be your advice to the young entrepreneurs
A-My father instilled in me the value of perseverance and resilience. I’d like to share this with others as well. My father explained to me, “Perseverance and resilience cannot be substituted. When propelled by passion, one is destined to fall, learn, and rise again. You will make errors, and that is perfectly normal. Accept responsibility for your errors, learn from them, and move on. You gain knowledge by your blunders.”
What were the challenges you had to face during the journey from day one to where you are today?
Logistics and supply chain management is a service-based industry that is per se a male-dominated industry. In such a scenario being a woman in top-level management has its own challenges. Most of the people and laborers are taken by surprise interacting with a woman and are even more reluctant in following instructions passed by a woman. I have to regularly engage with a wide variety of people from laborers, porters drive to chief executive officers. It is very tough to change gears every now and then depending on the recipient.
While I was pursuing my Masters’s in Business Entrepreneurship I could not help but be influenced by a barrage of tech-oriented start-ups. However, as I developed a keen understanding of the business I realized that tech start-ups more or less enhance an already existing thriving business. Less and fewer number young entrepreneurs for core-manufacturing industry-related and allied businesses with the ability to transform any sector from grass-roots. My belief in entering such a core area was fortified by the vision of our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during the Make in India campaign. With the resources of the Government being channelized in promoting manufacturing industries, I was motivated to contribute by supporting such a splurge in manufacturing by developing an effective logistics and supply chain management system.
Lastly, there is no gainsaying from the fact that I had nothing but merely an idea and the will to execute and therefore, I have started my business with great financial risk as it is all through loans.
