Are you an entrepreneur? Looking for digital marketing firms? Or Are you stuck in your mundane job and thinking of starting something of your own? No matter which point you are in life, the story of these two women entrepreneurs will help you win all!
On a lovely monsoon afternoon, I sat down with two childhood friend turned business partners from Melange Solutions. Purba Ray Choudhury & Sudarshana Ghosh started their career as entrepreneurs in their early Forties!
image source: Google
We chatted on busting myths about Women Entrepreneurs, covered facts on digital marketing, challenges and more, over some really refreshing drinks at the new cafe in town “Mad Hatters”
How and why did you both become entrepreneurs? Was it something you always intended for yourself?
(in sync) No! we never did!
Sudarshana: We were quite contently working in our respective corporate world. She was in the IT as I was working as an HR.
Purba: I have been in IT for most of my life, 15-16 years! I was in the U.S for a decade when I came back (to Kolkata) I wanted to quit because I had ‘been there done that’. She also quit her job because she was a single parent and wanted her hours to be more flexible. So, We took a trip to Shantiniketan just to unwind. That’s when I suggested why don’t we start a blog since we were both doing content writing at that time.
S: It got a fairly good response and a decent following. But when it comes to paid assignments in a business milieu, “Bawali RajBari” was our first assignment.
P: So, we started with Social media Marketing & content with reference from people who knew us mostly and knew we were capable of delivering what they wanted to tell
S : basically, we knew how to relate a Brand’s story to people.
What gave you the courage to quit the corporate life?
S: “If you are ever caught in a corner between the devil and the deep sea you get that innate courage from deep within”.
P: She is 45 & I am 46 now and all our life we were doing the same thing over and over again. That’s not what I want to do with my life.
S: We wanted to do something which will make us work on our own terms and conditions.
P: Also, we wanted work to be fun!
How did you get your idea or concept for the business?
S: We saw that most of our clients were taking the contents we made for them and building up a website based on that. We thought why don’t we do it ourselves. After our courses on various Digital Marketing tools like SEO, SMM, we were completely aware of the key areas to be focused on and when. That’s how we got the idea! And we had and still have some extremely supportive colleagues who are great developers or designers
What is Digital Marketing? And why is it so important?
P: Digital Marketing is here to promote your brand digitally. It has a gamut of services like building your website, creating engaging content, which is fresh and not plagiarised. Most importantly content that search engines can catch to put it on their first page. Otherwise however much pretty your website looks or however good the content is; if it is not reflecting in the first few pages of the search engines then there is no point. Another huge part of it is Social Media. It has become the most important marketing tool. It’s cheaper than traditional marketing and has a wider audience.
S: see… its a very TG based marketing medium. You also get metrics, like geo-location, time, age, educational background etc. Based on all the analytics, you can toggle your marketing strategy and showcase your brand.
S: To sum it up it is cheaper, more target driven & more interactive. We firmly believe that digital media is here to stay like Facebook is the biggest marketplace there is. The entire campaign has to be well thought of and etched. It can’t be random.
P: With so much of Visual Media, people have a small attention span thus it has to be a 360-degree solution.
What is unique about Melange Solutions? And what does it offer?
P: We started 1 and a half years back. Since we offer a mishmash of services thus we named it Melange. It offers website design, SEO, SMM, email or WhatsApp marketing. In fact, we also do PR. Our USP is that we work with a lot of startups & help them strategize.
S: We are an extension of their branding strategy. We try to give them personalized attention!
What is the biggest challenge you both faced in the entire journey so far?
P: probably for most of us women entrepreneurs It’s doing the balancing act. Plus we are single parents.
S: Much about pet peeves, People will talk behind your back!
P: Breaking the myth that Women can only handle small time (homely) businesses.
How do you keep your selves motivated or encouraged?
S: we keep motivating ourselves, venting out to each other.
P: It’s very important to take one day at a time. To a have a longer vision & a calm mind.
S: We have our own small fun and we try to be extremely optimistic.
“one of the biggest strength is that we know each other by the back of our hand”
Are you looking for any employees?
P: We are always on the lookout for good content writers and graphic designers.
S: It’s a young company and we always look for interns as well as freelancers.
If you had one piece of advice to give to someone just starting out what would it be?
P: Not to Procrastinate. Don’t think “I’m gonna do this tomorrow”
After this long inspiring chat, came out with a positive outlook. Did you?
Read more about such inspiring women entrepreneurs here
Contact Melange Solutions for a personalised digital marketing solution for your own brand!
♥
Blogger: Ingela Biswas
Featured: Purba ray Choudhury & Sudarshana Ghosh from Melange Solutions
Location Courtesy: Mad Hatters
Wardrobe partner: Firaangi Desi
Photographer: Shreeja Bhattacharya
This interview is so inspiring . Loved the pictures as well.. much love and more power to Sudarshana and Purba.