Johnny Depp said, “My body is my journal and my tattoos are my story.” Our culture yearns for freedom, individualism, and the ability to express oneself. It’s not surprising, then, that body inking is becoming more popular. Some people use it to express their sentiments and opinions, while others use it to promote their identity. Getting a tattoo responsibly or even getting trained to become a professional can be a tough job. But not when Storiyaan is here! We interviewed the founders of “The TattooPedia”, Keshav Singhania, and Shrishti Aggarwal, who along with their team are determined to cater to your tattoo needs!
With backgrounds in Finance and Economics, Keshav and Shrishti’s zeal to come up with an out of the box venture led to the establishment of The TattooPedia which strives to provide a common platform for those wanting to get a tattoo and even those who wish to promote their tattoo services to reach a larger audience. After a lot of hard work and dedication, within a year, the start-up has expanded into Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh too!
Stay engaged as the founders of The TattooPedia take us through their journey, their views on the tattoo industry, and a word of advice for young entrepreneurs too!
THE TATTOOPEDIA- ONE-STOP SHOP FOR TATTOO LOVERS
Interview
Questions and answers
What was it about the tattoo industry that caught your attention and made you decide to make something out of it?
Well, the tattoo design industry is rapidly growing in India with young stars gaining interest in the field of body art and modifications. Also, the industry is very disorganized and there was a strong need for a player in the market to organize and manage everything under one umbrella. Further, the artists faced numerous challenges to reach prospective customers as not everyone can afford the cost of having a personalized website. Despite the tattoo industry having so much potential, there’s still a gap that exists between tattoo artists and tattoo enthusiasts. So, we thought of becoming the bridge that fills the gap between them!
What are your thoughts on the wave of startup and entrepreneurship in India? How do you think it can help the nation?
We think that, for a variety of reasons, entrepreneurs have the potential, on a local and national level, to change the way we live and work. Through their projects, they are willing to take on the risk and effort to create positive changes in society. And personally, we love the idea of creating an idea of your own and then building it from scratch. It is an experience of a lifetime! And we think start-ups would increase the jobs and higher incomes, in the form of higher tax revenue and expenses which lead to better national income.
When you first established The TattooPedia, what were some of the thoughts running through your mind regarding the venture?
Firstly, we were not very sure where to start with. But we were very sure about our why and how. We then did all our research on the industry and tried to figure out what are the issues faced by the people (artists) in this industry as well as by an enthusiast. We connected to some of the leading artists of this industry and suppliers to figure out how and where we can start and what all we can develop for an easy life of an artist. We were a little worried if everything would go according to our plan or not. But by God’s grace and endless hard work of our team, things got executed exactly how we wanted them to be! And now, as we speak, we already are operating extensively across 4 countries and would be going global from 1st April 2022.
What were some of the obstacles that you had to face in the initial days and how did you overcome them?
For starters, we were new to this industry, people didn’t knew about us, they were unsure about our performance, and lots more, but slowly and consistently, we were moving forward towards our goals. Mostly, where we faced challenges was figuring out the right resources for our platform. In the initial few weeks, it took multiple calls and follow-ups to convince an artist to register with us, but with the consistent performance of our team and their hard work, these just went automatic, people started talking about us in a positive way, we started getting registrations without even having the need to call or message an artist! And most importantly, these artists also started getting a lot of queries and business from us!
Tell us about some of the biggest risks that you have taken regarding the industry that turned out to be the best decisions for it?
Working on an idea that no one else thinks is important and making a start-up out of it is in itself the biggest risk. For us, the biggest risks were investing so much time and effort into a venture which we started as a passion along with our other full-time roles. We invested our time and money into something which started out of a passion and it was our very first venture. So, risks were involved since the beginning but we were very sure about what we wanted and we did everything we could possibly do to get it!
You have expanded your horizon abroad as well. How does the tattoo industry in these countries differ from one another?
Yes, we have our venture expanded in other neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan as well! We are also planning to go global very soon. The industry works very differently outside India, especially in the west and European nations. The reason is the openness of trying a new thing, the openness of mind, a tattoo isn’t considered as a taboo there, etc. Further, in India, we have less than 2% of people who have a tattoo while in the west and European nations, the numbers are approx. 45% & 65% respectively. So, if we just talk about the numbers only, the market there is way bigger.
The TattooPedia commenced resolving the issue of widespread yet decentralized information about the tattoo industry. How far do you believe you have been successful in achieving this aim?
When we started off, our main aim was to break the barriers and spread positivity about tattoos and the industry and provide all the services under one roof. There was so much decentralized information which people for tattoos, myths in the minds of people, lack of knowledge amongst the youth, etc. So, we plan things in such a way that we can tackle these situations and address these common issues through various modes such as social media, interviews with artists, Quora, newsletters, FAQ, etc. And we think, we have come a long way, now!
How did your backgrounds in Finance and Economics respectively help you understand the current needs of the industry?
Having experience in Business Consulting and Analytics, we were able to tie things together and figure out solutions easily as we are aware of some of the common controls required across an organization, ways to manage and read data, analysis of various aspects, etc. So being a finance and economics major with having work experience in business consulting and analytics with market leaders, better market research, and enhanced problem-solving skills helped us a lot in our venture!
What would be your advice to young entrepreneurs trying to make their mark in the world?
Entrepreneurs, the new rockstars! Our best advice to all the young and budding entrepreneurs would be “Do the work you care about!” There’s no doubt that running a business takes a lot of time and effort, but, the only way to be satisfied in your life is to do the work that you truly believe in. Also, take the risk which you’re afraid of! It all would be worth it in the end!
Quick 5
1. The latest trend in the tattoo industry? – Watercolor tattoos
2. Your favorite way to blow off steam – Wine & dine and everything is fine!
3. The TattooPedia for you is – Our little baby!
4. One mantra to remain optimistic in life – It’s always the beginning of something good
5. A book you have read that changed your life – Elon Musk: How The Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is shaping our future
Wear your heart on your skin in this life with having a tattoo that you strongly resonate with. Get in touch with The TattooPedia on www.thetattoopedia.com and get an amazing customized tattoo for yourself.