Chennai: Do what you like whole-heartedly and the success will come automatically, they say. Sivakami Ramesh, who belongs to a textile business background, did not know that her simple effort would lead to great success.
This entrepreneur started doing designs for children’s accessories casually for homes. Slowly, special bags were designed by Sivakami and her team with cartoon characters.
As they got good response from children, Sivakami started Advitiya, an online shop for children, six years back. After its success, she now has a brick-and-mortar outlet with the same name in Vettuvankeni.
This shop is said to be an ‘experience store’ for children. The kids can visit the shop and explore the designs. For example, if they want a screen to be designed, a plain screen will be given to them and the children themselves can decide what all they can add. The same applies for bags and other accessories too.
Sivakami says, “We do 60 – 70 themes. Our products are mainly divided into school articles, travel, baby goods, bedroom and bath, accessories, and return gifts. Under school articles come bags. All bags are designed with a number of themes to attract children. Concepts like jungle with animal designs, cartoon characters in which the kids favourite characters are added; princess theme that features children’s favourite fantasy princess characters like Barbie, Cinderella, etc. We also have best birthday party return gifts like ocean theme-based bags, etc.”
Want your child to have sound sleep? Then you must visit Advitiya. The group of designers here have set the right bedroom experience for children with suitable colour and theme combinations. A separate research team works behind each set-up and make sure everything is unique and different.
The enthusiast says, “The theme is based on what people require. For example, if the customer wants princess theme, right from the face of the princess, carriages, to the wands they use, we make sure everything is in place. Likewise, rainbows and unicorn theme are also liked by people. Our researchers team discusses the concept and makes it a better end-product.”
They mostly use cotton fabrics. “The designers fashion the image and then they go to the machines after which they undergo laser cut. We make sure we use cool colours and they do not fade easily,” says the entrepreneur.
People opt mostly for interior decorations, party planners. The shop also includes children’s names in their bags which excite the kids. For some playschools they also give bags that match with their uniforms.
“I accept children are addicted to smart phones and other gadgets. But it’s high time we stopped complaining and started giving them what they wanted. Kids always search for better alternative and it is our duty to give them one,” she explains.
Recently, the team conducted an event for children. “The workshop for children had cookie decoration. All kids sat in a place, decorated the cookies one full hour without being distracted. We also asked them to design posters. They turned out to be very creative. Likewise, story-telling and some other activities will also keep them engaged. Also, in the near future, we are planning to conduct more events that will attract children,” she smiles.