To buy personalised chocolates online, visit Chocofthetown.com

According to a recent research report, seven days without chocolates can make you feel weak. From being an indispensable part of every celebration, to being a mood-lifter on a random Tuesday afternoon, chocolates are arguably the most devoured of all things edible. Conceptualised on this human need, Choc of The Town is a Chennai-based e-venture dealing in personalised and customised chocolates delivered to your doorstep. In conversation with Abhilasha Dafria for YourStory.in, founder Subhatra Priyadarshini tells us how her venture strives to make the world a sweeter place!What kind of chocolates do you offer?

Choc Of The Town is an online chocolate store that specialises in personalised and customised chocolates. We make and sell premium range of hand-made chocolates. Whether you want to pamper yourself with chocolates or would like to gift someone on a special occasion, come to us. We also make chocolates for birthdays and wedding parties. Our top seller is the Portrait chocolate where we paint a picture with chocolate on a chocolate disc bar. We also offer the option to write personalised messages on chocolates and we keep coming with innovative ideas and themes to make chocolates a suitable for any occasion like creating chocolate diyas during Diwali for instance.

Why sell chocolates online?

I completed my B.Tech-InfoTech degree from theCollegeOfEngineering, Guindy and pursued an entrepreneurship course (MPWE- Management Program for Women Entrepreneurs) at IIM-Bangalore. Here, I got to interact with a lot of like-minded women and was inspired to do something of my own; something that involved creativity and was fun. I had a lot of business ideas and making and selling chocolates was one of them. I attended a couple of chocolate making classes, found it very exciting and thus decided to start Choc Of The Town. Also, I wanted to start a business from the comfort of my home and therefore, going the e-commerce way was ideal.

How do you market yourself?

The response for our products has been great so far. We use social media marketing and online advertising to market ourselves. We also have a Facebook page where we keep posting updates on the latest products on offer. To gain an edge, we also provide special packaging services so that the chocolates do not melt in transit for instance.

How many unique visitors visit your site each day and how much has translated into sales?There are at least 10 new visitors to our website each day and we have served close to 1500 orders in the last year.

How big is your team?

We have been operational since August 2010 and for the first six months, I worked on the business alone. But now, we have two employees to help us in chocolate making and packing. We also hire employees on a temporary basis during festive seasons.

Do you plan to explore the retail option anytime soon?

As of now, our plans are to reach out to as many online consumers as possible and to establish ourselves as a well-known personalised online chocolate store. We are also planning to tie-up with existing online retailers for brand visibility.

Did you fund-raise to startup?

Choc Of The Town was started from home with less than Rs 50,000 as the initial investment. Although, we may look at funding when we we will expand and set up our manufacturing units in other cities.

What are your challenges and how do cope up with them?

The challenge is be to pass on your passion and vision for the work you do to your teammates and it can be achieved by proper training and creating a good work environment.

Go to www.chocofthetown.com for further details!

If you are a believer in e-commerce story like us, then do register now to attend e-Sparks 2011 –India’s premier e-commerce startup showcase, on 17th Dec at IIM Bangalore.

If you are an Indian e-commerce startup, then please do register now to be the e-Sparks 2011.