It was very hard to let go a future full of opportunities in the corporate world - Reshabh Sharma

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Tell us more about your company and your journey?


SPAROW offers latest fashion trends for men, women & children whose foundation are highly motivated youngsters in their teens and twenties associated with experienced professionals in their forte uniting together to manufacture sustainable and great quality products at modest prices.

Coming from a business family, I always had this entrepreneurial approach towards things which tremendously got amplified by the exposure of my alma mater – Delhi University which helped me explore new opportunities down the line in my life and has helped me found SPAROW.



How did you come up with this idea and go about executing it?


I think most start-up/business ideas are conceived during the college days in dorm room, cafeteria, travelling in metro or those late night conversations with your peers about how you want to take over this world and we are no different.


During my college days we used to have collection drives and collect old denims to manufacture them into bags with the help of visually challenged people as a part of our contribution towards social entrepreneurship. I realised the influence of social media on growing demands of apparel & footwear and how fast fashion is affecting the world and that is pretty much how the journey began.


Execution of an idea and bringing it to life from a paper plan is your transformation of becoming an Entrepreneur from a Wantreprenuer. This transformation happened to me when I left my well-paying job after just six months after getting the clarity that I want to become my own boss.


So I bootstrapped, hired a few interns and worked from a small room in one of my father’s factory calling it my office in the initial days.



What has been your biggest challenge that you faced and how did you overcome that?

There’s a famous Robert Frost poem ‘Road Not Taken’ which I think has set the bar for me for taking important decisions of my life. Leaving a well-paying job and moving back to Delhi for something which is very uncertain and probability of odds happening are too low, I think is the biggest challenge and choice I have faced until now.

When relocated to Mumbai, Maharahtra for official purposes during my job, I met a lot of people from different MNCs like HUL, ITC, Honda, Suzuki, Amul. Parle, Mondelez, Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Group and many more combined with the start-up ecosystem I got inspired to start my own company.

My power of belief, judgement, persistence and creative abilities became my guiding principles for making me what I am today. It was very hard to let go a future full of opportunities in the corporate world but I knew I wanted to be somebody not buried in a cubicle.


Then what? Took the next flight home and explained the same to my parents and people who matter to me to let me decide my own fortune rather than regretting of not starting in the first place when I’d be grey and old.



What do you think are the most important qualities of a successful entrepreneur?Different businesses requires different set of qualities but there are some things are all pervasive and determines success or failures out of which I think persistence and having learning attitude is very essential regardless of the domain you are serving in.

In addition to those I think out of the box creativity, high-risk appetite and ability to bounce back are the key ingredients of a successful entrepreneur.


What are some of the most important factors for running a successful business?

I would actually like to share a list for this answer:

- Great Influential Leaders

- Rational Decision Making

- Strategical Plans

- Recurring Cash In-Flow

- Positive Reviews & Customer Feedback

- High Market Demand

- Patent and Intellectual Property Protections

- Visible Market Presence

- Social Responsibility



What are your tips for first time and aspiring entrepreneurs?


Look around you for opportunities that are un-exploited in the first place and if your model is more like the regular ones then find a USP or a change that you can bring to that particular industries, after all Thomas Edison didn’t device light bulb he perfected it.


Trust on the power of belief because the more you trust things will go right, you’ll have a positive approach over things and this power of belief will give you the foundational confidence you require to make sense in a room full of people and after all miracles happen every day, placebo’s and improbable things also work.


Gear-up with the upcoming and trending technologies and figure out ways how can you integrate it in your business and help your clients grow and customers better off.



How can one overcome a hurdle of lack of funds when starting up?


Bootstrapping is not for everyone, especially at a young age when you have no income inflows or savings in your bank account it can be difficult. So, to divide the risk I recommend to partner up with like-minded people who can help you to achieve your initial stage of building up as well as can serve the space when you are not there.


There are other ways as well by pitching Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors about the scalability and uniqueness of your business against some part of your business.


If you have a good credit score you can even apply for bank loans and recently government has also introduced specific loans for entrepreneurs and if not loans then last option is getting funding through crowdfunding.