She Sets the Wheels in Motion…..

She started her first venture at the age of 22, failed at the age of 23, bounced back at 24 and it’s a story since……story of resilience, determination and persistence.
26-year-old Nikita’s day starts with setting up her laptop, checking the previous day’s work, coordinating with her team and making her to-do list. Every day she lists out three most important things for the day and then manages her time accordingly.
Nikita’s family, which is now based in Ahmedabad, originally hails from Bhind, a town near Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. Her father was in a transferrable job, so Nikita was in a new place almost every two years. She says this introduced the trait of adaptability in her. Till 14 years of age, Nikita had changed seven schools. On hindsight when she reflects on it, she believes that this made her an extrovert and a go-getter because at every new place she had to push through to create her place. She was always advised by her father, whom she idolises, to focus on the positives and build on these. Driven by this energy, Nikita excelled in academics and also indulged in her passion for photography.
In the year 2000, Nikita’s father decided to settle down in Ahmedabad and since then she has stayed put in this city, which she says she has come to adore. Nikita acquired her Graduation degree in B.Com LLB (Hons) from Gujarat National Law University in the year 2015.
During her graduation, Nikita realised that business is what gelled perfectly well with her fearless, independent nature and she set out to fructify her dreams of becoming an entrepreneur. To learn about the discipline, she joined Post Graduate Diploma in Management – Business Entrepreneurship (PGDM-BE) at EDII. As she puts it, “I had heard about EDII’s PGDM-BE course and a closer probe into the course curriculum convinced me about joining this Institute.” Recollecting the pleasant memories at the Institute, Nikita admiringly states, “EDII was instrumental in enabling me to focus my random thoughts into action. The knowledge, motivational and skill building sessions proved to be the key reason behind my decision to set up a venture.”
Nikita was highly motivated and while pursuing her PGDM-BE course at EDII she launched her first company named Tilebazzar.com with her brother in the year 2015. But her first venture met with failure. However, she consulted her mentors at EDII, learnt and decided not to repeat the mistakes in her future efforts.
Talking about her first start up failure, she says, “Being a Lawyer and entering into Ceramic Tiles Manufacturing Industry without any experience was a different ball game all together, Even though we had exceptional research on our hand for tilebazzar.com, we failed miserably. At that point, I had two options with me; either to let go off everything and start afresh or crib about my failure and withdraw. I believed my failure was about to lead me to a bigger idea.” Nikita focussed on gaining knowledge, and on 13 th June 2016, after working upon all critical areas, she launched Tatkalorry. It is a teach enabled company connecting manufacturers, dealers, truck owners and transporters for flexible ceramic goods deliveries. It is a one-step solution for those looking forward to availing transportation services for part or full truck load or even for transporting samples from manufacturers to customers. Tatkalorry aims to deliver a range of products from industrial, commercial, agricultural to heavy industries products across India.
Nikita emphasizes on keeping an eye on opportunities, thinking out-of-the-box and being innovative. This spark in her personality even reflects in the name of her organization – Tatkalorry, (Tatkal in Hindi means quick or immediate & Lorry means a transporting vehicle).
Nikita recounts how her training at EDII helped her at every step. In identifying her business opportunity, she researched the logistics industry, carried out a market research and studied how the customer preferences had changed. Nikita settled on Logistics business but was fully aware of the challenges that lay before her, “Logistics and supply chain management is a service-based industry which is primarily male dominated. The workforce in this industry comprises less educated labourers coming from underprivileged strata of society. One does not find women at any level in this industry. In such a scenario being a woman entrepreneur in the industry has its own challenges. But I like to take challenges. Also, to be able to positively influence a great number of lives gives me immense satisfaction which is why I chose a labour-intensive industry. Today I feel happy that I chose this field. In my own small way I believe I am making a difference.”
She adds with conspicuous pride, “My belief in entering this area was fortified by the vision of our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji during the Make in India campaign. I was motivated to partake in this manufacturing boom and decided to contribute by developing an effective logistics and supply chain management system.”
Nikita’s aim is to deliver on-demand quality service at competitive price and back every shipment with outstanding customer support service. The company has created opportunities for employment for local truck drivers, auto-rickshaw drivers and other labourers on temporary, contractual, one-time delivery basis. Tatkalorry also accepts low volumes loads, which the usual truck fleet owners do not. Her company presently has 50 employees and generated revenue of over seven crores in 2019-20. She has 60 percent repeat customers which is a big number given the competition in the logistics market.
In about three years since inception, Tatkalorry has bagged many prestigious awards. Among the notable one is the National Entrepreneurship Award 2019 by the Ministry of MSME. The company is also the proud recipient of the SSIP Startup Prashansha Award by Gujarat Government (2019) and the Start Smart Jury Award West Zone in association with NUJS and NITI Ayog (2018). An inspiration for both young and established entrepreneurs, Nikita has also been awarded the Government of Gujarat’s Growth Stage Startup Award (2019).
As a logistics and supply chain management company, Tatkalorry is no less than a boon to the manufacturing industry. As we wished good luck to Nikita, she signed off on an important note to budding entrepreneurs, “If you see a problem, focus on its possible solutions because no problem can ever exist without a solution. We just have to be creative to match the problem with the solution. It just requires some hard thinking and a creative eye on the surroundings to spot solutions.”

Our compliments to you Nikita….Zoom your pace and meet success everyday!!!
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