Interview with Akshay Kumar,Founder Black Lover

How did the founders know each other; how did they meet and how was the idea conceived or
background of the founder?

1. Ever since I was a kid, I remember my wardrobe is dominated by the color black so much so

that my family and friend frowned upon it. But I was a born Black lover.

Growing up I had this dream of owning a café someday, the theme of which would reflect my love of the color, and I would have a small store selling black merchandise in the café itself. This was just a raw idea.
Simran is a college friend of mine who is now also my best friend who attended the same college, Amity
Noida, of which she was the topper by the way.

So, when I went to meet her in Siliguri and we were just taking a drive through the hills, discussing our dreams, she found my idea very creative and gave me the first push.

Mind you It was two days before my joining as an Assistant Manager in a firm, after which I had planned to get my MBA.

She showed faith in me and asked me to pursue my dream. That’s where our TBL journey started. After that, I met Rupesh Kumar who was already in this clothing and merchandise business and we had a discussion over it and he too liked this idea and was keen to help me out and start this venture. Among the various name suggested by different people, The Black Lover which was indeed proposed by him got the attention of everyone. The
company now has three directors Akshay Kumar, Pankaj Kumar, and Rupesh Kumar.

2. What is your company solving?

We have our Ecommerce website www.theblacklover.com. We also have an app for Android and
iOS. We have a variety of clothing segments in Black where the customers can order anything in black
from any part of India. The company’s name is Black Lover Private Limited, which as we already
know is an apparel-based company. We are targeting the offline market as well, the clients of which
we have in Hyderabad and Delhi. We are also linking ourselves with NGOs.

3. Explain your business and industry ecosystem in India – how are different companies solving
different needs, explain the scenario in B2B and B2C.

For B2B we are focusing basically on the corporate industries. We are dealing in Bio cotton which is
eco-friendly and in Supima cotton, which allows us to manufacture the best quality cotton apparel in
the market. Moreover, there is a mutual collaboration with a few seed industries, the main hub of
which is in Hyderabad.

With regards to B2B, we have just started with a few industries that are focusing on the agricultural
segments of industries. For example, what does a farmer need? A cap to keep off the heat, right? So,
our target is to make our products, which they need, access to them at a minimal cost, ie at a
rate that will fetch just the production cost. As we proceed, we have a plan of setting up an NGO.

4. How does your product or solution work?

If we take a look at the price range of those companies which are dealing majorly in the quality of
the apparel that we are selling, we can notice that the price is too high, often exceeding 2000 for a
simple T-shirt. Our target audience is Generation Z and we want to reach them with the best
quality apparel at affordable prices. We have 6 sections on our website right now – Men and
Women in Black respectively (formals), Casuals for Men and Women respectively, Made in India
(Indian traditional clothes) and The Black Store (miscellaneous products like decors, and phone cases).
We are balancing the quality of products with their prices so that we can reach the middle class as
well as the elite section of people.

5 . How did you win your first client and your first pay cheque? Please explain in detail.

Our company was incorporated in the last week of January 2020. I contacted Blue Stacks via a friend
of mine and signed up a contract with them for one year. We supplied them with the corporate
T-shirts and they had no complaints. So yeah, that was our first customer. And the cheque we
received was for 28k. Around that same time, we also had Kavitha Seeds Pvt Ltd with an order if
around 60 T-shirts, and the cheque we received from them was worth one lac.

6. How much have you invested in your company personally?

Actually, the entire investment was by me since the first day. It’s around 5.5 to 6 lacs.

7. Have you raised a Series A or angel round or seed round?

We are self-funded. So initially we did not have any funding from anyone or any company as such.
However, right now we are preparing a proposal with Max India for collaboration. Most probably
we are going forward with the deal because they really appreciated our strategy and ideas.

8. What have been the difficulties in building this business?

First and foremost, just planning to take the TBL road required a lot of courage from my side
because I was on a higher pay scale and that’s what my family wanted- to continue with a job and
get an MBA later. Since I am not from a business family background there were a lot of doubts and
opposition and questions during the initial days. In fact, all the funding initially was totally from my
side; I couldn’t take the help of my family members. When I started working on this idea of TBL I was
working the night shift for the company I was working for, but never compromised on the works of 
entrepreneurship no matter how hectic my schedule was.

I had to learn along the way- my friends from the business line helped me a lot during that time.

However, the whole process of setting up my dream venture has been a trial and error-method.

I had to learn about the manufacturing processes, the various taxes, the protection against fraudulent activities, etc etera. Moreover, the website we had built initially nowhere a satisfactory one but I was unable to understand the hows and whys of it because again, I am not from a technical background. It was about 2-3 months into this roller coaster ride when I came across Zero Dollar Security and we are really having a much better sail henceforth.

9. What is your business model and how do you make your revenues?

We have www.theblacklover.com which is the e-commerce website and also the Android and iOS
platforms for online marketing with a wide array of apparel and merchandise in Black. Black Lover Pvt
Ltd is our offline business venture where we generally work on bulk orders. From manufacture to
design, everything is done under this same hood. If we are going to a corporate, we
pitch them Black Lover Pvt Ltd and if we’re going for individual online orders, it’s our website of
course.
To date, our revenue has been 15 lacs. It’s not the profit, in very simple terms it’s what we’ve
obtained from the SP.

10. What is your plan for the next 18 months?

Our first step is to launch our website in India, after which we’re going to spread abroad. We have
got our international trading license and bought the domains for UAE, Italy, and Australia. The main
reason why we have done this is that the fashion industry is in much higher demand but at a
much higher price again in these zones than in India. Our promotion and sales are going to start
soon hopefully in the international Market where we are offering a range of styles but at a more
affordable rate- that’s our game plan of seeping in there.
In the next few months, we are having a joint venture with a company from Bangladesh for sure.

11. Anything else that you want to add?

I have always thought that online shopping websites lacked the personal touch of the clients, which
is what I’ll be implementing in our website. The idea is that for any special occasion, say your
birthday, you can personalize your birthday order- your apparel, shoes, and accessories, whatever
you want. You discuss that with our designer and we deliver the product to you before the special
day. You send us your pictures in those apparel and on your birthday, say, we shall upload your
pictures on our website. And we will launch that product with the name of the customer and on that
special day of the customer itself. This not only allows our customers to have a say in their special day
attire but also allows us to maintain a fluid relationship with them.

12.  Talk about your clients and how many clients you have in total.
At the moment we have the following clients:

Blue stacks
Kavitha Seeds Pvt ltd
Tanot Seeds Pvt ltd
Bhardwaj Biotech Pvt. Ltd.
Catchy Accounting

13. What is the USP/value proposition?

Our USP is to make the best quality apparel and designs available to middle-class people at a
rate that they can afford. Moreover, when we are expanding into the international market, we
would be taking with us Indian companies which aren’t internationally based. In that way not only
are we gaining international customers, but also making way for national companies to expand
their brand value.
With regards to the value proposition, for our launch, we are going to pack in a personalized surprise
with whatever our customer has ordered. A thank you note and a gift would really help us to
connect with our customers in our initial days.

Related:- Dr. Geetanjali Chopra: Founder, Wishes and Blessings

14.  What are your revenues like today and how much do you expect to make by the end of this year?

Our current revenue to date is approximately 15 lacs. This has been earned only through offline
marketing. By the end of the year, we plan on hitting the 50 lacs benchmark.

Also, Read:

Related:- 8 Ways to Know If You Have a Great Business Idea 2022

Related:- How To Start A Business When You Have No Money

Related:- 12 Best Books for Entrepreneurs And Small Business Owners 2020

Follow Startupcolleges on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, for the latest updates from the startup ecosystem. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for more entrepreneurship, business, and corporate solution video.