Safegaurding Your Pets Against Air Pollution Vol XII , Issue No 12 , Dec 2019 | Page 39

We would soon be available at all
retail stores across India as well.
You recently introduced a range of
merchandise for pet lovers. Tell us
about these new offerings.
We will offi cially launch our
merchandise line for pet parents
in the upcoming days. This line
includes passport covers, pet print
trays, pet themed notebooks and
other products. These would soon be
available on our website and also on
Amazon.
Which other categories do you want
to diversity into?
We have just launched Waggy Zone
Doggy Ice Cream Insta Mixes. These
are available in two of our top-selling
fl avours - Banana and Mango. It is a
dry item so it is easy to transport. It
will soon be available at all leading
pet stores across India. A lot of pet
parents have tried the insta mix
and up till now we have received
an excellent response. Now you can
make guilt-free ice creams for your
dogs at home in just 3 simple steps.
All you have to do is add water and
freeze.
You won the Nari Shakti
Award 2018 for Business and
Entrepreneurship – Innovations
and the Young Innovators Award
at Women Economic Forum 2019
in Amsterdam. In what ways
does national and international
recognition help in opening up new
business opportunities?
Recognition always helps people to
believe in their dreams. I remember
when I came up with the idea of
Doggy Ice Creams, people laughed
at me saying who makes ice creams
for dogs! Some people even remarked
that are humans dying that now you
will make ice creams for dogs! People
kept making fun of my start-up
until I got my fi rst ever award from
Nari Shakti. I patiently took all the
negative criticism in my stride and
let my accomplishments speak for
my innovative work.
International recognition was the
next beautiful appreciation that
I received. The World Economic
Forum award bagged me some
international business opportunities
for Waggy Zone.
How does it feel to be a woman
entrepreneur?
It is a beautiful experience to be a
women entrepreneur. You already
have the skill of managing people and
prioritising your work. As women,
we are unknowingly equipped with
managing skills and empathy. Both
play an important role in running a
company. When you have empathy,
you can relate to your clients and
your team which helps you at every
business step - from making the
product to selling it; and maintaining
a happy working place as well.
What challenges have you faced
while shipping the frozen desserts
from one city to another?
Well, like I have mentioned earlier
the pet industry didn’t have anything
frozen so managing logistics was
easy but to explain to the resellers
about the ice creams was a tedious
task. We had to explain everything to
them - from handling of the products
to their storage. There were instances
when we even had to explain about
freezers and how to maintain them.
People didn’t realise how sensitive ice
creams are unless they got into it. We
had to keep guiding them on how to
differentiate between a good and bad
product through simple observation.
We were very sceptical initially as we
didn’t know if resellers would know
when an ice cream would get spoilt.
Luckily, we have never had such an
incident and all our social media
channels always reply to customers
when they message with a query.
What lessons have your learnt in
your journey as an entrepreneur?
I learnt that ethics and consistency
play a very vital role in your journey
of entrepreneurship. It is important
that you stand by your principles and
believe in yourself. There were times
in my journey when I wanted to give
up or bend my principles as it was
an easy way out but because I chose
to stick around and keep making
products that wouldn’t harm dogs
in the long run, people now trust my
brand and me.
What are your expansion plans for
the future?
Initially, we were only available in
Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore but now
we are expanding nationally with our
Ice Cream Insta Mix. And soon, we
should be available internationally
too. We want to spread happiness
across the globe.
December 2019 • Vol. XII • Issue 12 • Noida
39
| Creature Companion