‘’Back everything with numbers. Document things. Delegate. Keep communication clear.’’–Shweta Thakur advises young and rising entrepreneurs.
Shweta Thakur is the founder and CEO of Wildermart, a healthy and sustainable online grocery store based in Bangalore. This online store offers a conscious solution to help everyday consumption be clean, green, and earth-friendly. Wildermart provides completely natural, organic, and vegan products in different delivery experiences. They ensure a value proposition of health and sustainability.
In this interview with Business Upside, Shweta Thakur shares her entrepreneurship journey with Wildermart. Moreover, she also talks about other things such as a business idea, mission, current business strategies, marketing approach, recruitments, challenges, and generating new ideas.
Edited Excerpts from the Interview
Business Upside [BU]: How did you get your idea or concept for the business?
Shweta Thakur [ST]: I had been a conscious consumer for seven years, and every time I went grocery shopping, it was a long process. One store for organic, one for vegan, one for FNV, etc.
We had started with a fest format – Wilderfest – which was the first vegan and sustainable fest in Bangalore. The idea was to share this way of life with everyone and make it easy for conscious people – to find and get everything they want with the same ease as everyone else. This fest evolved into a more permanent format – Wildermart.
Business Upside[BU]: What was your mission at the outset?
Shweta Thakur[ST]: The mission is to make conscious consumption easy and accessible.
Today, a lot of people want to make more conscious choices. But since it is not easy, they slow down the process of intent to action. Wildermart will help all these to make more informed choices with the convenience of technology.
Business Upside[BU]: How do you market your business, and which method has been most successful?
Shweta Thakur[ST]: Our first year was to find a customer validation and product-market fit. For the same, we used online and offline marketing strategies. We use all digital platforms – social media, emailers, WhatsApp, Google, Meta, etc. We do collaborations with other brands. We have done a lot of flea markets in the city, and we have also done curated events with the purpose of community building.
Business Upside[BU]: What is unique about your business?
Shweta Thakur[ST]: Today, the grocery business is led by discounts and speed. However, we are changing it with our value proposition of health & sustainability. We offer customers a different product offering and a different delivery experience. We provide only organic, natural, vegan products with minimal plastic and emissions.
Business Upside[BU]: What have been some of the most important lessons that have influenced the way you work?
Shweta Thakur[ST]: It is having plan B, C, D. Getting your hands dirty – you should know and understand every part of your business. I use the strategy of simplification for that. Make everything simple, understand the why.
Business Upside[BU]: What do you look for in an employee?
Shweta Thakur[ST]: We are looking for people who understand our vision and are willing to put in their passion and hard work to realize it. We are disrupting the ecosystem, and we need a young, like-minded team. They should be flexible, willing to dump an idea and move forward, and ready to test out things.
Business Upside[BU]: If you had one piece of advice for someone just starting, what would it be?
Shweta Thakur[ST]: Back everything with numbers. Document things. Delegate. Keep communication clear.
Business Upside[BU]: What were the biggest roadblocks or challenges you had when you first started in the profession, and how did you overcome them?
Shweta Thakur[ST]: I have been an entrepreneur for ten years now, so the everyday challenges were something I was used to. But this business made me start learning from scratch. I had to learn finance, operations, compliances, and more. And managing perishables is a lesson that continues.
[BU]: What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
Shweta Thakur[ST]: It’s too early for that 🙂
[BU]: How did you plan to provide better results in a crisis?
Shweta Thakur[ST]: We were both in a crisis. We launched in April end of last year – one week later was a second lockdown. We figured it out.
[BU]: What is the next goal you wish to accomplish?
Shweta Thakur[ST]: We want to acquire a certain number of satisfied customers in the coming year while building an operational model that’s replicable. That will take us to the next stage.
More information:
- Company URL: https://wildermart.com/
- My company LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wildermart/
- My LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shweta-thakur-08375716
- My Designation: Founder and CEO of Wildermart.
- Swaroop Mohan’s Designation: Co-Founder, Wildermart
