Women Entrepreneur - Shilpa Bhatia who runs The Clothing Rental

Here is a story about a serial entrepreneur who decided to pursue her hobby of styling mannequins very seriously. Meet Shilpa Bhatia, Founder of The Clothing Rental, an online and offline platform which helps people rent clothes for different occasions. Started in 2005, The Clothing Rental has been a secret destination for the film and media industry professionals. A one-stop solution for top stylists, celebrities and fashionistas, The Clothing Rental has dressed the best in the industry. The startup was founded by Shilpa Bhatia, an entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience as a stylist, public relations, brand building and business development specialist.

She lives and works between Mumbai and New York. Shilpa holds degrees in Sociology, Fashion Design and Fashion Marketing from SNDT, IED Milan and Parsons New York. She keeps her self-updated with latest consumer trends, finance, business,and technology.

1. Taking the plunge from a job to starting something on your own is a big leap. How did that come about? 

Honestly, I have never worked in a full-time job before starting a business. I was a freelance/self-employed stylist for films and commercials. Entrepreneurship happened to me naturally and I stumbled upon the business. When I launched The Clothing Rental, I was into full-time styling with regular projects and regular earning. Hence, bootstrapping didn’t hurt so badly. I stayed with my parents so didn’t have to worry about rent or EMI payments. Everything I earned could be diverted and invested in the business. I guess this helped. Not having to worry about personal survival helps us to build a business without constantly being worried. I would say it takes about 3 or 4 years to take a break and start making something extra. Those initial years were the hardest for any startup. If you could have a secondary source of income, then it helps you while your business grows. I worked in a job after owning a business, and when I was transitioning to American life, I had to get a job to learn the systems before starting my business in a different country. 

2. You mentioned that you did not have any real income through rentals in the beginning. When did it start generating an income? 

I would say probably after 3-4 years of being in business. Renting is offering a product of Rs.100 product for Rs. 25, unlike regular retail which is selling the Rs.100 product for Rs.200. And this Rs.25 is supposed to cover your cost of goods, maintenance, stocking /space, service, legal, and taxes. It is an extremely slow paced business to break even.

While others are catering to B2C and growth in different cities and multiple touch points, we decided to take more of a simpler approach. We decided to make it more of a boutique model with personalized service. Instead of scaling far and wide, we tried to attract audience to us rather than chasing them.

There is a book by Devdutt Patnaik called ‘Business Sutra’ that explains the difference between a VC/ Investor led enterprise where everything is a Rangbhoomi (battlefield) and everyone is chasing the customer to make profits.

Then on the other hand, there is Rangbhoomi (colorful playground), where everyone gets along, and there is no pressure to perform. Since an entrepreneur is happy, the employees are happy, since employees are happy they keep the clients happy. 

3. When did you launch the offline stores? Why did you realize that this made more business sense? How did the funds come about?

I launched the first store in late 2005; we needed office space for my styling projects. I would shop a lot and travel all over the city in rickshaw and cabs with lots of shopping bags, often taking bathroom breaks in restaurants or stores. It was a need-based model; I realized I spent most of my time in Bandra and needed a place to keep dropping my stuff at; hence I looked for office space. Once I got the space, I needed someone to manage the space when my assistants or tailors would come to drop in stuff, so that I would be free to run around and do more work. The office space was ideally for my styling service, my projects often needed high-quality clothing at low prices, seeing this as a hassle and an opportunity.

I added an inventory of popular items. In 2005, they consisted of Daks Cashmere Suits for men. Mango dresses and Guess Jeans. These were high value and great quality products. I borrowed 10 lakhs from my father to start this. I think I paid that off with my styling income and not rental income. Not many understood the sense of my business and felt I was doing charity by giving a 25000 rupee suit for 2000. But it was easing my life,and my directors/producers were happy with my service and quality of work. I gained a good reputation in my industry (media), and our clothing rental business came to be known as the 'Best kept secret' of the industry. 

4. You mention starting another business and losing funds in it. What business was it? What did these tough times teach you as an entrepreneur?

Oh, I keep starting businesses, I have the bug. I see opportunity everywhere. My brother calls me 'Moongerilal ke haseen sapne.' I was born for this, I'm a workaholic and can talk shop 24/7. I realized that’s a blessing, being passionate and running a business has its joy. Very often you aren't driven by just money, it's many other things like having the freedom to do what pleases you, making your own rules, being your own boss, taking multiple vacations (while working throughout the vacation), being proud of small victories, pleasing customers, satisfaction when you receive a small compliment, enabling someone who wouldn't have this opportunity, inspiring others or knowing that you are creating something that the world would talk about someday.

The business I started was Marca; it was a beautiful fashion store in Bandra set up as a Mediterranean themed beach vibe boutique. This was launched in 2008 and lasted about a little over a year. I took few aggressive steps,and my expenses went through the roof, I was then recently married and was having adjustment issues, my husband wasn't supportive of my styling career,and I couldn't take on projects. The expenses kept mounting while my hands were tied and I didn't have the freedom to go out and work and make money to cover the gap. Those were tough times; I guess that business failed due to personal reasons. Once I shut that store, I felt I shut the wrong thing. 

5. What role did your mentor play? When was this mentorship program that you spoke about? What are some of the things that you learned from him? How important is it to have a business idea that is scalable?

I got mentoring from Nen.org. It's National Entrepreneur Network; it is an amazing community of founders, mentors, institution,and investors. It's free,and it's a great place for small businesses to get coached. When I first met my mentor, in 2010 I was much unorganized. 10 entrepreneurs were chosen for this program, where you meet the mentor and a business professor.

I was 1 of the 10;rest 9 were young boys from IIT or other computer science institutes. They looked nervous and had come prepared. By now, I had been working and interacting with lots of people; hence I was calm but realized I was missing something. When I was called, I had no business card, no company brochure or no business plan. They were surprised how I came without anything, and then he asked me to talk about my business. I was so happy; I couldn't stop talking. I guess he was entertained; he said while I lacked all the paraphernalia I had a lot of passion.

He asked me if I was happy in my business, I said: "Oh ya, everyone in the industry knows me."

He asked, "How many are they." I was like "Hmmm.... maybe 100-200" with a big smile.

He's said, "Wouldn't you like to be known by 5000?”I guess he gave me food for thought; I looked confused and asked:“Is that even possible??"

He gave me few tips and tricks to get myself organized better. I followed all the steps he recommended; it took me over a year and a half. I can gladly say way more than 5000 know about us now.

6. You have mentioned some of the challenges faced.  Tell us about any other challenges you faced, whether financial or otherwise and how managed to overcome them? 

Life is full of challenges and triumphs; one has to keep going on. I watch a lot of motivation videos and read a lot about motivation and self-made people. Often, I get frustrated feeling I'm far from my goal; I should have been a Billionaire by now. Then I do a check and realize I've come a long way. This was an eye-opening experience for me. Shifting the way we scaled and attracted new business while retaining existing consumers. All the while making the work playful and enjoyable for all.

We train our team to first and foremost understand the consumer and make them catch their breath and help them relax. Once they are in a relaxed state of mind, they tend to absorb what you are offering much better. When they are stressed they don’t findwhat they need; nowtheir minds are closed up due to the stress. Once they relax and put in their perspective, we can help better.

Most of the challenges are inner issues, when we ourselves are stubborn or not able to handle change. One must remain nimble and go with the flow. You try something, it doesn’t work, and you change.

It's fairly simple, you failed, so what, try again. Try another way.

7. Share your journey as a hustler?

I live between Mumbai and New York; both cities are for hustlers (jugad).

You have to hustle constantly, I got a styling project in New York,and I had to get clothes on credit, well I wrote to 20 brands and no one offered, I was failing miserably and super stressed too, I had to arrange over 100 fancy outfits for 20+ power women of the country. I sat and thought, ok now these 20 didn't respond, now what?

I meditated and got my act together and figured if 20 doors didn't open, knock on 80 more, certainly one would. That's exactly what I did, I put a mail together and individually mailed 80 others, luckily 5-6 doors opened.

It's not easy being an entrepreneur but it certainly is fun being one.

8. What are some of your plans going ahead?

Keep hustling!
Keep working; I work because it makes me happy. I'm living the life that many dreams of but only a few live.

9. What about your second startup Terra Inde? Do share some brief about it?

Terra Inde is a New York-based showroom representing fine talents. It is curated to appeal to the South Asian demographic. Since we are fairly nascent, the idea is to the on-board talent we believe would work well for our clientele. We host regular pop-ups and events for brands.

10. One Bollywood actress you would like to dress? 

I would say Deepika Padukone. She’s elegant and beautiful. She has an amazing body and the most genuine smile. I did style her for her first ever TV commercial for Close Up. She was super young and innocent then. Didn’t realise she would go on to become such a big star.