Arpana Priyadarshini, Founder, www.pringoo.com

 Our Young Entrepreneur explained how her site pringOO works saying “We give freedom and convenience of expression through customizable merchandise to our customers. At pringOO, people can select designs from our huge library of XX, XXXX designs or create their own designs and get them printed on t-shirts, mugs, canvas, posters, mouse pads etc.”

“For designers, we provide a free platform to showcase their creativity and help them monetize it, with we taking care of printing, online transaction and shipping all over the world. Designers get to choose their commission on each sale that they can track in real time.”

“At pringOO.com, a designer can create and sell a variety of customizable products with zero upfront costs and zero inventory investment. All the designer needs to do is to create a design and pringOO will:

    * Give the designer a FREE online shop to promote your products

   * Produce each item when ordered using our unique print-on-demand technology

   * Handle all payment transactions including major credit cards, Cash on Delivery,   cheque/draft deposit

   * Ship the designer's products worldwide

   * Provide the designer with an account to see your sales in real time

   * Offer customer service via toll-free phone and email

   * Send the designer a monthly check for your earnings from sales”

“For buyers, pringOO offers thousands of in-house created designs along with the ones posted by our vast designer community. All designs are available for customization.”

“Salient features of our business model are:

- Better online customization tools

- Large number of available designs

- Large designer community

- Eco-friendly printing”

Arpana has researched her niche market well and come up with numbers that promise a big chunk of the pie. She states “At present, the B2C market size is about 1200 million dollars and corporate gifting market is over 1.5 billion. Our aim is to get approximate 2 percent of this market over 5 years.”

Her concept has room for growth, and is looking at expanding offline as well as online across major cities of India by hiring local sales teams. Large corporate houses and International expansion via sister concerns are also an avenue that Arpana will be exploring. She also plans to introduce a more comprehensive line of customizable merchandise.

Arpana believes that entrepreneurship is not something that should only benefit one person. She says “I always had a strong desire to create something from which people and society benefit at large by offering not only quality products but also opportunities of employment. As the concept of pringOO was very close to my heart, and I had acquired the necessary knowledge and skill set during my education and work experience in the US, I decided to quit my 9-to-5 job and started this venture.”

Arpana had chosen her path and nothing would deter her. Life placed many challenges in her path but she left no stone unturned to cross her hurdles. She says “Being a self funded and first generation entrepreneur, working on challenges has become a day-to-day activity. Setting-up our in-house printing facility was the biggest challenge so far, as nobody in our team had printing industry background. Therefore, we had to go through all the learning curves of this process. We could do it by taking a few classes, attending seminars and meeting people of the industry.”

Learning has been a part of the game for Arpana and each lesson has been learnt to perfection. Her efforts have carried PringOO through these difficult times. She says “Getting decent revenue to sustain in this downtime is our biggest achievement so far. Apart from that we have been able to secure a good number of corporate clients and have entered into tie-ups with recognized brands like Reliance, Hindustan times, ACK media etc.”

“We have been appreciated and acknowledged by several entrepreneurial organizations, such as NEN. Many blogs and newspapers such as Wall street Journal NY have featured us.”

Her incentives for braving the storms of an unknown tomorrow are rooted in the intangibles. She says “A faith and hope for a better tomorrow and the challenges of an entrepreneurial journey just as equally rewarding as reaching the destination.”

Arpana is a person who believes in lending a helping hand and she hopes that her experiences will benefit others. She says “We can only share the lessons that we have learnt so far: 1. Start anything when you really believe in it and if you really believe in something then never ever give up on it. 2. Move fast and do not be afraid of making mistakes, as making mistakes is always better than waiting for the right time that never comes. 3. Never get stuck in your comfort zone. Keeping looking to go the next level; the next level always exists no matter where you are standing now. 4. This is just one life you have, so live it the way you want.”

Yourstory hopes that the altruistic Arpana finds her fortune in entrepreneurship, and that fate guides many great designers to her site.