Sisters-in-arms: D’Chica’s journey

Harnessing ‘power of Moms’ through business - D'Chica

Women have been through two revolutions - the right to vote and the drive towards workplace equality. The third women's revolution is about changing the face of entrepreneurship and it is going to be led by women. One such leader is Vani Chugh, the co-founder and Managing Partner of D’chica, an India-born, self-funded startup that is steadily strengthening its presence in the footwear, accessories and apparel industry for babies and young girls. Established in June 2014, by two sister-in laws, Vani Chugh and Richa Kapila, D’Chica designs and manufactures edgy, chic and comfortable designs with an aim to bring international fashion trends to young girls in India. The brand currently offers products in four key categories, namely footwear (for infants and Kids), apparel, hair accessories and kids Jewellery.

An alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India and Lady Shri Ram College, Vani established D’chica along with Richa Kapila, after a successful stint of over five years as a journalist across leading electronic TV channels including Star News, IBN7 and TV Today. Prior to launching D’chica, Vani began her stint as an entrepreneur in 2010 by launching VOM, a Hyderabad based digital marketing consultancy. VOM wrapped up operations in 2014, after the phenomenal growth and expansion of D’chica.

Here is more on Chugh’s journey to empowerment through entrepreneurship as narrated by Vani to Baishali Mukherjee.

Personal experience that triggered entrepreneurial journey

It was a personal experience that triggered my entrepreneurial desire to launch D’chica. While shopping for my daughter Devyani one day, I realized that finding chic, comfortable, durable and affordable products for young girls was a herculean task. I realized that there was a market requirement and an opportunity to fill the gap that existed. I discussed the idea of creating a brand with Richa and D’chica was established in June 2014. Richa is the one who has a natural flair for design and we decided to create something that was unique, made in India, looked premium and designed to ensure our little customers stayed comfortable and happy.

In the initial days, I used to juggle between multiple roles that stretched from being our brand’s social media manager, sales and marketing manager and customer care executive all rolled into one. Richa was our one-woman army of designer, production manager, inventory manager, packing and dispatch executive. 

Growth chart

Both Richa and I put in all our savings into this venture, and have grown D'chica by putting the profits back into our business. We plan to go for external funding sometime next year. We started by designing and manufacturing from our residence and we have now grown to over 7000+ SKUs across our product categories. The brand has been steadily growing at a rate of 100 per cent year-on-year since inception and has offices across three locations in Delhi/NCR with a team of 15 people working with us.

The brand clocked GMV sales of over Rs 2.5 crore at MRP in 2016-17 and plans to double the figure by end of 2017-18. D’chica plans to triple its online product catalogue to offer more choices to the fashion aware Indian mothers. In spite of being a new kid on the block, D’chica sells around 7000+ SKUs across categories. The brand currently retails through major e-commerce portals including Amazon, Jabong, Firstcry and Hopscotch etc. D’Chica’s products are also available at First Cry franchise stores in leading cities including Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Indore etc.

Besides having a strong presence in leading Indian metros, D’Chica also has presence across multiple Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns such as Indore, Vizag, Vishakhapatnam, Patna, Shillong amongst others, thereby making stylish, high fashion products accessible to consumers through hand-picked outlets.

Challenges

Vani Chugh

Surprisingly our biggest challenge wasn't sales. It was managing the inventory and ensuring we were able to sell everything what we had to offer and reproduce what was doing well in the market. We soon realized that in this business, the idea was to get fresh fashion out every month, while ensuring minimal dead stock. That meant, getting the right balance between the number of SKUs to produce, predicting buyer behavior and liquidating slow moving stock fast.

Promoting ‘Made in India’

Most of the current market players either design and manufacture typically India inspired products like Mojaris, Kolhapuri's etc, else end up importing 'me too' designs from China and sell them at low prices; else make shoes which are priced premium.

D’chica has taken the lead in popularizing the ‘Made in India’ products that are fashion forward in nature with a high focus on absolute comfort and attention to minutest of details; key aspects which the founding team believe are often missing in Chinese imported products that have otherwise flooded the kid’s footwear market. D’chica’s products are not just in sync with latest international fashion trends but are also competitively priced without compromising on quality or comfort.

What makes D’chica special?

We experiment with new shapes and designs in every collection. Whether it’s about giving plain old flip flops a fresh designer make-up, making kids jewellery look chic or making footwear that's comparable to International design, yet is available at “desi” price, D’chica does it all.

A brand that resonates with today’s ‘Power Moms’ D’Chica is simplifying shopping for a busy, on-the-go, yet stylish and fashion-conscious mother. The brand’s vast product range that is manufactured in-house in India includes Mojri-loafer fusion shoes, ballerina style tie-up sneakers, low-heel wedges, mid-calf boots, leggings and funky accessories for different occasions.

Our products focus on absolute comfort and attention to minutest of details. Nominal product price range, starting from Rs 499 to 799, makes the shoes affordable to the premium shopper mom- who doesn't need to think twice before making a purchase?

Way ahead

Chinese imported products still pose competition. However, we will continue designing and manufacturing ‘Made in India’ quality products. We are looking at creating a stronger online presence by tripling our online product catalogue in order to offer more choices to the fashion aware Indian mothers. 

Do you vouch for the ‘power of Moms’ to create and make a difference in the world? Do share your views.