The Marigold Diaries: Swati Khandelwal’s Journey of Crafting Joyful Gifting Experiences
Who doesn’t love gifts, right? Be it for festive occasions or celebrations or announcements or something just like that. A well-thought out gift always brings a smile on the face of the one receiving it. But along with the gift that you are giving, how it is packed and presented can also make a lot of difference to the experience.
Curating beautifully designed gift hampers with attention to detail in packaging, is where Swati Khandelwal’s, The Marigold Diaries is building its niche in the market. Apart from Gifting, you will also have a range of home décor items with them. Here’s how Swati started her journey with The Marigold Diaries and what all you can find with this women-led brand.
How Swati’s journey began
A graduate in commerce, Swati had initially pursued Chartered Accountancy but found her calling in arts and interior design. She got married at the age of 25, and shifted to Delhi, where she continued taking on some small projects related to interior designing and painting. But in 2010, she decided to put it on a standstill after she had kids. It was in 2016, Swati re-launched her entrepreneurial journey with a small collection of kids' room decor accessories.
By 2017, her business organically evolved towards gifting and hampers. And, by 2019, The Marigold Diaries expanded into importing exclusive products, to introduce new elements and trends in the gifting space in India. Her love for design and her father’s encouragement to build her own name have been driving forces behind her success.
What The Marigold Diaries Offers
The Marigold Diaries offers a wide range of products and services across three key categories:
Firstly, are the Customized Gift Hampers. Swati specialized in creating personalized hampers for all occasions, such as birthday return hampers, trousseau packing, wedding return gifts, and festive gifting hampers for all the Indian festivals. Her specialty, however, lies in baby birth announcement hampers, which stand out due to their thoughtfulness and aesthetic appeal. Price for these hampers range from ₹800 to ₹6000.
Second, is the Home Decor and Imported Products. They also import and supply exclusive products to other retailers, offering a diverse range of items, such as decorate bowls, vases, figurines, photo frames, handmade art, candle holders, diffusers and more. The price range is starting at ₹150 and going up to ₹3500.
Lastly, they do Event Curation. This is a smaller part of the business, where Swati curates intimate events and décor for existing clients, adding a personal touch to each occasion. Another aspect they have added recently to their business is conducting hamper styling workshops.
What is The Marigold Diaries’ USP
Swati’s artistic eye has helped her built their brand’s USP in two segments. One is, creating unique and thoughtful baby announcement hampers, making each piece a statement of celebration. Their second USP, is in the flower arrangements and color choices in their hampers that make them stand out and have garnered significant attention from customers.
Swati believes that each gift has a thought, an emotion behind it, which they want to capture through their packaging. They want their gifts to convey the emotions of the giver.
What are the Challenges she faced in building her business
One of Swati’s biggest challenges was the struggle to find customers willing to pay a fair price for her work. She incurred many losses due to clients asking for discounts, negotiating and, also at times, not paying full amount after receiving the services. Through persistence, she built a client base that valued her creativity and was happy to pay for the quality offered.
Swati Khandelwal’s key strength lies in her ability to transform simple materials into visually appealing gifts, with special attention to color and design.
How is Swati promoting and growing her business
Swati has primarily relied on Instagram to market and grow her business. She has created a strong online presence, of over 14K followers, by sharing visually appealing content that showcases her products. Social media has allowed her to connect with customers and potential collaborators while receiving valuable feedback. She also participates in select exhibitions across cities, which has helped expand her brand's reach beyond her local market.
Swati’s approach to growth is rooted in her consistent pursuit of creativity and learning. By following global design trends across various industries, she has managed to stay ahead of market trends and incorporate fresh ideas into her work, keeping her offerings relevant and unique. Her mission for The Marigold Diaries is to venture into the retail sector, opening a physical store to further expand her market presence.
How she keeps herself motivated and what advice would she share with others
Swati draws her motivation from her father, whose relentless work ethic and dedication in his own business has always inspired her. She recalls how he always pushed through challenges with a positive attitude. His advice to work hard for dreams, and then work even harder to make them successful, fuels her daily. Even during difficult moments, Swati channels his resilience, constantly striving to improve and grow her business.
Swati’s advice to aspiring women entrepreneurs is simple but powerful: “Take the first step.” She believes that many women hold back, overthinking and evaluating too much, which often delays or prevents them from starting. Swati encourages them to follow their hearts and just start. Once that first step is taken, everything else will naturally follow, and dreams will begin to take shape.
With Swati’s consistent efforts to keep herself updated and aware of changing trends and customer requirements in her industry, she has been able to get The Marigold Diaries the recognition it deserves in the gifting and hamper space.
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