Bridal burdens solved with a single click

Kaviya Kamaraj, an entrepreneur who is pepping up the life of brides with her online bridal shop, Tamil Brides Guide (TBG) talks about her venture

CHENNAI: The wedding season is in motion and what’s more important than the bride? It is nothing sexist. Unlike others, Tamil brides need to change from one heavy silk garment to another, frequent make-up touches and not to forget, a bad hair day. Taking one less worry off a bride’s list is Kaviya Kamaraj with her Tamil Brides Guide portal.

Catching up with her, we learn about their working model and Kaviya’s venture into entrepreneurship from zero investment. Everything started with a bunch of weddings she was involved in, over two years ago.

“When you’re 24, most of your friends turn into brides-to-be and that puts you right in the middle of the action. It was the turning point in my life as I realised quite a few things. For instance, a friend who once wore t-shirt only for comfort was now thinking about what her fiance and her mother-in-law would think about the outfit. Weddings had become an important part of lives. Thus, I wanted to start a directory or a revenue generating model of sorts to help brides in every way possible,” says Kaviya.

Wedding planners are quite popular, but an online bridal shop? Not so much. “Unlike foreign weddings, there is so much potential here.  Brides have about 15 to 20 requirements, so many functions which run for days!” she chuckles. That’s why, she opened a Facebook page where she began sharing tips and attracting followers. Meanwhile, she looked for good make-up artists, hair stylists and more.

After three years of researching and communicating, TBG now has over 2,000 weddings under its belt and around 100 freelancers under the platform. Their Facebook page alone has 1.37 lakh likes. They have customers across Tamil Nadu, and also in Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru and Mumbai. The services were also recently launched in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Talking about complications Kaviya says, “Till today, I face the challenge when it comes to bringing in popular celebrated artists. They want the entire sum to be given to them without a commission to TBG. Neither can I ask my customers for more or even negotiate with some artists. I get about 15-20% of individual profit from TBG. The artists I personally train give me a commission and it all ranges from client to artist.”

TBG benefits both brides and artists. While it serves as a platform that demands your skills and good communication without any registration fee, it also caters to all bridal needs manually, without any computerised methods.

“I listen to my client’s requirements and assign artists. They need not go through the process of selection as my team and I handle it all,” smiles Kaviya.

Kaviya is planning to conduct bridal workshops next month. She’s also likely to launch the TBG app by this year.

For more details, visit tamilbridesguide.com

Bridal Tips

  • Trust your make-up artist
  • Surround yourself with friends who will draw your mind away from the artist at work
  • Keep yourself hydrated
  • Don’t be conscious about your make-up. It will only disturb your mind and result in disaster
  • Don’t stick to silk sarees for all functions. Designers will help transform it to something prettier

Rise from Zero Investments

  • Think only about the benefits of your own customers
  • Don’t run to investors for overnight fame and popularity
  • Invest all your profits into your company

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The New Indian Express
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