If you really want something, the universe conspires in helping you achieve it”
This is the story of Ankit Dass, the guy who believed in his idea. The Father of Ankit, Mr. Bhagwan Dass was a footwear designer and owned his own manufacturing unit is known as Reedass therefore from the very beginning, Ankit was inclined toward joining this family business.
Ankit had just graduated from Hindu college after completing his English honors when he suggested his dad expand his line of business by introducing some sneakers. The main motive behind trying to introduce sneakers was to increase the target audience by attracting the youth. His dad was not very supportive of the idea and refused to help him with the same but Ankit was stubborn; he had this inner understanding of what was trending amongst the youth and wanted to work forward with his idea.
He decided to explore on his own and contacted his father’s distributors in order to find flat soles for the sneakers but nobody showed any interest. Things did not work between Ankit’s ideas and Reedas therefore in the year 2020, the first wave of Covid, Ankit decided to start his own, fully online sneaker the brand is known as ZAYDN Sneakers.
Ankit wanted to satisfy himself and showcase that his idea was not absurd therefore he didn’t think much before staring at ZAYDN sneakers.
Ankit always resembled himself with fire which lead to the construction of the name “ZAYDN” meaning ‘little fire’ in Latin America.
He used the extra material from his dad’s factory to build the shoes, got the name patented, modeled for his own brand while one of his friends with a camera helped him click pictures, and finally started his website which consisted of 5-10 designs of sneakers.
Things between Ankit and his father went sore because Mr. Bhagwan Dass was not able to share the same perspective as Ankit. With no help from his father, Ankit used all his savings to source the required inputs for his startup.
He reached out to influencers and sent them shoes, he paid for ads and promotions. All this led to success one day when he received 10 orders in a day just because of a shoutout.
In December 2021, Ankit decided to gather a team to sell his sneakers on online portals like Amazon and Flipkart where he used to receive 20-30 orders a day but then in April 2022, Ankit decided to start selling from the official ZAYDN Sneakers Instagram id.
Now Ankit receives around 300 orders in one day which has led his father to gain trust in ZAYDN sneakers. Ankit says as I quote “I used to feel like I am doing something illegal in my own house because my dad did not accept my idea, however, now he has realized my potential and he is the one setting up new machines for ZAYDN Sneakers saying that I would need these in the near future”
Ankit wished he knew where to invest before starting his business. Many organizations used to reach out to him, asking him to pay a certain amount of money for media coverage. He used to get over-excited, pay these organizations, and then end up receiving no benefit from them.
Ankit was doing everything from marketing to packaging the order himself, plus he was also handling his father’s business Reedass which took a mental toll on him. Therefore he also wished that he knew when to hire more people.
In the end, he would like to give other startups a piece of advice to not compromise the quality of their products even if it means a rise in price and not to be scared of failure.
“If you are not receiving any order, don’t sulk. Think about the reason behind the problem, then find the solution” –
Ankit Dass, You can order from ZAYDN Sneaker via https:/ zaydns.com
