“Being Women gives amazing opportunities”

Swati Bhargava Co-founder of CashKaro.com tells her own story

Principle in life

Work Hard & Party Harder- must enjoy what you do

Family background

My parents are based in Ambala where I grew up. My father runs a manufacturing unit for agricultural implements. Ever since childhood, I’ve always been inspired by his hard work, composure & business acumen. At the age of 50, my mother started a social enterprise called ‘Akshdha’ where they train underprivileged women to earn a living by crafting beautiful necklaces and wedding accessories. My brother Siddharth is the National Sales Manager for National Instruments. He is extremely intelligent, super popular and the best brother one could have! After getting married to Rohan, I was lucky to be a part of a family that was equally loving, caring and one that always encouraged, inspired and supported us.

Educational background

I studied at Convent of Jesus & Mary school in Ambala till 16 years of age; then got offered a scholarship to study in Singapore in 1999 to complete my high school. In 2002, I was again fortunate to get a scholarship to study at the prestigious London School of Economics in the UK. I graduated with Honours in Mathematics & Economics in 2005 and was offered to join the Investment Banking team at Goldman Sachs, UK.

Step towards E-commerce

Back in 2011, worldwide E-commerce sales were predicted to reach $963.0 billion by 2013 and was growing at an annual rate of 19.4%. E-commerce was benefiting from several positive trends, including the continued rollout of broadband, increasing user comfort shopping online and the decline of certain brick-and-mortar retailers. Since then, there has been no battle for the online future of India as more fascinating than the one being waged in e-commerce.

Also, I believe building successful businesses while continuing their role as the caregivers at home, Indian women entrepreneurs now ‘have it all’.  Most women entrepreneurs I meet have a clear roadmap to scale up their businesses and targeted growth plans for the future. These women are confident that they can do a lot better if they could recruit skilled people and receive sound financial support.

My business 

CashKaro.com is India’s largest Cashback & Coupons site and essentially the one-stop-destination for all online savings. Members can get up to 30% Extra Cashback on their online shopping at their favorite sites like Flipkart, Paytm, Shopclues, Nykaa, Purplle & 1000+ sites when they shop via CashKaro platform. CashKaro receives commission from retailers from which it pays Cashback. This Cashback can be paid to users’ bank accounts as REAL CASH or can be redeemed as Gift Vouchers.

CashKaro has raised close to $5 million till date; of which $3.8 million was raised in Series A funding from Kalaari Capital, one of India’s leading venture capital firms. Recently, Tata Sons’ Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata has also invested in the company in his personal capacity.

Motivation & Inspiration behind business 

While there were no initial plans to go the entrepreneurial way but I always believed in starting something novel. Inspiration to start our own business is my husband Rohan. He spotted the opportunity in the UK and really believed in the Cashback idea. He encouraged me to join him, and we became business partners! It’s actually been amazing working together with him.

Challenges in work being a woman 

Dealing with stereotypes that questions a woman’s ability to work in tech or finance, or simply her stability at work continues to be one of the major challenges. However, this also gives us an amazing opportunity to strive to be better, fight harder, be stronger and bring to life the incredible feats a woman is capable of!

Competition in field 

Seeing our success, other Cashback sites have also come up (like it happens in all successful industries). Though I think our first mover advantage has helped us stay far ahead in this game. We are the largest and the only VC funded cashback site in India so that has helped us remain at the top and grow at 30-40% per month. What gives CashKaro an edge over Coupon-only sites is the added “cashback” element that a CashKaro member can earn. While coupon-only sites provide coupons to their members, CashKaro provides the same coupons too but with additional Cashback on top! This makes the savings from CashKaro more than double compared to Coupon-only sites as now members can get both Cashback and coupons in one place. We believe that once you shop through CashKaro you will never shop at a coupon site again.

Also, time and again, we have introduced new features which enhance user experience and this has strengthened our market leader position. We have also added Product Discovery & Price Comparison feature which empower users to compare various Cashback offers and Coupons at product level, thereby making an informed buying decision across sites.

Love running own business

 The best part of running your own business is that I get to live and realize my dream on a daily basis. Since my husband Rohan & I work together, it becomes even more enjoyable as we are able to grow as a couple.

Motto for success at workplace

‘Under promise, over deliver’ – something I learnt at Goldman and it’s stayed with me. I believe that if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well. I don’t go half-way on anything; I’d rather not do it.

Advice to other budding Entrepreneurs

Work hard and have faith in what you have set out to achieve. You’ll only be able to do justice if you really believe in the idea and your ability to execute it! If you feel that the going is getting too tough… just stay at it. It’s not been easy for anyone who was there before you too. Sometimes people are successful just because they lasted.

Achievements

•  Awarded at the India’s first Digital Women Award for category- Best Service Offering Company in the Ecommerce Industry.
• Nominated amongst the Top Young Business Women 2016 by CNBC-TV 18.

• Represented India at the coveted Blackbox Connect – Female Founders Edition 2015- powered by Google for Entrepreneurs program from April 27 – May 8, 2015 in Silicon Valley, California.

• Recognized as  amongst the top 10 women entrepreneurs by Iamwire.com

• Honored amongst 4 women trailblazers in Indian ecommerce industry by Economic Time.

• Shortlisted for the Asian Women of Achievement Awards in the UK in 2011.

Golden Words

Perseverance is the Essence. My mom taught me to always keep going no matter what from an early age. When it feels too difficult to push forward, I always remind myself, 'This too shall pass,' and then I redouble my efforts.

High-Five

Your Fitness Mantra: Every morning I practice yoga which keeps me energetic and fresh the whole day.

Your De-stressing Mantra: Retail therapy works well for me as I love to shop from various places. Travel and dinner with friends also helps me de-stress.

Where you like to shop: I usually like to shop from brands like Karen Millen, Coast, Reiss and River Island.

Your favorite holiday destination:  Beach holiday destinations like Ibiza.

Things you cannot live without: Doing yoga everyday & desserts.

@Workday

Wake up at:  My day usually starts around 6:00-6:30am

Morning activities: Since we have two operational websites (Pouringpounds.com and CashKaro.com) in different time zones the first thing I do is open my phone and check email, Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter! Having an online business means that while you were sleeping, your business was still running; so it becomes important to quickly check how things are in the morning. I then spend just over an hour exercising: walking and doing yoga! I love doing yoga and my one hour of exercise time, it fills me with great positive energy and makes me ready to embrace the day in its entirety!

1st half in office: My first half is divided between sitting with different teams, strategizing, analysing to executing my own long checklist of things to do.

Post Lunch: Post Lunch, I usually have my meetings/calls scheduled or I am speaking at events and conferences.

Leaving Office at: 8:30- 9:00 PM

How you spend your evenings: During evenings, Rohan & I spend some quality time with the family! Dinner table conversations are always fun and relaxing and sometimes we head out to meet friends.

Sleep time: 11:00-11:30 PM