ExclusiveLane, An Online Store for Exquisite Indian Handicrafts
India is renowned for its cultural and artistic products, which have been in use since ages. While some products and artists have been in demand both in India and abroad, there have also been many that have gone unnoticed and who never got any real appreciation. But now Dhruv Goyal from ExclusiveLane is on a mission to make these products get a distinct identity, and wants to create a globally recognized brand of handcrafted products.
ExclusiveLane is an online store for home décor and handcrafted products. The startup was born out of love for Indian handicraft products, with an aim to promote the economic development of the artisans involved. The site sells products across different categories like clocks, lamps, wall decors, key hooks, mirrors, tealights, aroma diffuser, etc. In addition to these the startup also vends products in different materials like terracotta, different kinds of wood, ceramic, papier-mâché etc.
ExclusiveLane was launched in December 2011 by Dhruv Goyal, Kaushal Goyal and Madhav Dutta who serves as the technologist in the company. Dhruv is a computer science graduate with good experience as a product developer. His passion towards the web and Indian handicraft culture did not let him settle in a corporate world. He eventually moved out to plan and channelize the wide usage of handicrafts in urban India and other parts of the world.
Kaushal is a key member of the startup. This electronics engineer looks after all corporate operations and has been very instrumental in the growth and development of the startup.
Madhav is another strong pillar of the venture and an entrepreneur at heart. He has in-depth knowledge and expertise of web and mobile technologies, social media marketing etc. He is very enthusiastic about technology and thus contributes extensively to ExclusiveLane. These three are helped by four other members working at the startup.
While creating and managing a startup in India has its own share of troubles, the bigger challenge for ExclusiveLane is in sourcing their products. Dhruv shares: “Sourcing does pose a challenge as majority of the core artisans/manufacturer’s are located in remote places where there is no Internet facility. Making them understand our requirements is also quite challenging some times.” But he is sure these problems will disappear with time and he will succeed in making ExclusiveLane an exclusive destination for handicraft products in Indian as well as internationally.