When I was 10, I was called to organize the Annual Get together party for my own residential society. I was allotted Rs. 5000 and was asked to buy Party-favors (take-away), prizes and Venue decorations. Over the years, I learnt what made the best take-away and prizes, which seller had the best collection of these and which seller gave me the best discount. Apart from this, I thought of innovative ways to engage the crowd during the party and to induce the bonding between them. Some of the ways were having new and interesting group games, crowd-engaging spot prizes, group activities, themed photo booths, stalls put up by society members (few homes came up with Bottled home-made pickles, farsans, papad, wine, sponge cakes, chikki, cloth bags, greeting cards, candles, nail art stall etc.)
A dozen of years later I thought it would be just perfect to put this whole set of talents into one venture called ‘Tohfa’ (meaning Gift in Urdu). We started off with an FB page. Most of the uploads on the page are orders that have been already taken up. Tohfa is more than an e-shop. We are more like a gift consultant. Our orders are finalized after discussing various aspects such as budget, recipient’s gender, age, likings, and profession (sometimes). We also offer a unique element of organizing the whole "Surprise" while gifting. Thus, we plan the entire experience. Tohfa recently did a customized video which was played when our team went out to gift the client. From hand-made cards & handmade gifts, Tohfa has unique gifting ideas under one roof.
What clients like about us is our sensitivity to their requirements. The team at Tohfa tries to be extremely careful of details. The cherry on the cake about our service is how we become one in wishing the recipient and sometimes even celebrating the event with them. It is also about how we bridge the distance between loved ones. All our clients till date have been satisfied and over satisfied with the entire gifting experience. 60% of our clients have taken our service more than once. 75% of our clientele is built up on the basis of word of mouth marketing.
Every order fulfilled on Tohfa gives me a sense of accomplishment. An order at Tohfa is like an event in the house. My family members & close friends who are a part of the Tohfa team come together helping me to take care of every aspect of the order. Being young entrepreneurs each one has claimed to have learnt something more. And it gives me immense joy to have initiated this. Entrepreneurial qualities run in the family, I must mention. My Mom, a lady entrepreneur has completed 30 years in the Beauty & Make-up industry. My mom agrees with me while I say there's a different job satisfaction in being an entrepreneur.
Our ventures have given us a sense of identity which we both cherish.
Future plans for Tohfa are definitely growing the business. However, we do not want to compromise on the personalization and flexibility of the service. Managing bigger events may be the thing in future.
We're glad that we're in a business of carving the cutest curve on people’s faces, an electrifying smile with Tohfa.