Leaders

The most important aspect of doing E-business is that it allows companies to reach more customers and have national and international market approaches. After realizing the importance of E-business, Swati Bansal grabbed the opportunity during the COVID-19 and co-founded the True Wholesale app to enable small shop owners to source their inventory online. She has the ability to understand the market gap and envision a solution to address the exact pain point. She also understands and articulates unstated customer needs and plans accordingly to fulfil those needs. She considers herself a lifelong learner and has a sense of direction and perseverance to stay put in the game for the long term.

Swati Bansal engages in an exclusive interaction with Women Entrepreneur Magazine.

Take Us Through Your Early Educational And Professional Background.

I have completed my graduation from The International College for Girls (ICG), Jaipur and I have also completed my post-graduation in Computer Application from Banasthali Vidyapeeth Jaipur Center. I started my professional journey by working for HCL in the HR department and later on, I started my own HR consulting firm Tatva Consulting in Noida, where I was helping IT companies to hire top management and senior IT professionals.

In my previous experience as an HR consultant, I had to interact with many candidates to finalize the right fitment. The same experience helped me when I interacted with shop owners to understand their pain points and worked out a solution, which met their needs. What led to the foundation of True Wholesale and what is the underlying idea behind it along with its unique special features?

During my interactions with Grocery and General shop owners, I realized that they are dependent on the wholesale market to source the required stationery products which means they need to regularly visit the wholesale market to source the inventory. Some of these shops are run by single owners, hence they need to shut their shop for a minimum of half a day to source their inventory and lose their business during that time. Consumer buying patterns change very frequently owing to school holidays, exam periods, practical periods, and various other art & craft activities in the schools. Shop owners lose business, as they are not able to source the required inventory as per market demand on a regular basis.

During covid times, the sourcing for these shop owners became even more difficult as Govt only allowed e-commerce & essential commodities shops. Wholesale markets were shut down and even some brands’ distributors were not supplying any inventory to shop owners. We could clearly see that there was a problem and market gap, which we could address. We thought of a platform for Stationery & General shop owners to source all types of stationery products without visiting the wholesale market and this was the time when I and my Husband brought True Wholesale to existence.

Tell Us About The Roles And Responsibilities You Shoulder And As A Leader, What Is Your Primary Focus Area?

As the co-founder of the firm, I am responsible for Interacting with customers & planning the sourcing of products as per customer needs. In this business model, keeping large assortment and ensuring high fulfillment rates is the key to business growth. I also take care of business development activities like planning customer campaigns and overseeing digital marketing initiatives.

What All Challenges Do You Face In Your Position And How Do You Overcome Those Challenges?

As an entrepreneur, one goes through the cycle of ups and downs in the business. It was a really tough and challenging task to understand the customer behavior and what makes them comfortable with ordering on a digital platform. I always interacted with customers regularly and my prior experience as an HR consultant helped me immensely to understand their psyche and their needs and we used these key insights to design our app interface and marketing campaigns accordingly to fulfil all their needs.

"Remain committed to your Goals and continuously Keep working towards Them"

Another challenge, equally important, has been a personal challenge that is, as a woman entrepreneur and mother of two kids, it is always tough to meet their time expectations and my business venture at the same time. My family, kids, and especially my husband have supported me in this journey and helped me overcome this personal challenge.

What Has Been Your Most Remarkable Achievement So Far And What Is The Driving Force Behind Your Success As A Business Leader? What Advice You Would Like To Give Young Women And Girls Who Are Aspiring To Become Business Leaders In The Future?

I always count my customer testimonials as the key milestones in my journey, whether it is during my role as an HR consultant or in my current role as an e-commerce entrepreneur. My journey in True Wholesale has been quite fulfilling so far, where we got calls from various shop owners including some females and retired people, who described how we have impacted their lives.

A sense of impacting the lives of people positively is the key driving forces as a leader so far. My advice to all entrepreneurs and especially to young women and girls would be to identify your passion and follow it up with perseverance. As females, we are required to take career breaks sometimes but we should be able to quickly bounce back and take the command.

Swati Bansal, Co-Founder, Truewholesale

An Optimist, Inquisitive, and Explorer, Swati Bansal has years of working experience before co-founding her own company called TrueWholesale.

Quick Facts:

• Educational Qualification: BA from ICG Jaipur, and MCA from Banasthali Vidyapeeth Jaipur

• Headquarter & Other Office Locations: F-44, Nandpuri Extension, Swez Farm, Sodala Area, Jaipur-06

• A business leader you admire: Falguni Nayar, Founder of Nykaa.