Alchemy Store: A 1 Crore Business that Began with Rs.600 Only A Year Ago

There has been a huge rise in the number of customised t-shirt businesses in the market today. I had the opportunity to interview Aman Jain, Co-Founder, Alchemy Store about their journey so far. Here's the interview with Aman's insightful, funny and interesting answers for readers of StudentStory.in:

How would you describe the Alchemy Store in brief? Why the name?

A

lchemy aims to provide students and alumni of premier schools and colleges across the globe with a means of expressing their pride at being products of such reputed institutions. Our customers take great pleasure in making their school or college colours a part of their everyday wardrobe and lives.We at Alchemy are dedicated to ensuring that all our products are of a standard and quality befitting these premier institutions.

Established in August 2011 by Varun Meghani and Aman.R.Jain who initially just wanted to customize their t shirts with their designs on it, Alchemy has since been successful in partnering with some of the most prominent institutions across the country to provide their present and former students with apparel and other memorabilia to help them remember the good ol’ days.

Alchemy finds its name from a word which describes a magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value. That’s exactly what we do here, we customize a plain tee and make it priceless.

Tell me about yourself and your team

Varun and I are 20 yr old BBM Students studying in SJCC. The company started with a capital of Rs600 and has recorded a turnover of over 1cr in the very first year.

We have a team of 15ppl working around the country as Student Brand Managers.

2 marketing heads

2 Public Relation Officers

I take care of productions and operations to ensure personal quality checks. Basically the whole company is run by students.

 What prompted you to startup?

The cover page of Forbes Magazine

Who is a typical client for Alchemy Store?Various institutions, school and college students, corporate houses and alumni

 What is your USP? How would you differentiate yourself from the others in the market?

Our pricing, quality and prompt delivery. Our PRO's are insane and at the end of the day the clients are our friends more than just being customers which has always given us a heads up

When did you launch and how has the journey been?

Established in August 2011. So far so good :-p

 How do you market your designs?

Social media does play a major role. Apart from that we have our catalogue and fliers that make some noise too.

Where do you see yourself headed as a brand and company?

LMAO towards Forbes :-p

What were the challenges that you face as student entrepreneurs?Lack of time, commitment and of course attendance. Trust me, it’s the biggest pain in the aarss !

Plzz lemme know if u can do something about it. :-P

 How do you overcome them?

It’s complicated

What are the best parts about being a student entrepreneur?

It’s a lot of fun, I end up meeting the CEO of various companies, The principals of various institutions and a lot of stars too. Stars like Murlidharan, Dj Ivan,Manish Pandey, Mark Knight sport our tees too.(pics are on our FB Page). I get to learn a lot, I can easily connect my real-time experience with studies. and of course I feel I am a step ahead.

What is the kind of additional support that you would like?

Apparently I need attendance for my hall-ticket or else my mum says I have to shut Alchemy down. :(

Want to get a customised t-shirt for yourself or a friend? Take a look at My Alchemy Store