PortraitFlip is an E-Commerce website which can get you a tailored handmade painting from photo in 6 different mediums anywhere in the world at the ease of few clicks.
It is one of the leading Indian startups in 2019 which started from a hostel in VIT which went on to win the Best Startup Award in 2018 and today has made it big.
From Nothing:
The idea seeped in when one of the Co-Founders, Mr. Lavdeep Chahal during his 3rd year of mechanical engineering had to gift a handmade painting to his friend and couldn’t find any service online or offline which was affordable and easy to procure.
He knew that this was the opportunity he was looking for and soon partnered with Sunny Choudhary and Shubhanshu Maheshwari who were his batch mates to build the website www.portraitflip.com.
Back then, all they had was the idea and the basic resources with which they started a service which would one day get anyone in the world a handmade painting from photo with just a few clicks!
And today they have led their ways,
To Everything:
The company is leading from the front as far as India is concerned and one of the two major competitors globally, but when it comes to global competition it is giving a hard time to the sole service provider as well.
Today,
- They house a team of more than 100 artists at their galleries who are handpicked from various parts of the world based on their Skill, Expertise, and Specializations
- They provide a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee which gives the customer an option to get a 100% Refund if he is not happy with the PortraitFlip Experience.
- They can deliver a painting in only 10-12 days anywhere in the world.
- They offer 3 Finishing Options – Rolled, Gallery Wrapped and Framed.
- Making use of their on-street network and logistic data they have started Free Worldwide Shipping on every order with no minimum cart value!
The 3 entrepreneurs have shared with us the Top 5 Tricks they learnt in their journey from nowhere to everywhere!
- Basic Is Good!
Sunny Choudhary, one of the co-founders explains, “Working with limited resources and no workforce in the beginning phase was actually beneficial for them as COO”
This gave them perspective about what is it to be a Website Developer, Content Writer, Graphic Designer, or at times an office boy as well.
They did not start with heavy capital and funding but instead took loans from hostel mates with the promise of paying back with interests.
Because they had taken a risk, it was very necessary for them to bring orders and make a profit to pay their hostel mates back, which they eventually did!
They took baby steps and took advantage of various free resources to run operations in the beginning phase.
For example:
They did not throw money in building a premium website or started hiring and buying expensive machines.
Instead, they built a website on their own from WordPress and allowed the internet to do all the legwork for them.
- Know The Value Of WordPress!
They could have paid a coder lakhs of rupees to build a website, but this is when Mr. Shubhanshu Maheshwari comes into the picture with his experience of running small ventures and his smart technical knowledge.
The Electrical Engineer from VIT built a website on WordPress with very few funds by learning from all the free resources online. He created a reliable site for the payments to go through as well as paid attention to the feel and vibe of the website.
He shares that, “A coder can definitely do a better job than me but the need of the hour was to create maximum from minimum and that is what I did!”
They did invest in buying servers and plugins but that was after they saw the credit in the bank account.
- The Power Of Content & Social Media Marketing!
Mr. Sunny Choudhary who looks after the marketing wing of PortraitFlip says, “Marketing is a pure game of learning from mistakes with the age-old technique of Trial & Error. You cannot sell everything to everyone, you must strategize by investing in multiple sources of marketing and try to sell at the right place to the right person”
The Mechanical Engineer from VIT distributes his marketing fund into the following sources:
- Content Marketing. (Guest Posts, Blog Advertising, This Blog!)
- Digital Marketing. (Google Ads, Facebook Ads)
- YouTube Testimonials.
- Local Marketing. (Pamphlets, Small Banners)
- Frequent Instagram Posts & Stories.
He says it is very important to optimize your Social Media Marketing by analyzing what works and what doesn’t.
- Competitors Are Your Best Friends!
PortraitFlip definitely didn’t start from a unique idea, although it was unique to them and the country but the idea was already implemented in the states.
But instead of seeing this as a threat they looked it as an opportunity to cover the rest of the market especially India.
They simply started with implementing all the practices which the competitors did while focusing more on the product experience and not the secondary stuff!
Eventually, they came up with more features, better product quality, efficient and reliable delivery.
Which today makes the lone player in India and is giving a hard time to the global competitor.
- Product Quality & Customer Satisfaction.
While speaking about Product Quality & Customer Satisfaction all the 3 Indian entrepreneurs agree that it is a major tool which puts them ahead of everyone!
Some Key Practices Which They Followed:
- They persistently focus on the experience which they are getting to the customer’s doorstep.
- They make it a point to get a video testimonial if the customer is happy or process a replacement or refund in case of an unhappy customer which is very rare.
- They introduced Pet Portraits only because there was a lot of demand for it in the states.
- For the Indian website, they brought in products like Raksha Bandhan Portraits.
These were the 5 Tricks you can use to give a kick start to your venture.
Check out how they are going viral on their YouTube link mentioned below and to have a discounted PortraitFlip Experience click on the website link and apply OFF10 during checkout!
Find PortraitFlip:
Website: www.portraitflip.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCWeM6IABe4gS1dp19BQP56g
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/portraitflip/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/FlipPortrait/?ref=br_rs
