Agra :

A group of youngsters from disparate fields like Economic Honours, graphic designing and creative writing, have come together and built perhaps the first social network website for shoe makers.

The website, called ‘Shoekonnect’, has put these six 20-somethings into the limelight as just 28 days after being set up, it has amassed more than 150 subscribers from around the world, including Patrick De Muynck from Polimoda Fashion School in Italy.

Visibly excited about their new project, one of the youngsters, Siddharth Vig said, “India ranks second in the world in terms of footwear volume produced and the footwear sector is one of the highest foreign exchange earners. Lack of innovation and communication in the industry actually served as the inspiration for our venture. ShoeKonnect will enhance the connections between the business houses of this industry and make communication among them barrier free.”

ShoeKonnect is actually a part of the parent organization, called BizCrum, which provides a platform for businesses of all kinds to create a social network of their own.

Chaitanya Rathi, another member of the group, said, “We gave our idea a concrete form through ShoeKonnect – the footwear industry’s own social network that promotes communication among footwear businesses. To emulate this idea in other industries, BizCrum was conceived.”

The journey began when the two friends, Siddharth and Chaitanya, pursuing Economics Honours from Delhi University during their last semester in January, hit upon the idea to start something of their own with a view to bring value to businesses around them.

Siddharth (21), hails from Agra, and had always imagined doing something for the city’s shoe manufacturing industry, while Chaitanya, comes from a business family. The youngsters brainstormed and came to the conclusion that technology could help revive local businesses and make them flourish, maybe even on a global scale.

After the idea was conceived, the duo met Siddharth Rastogi, a 22-year-old graphic designer and technology enthusiast. The team started forming. Next, they met fashion-forward Charuka Arora from Agra and researcher and creative writer Aditya Madhusudhan from Kota. The five of them began the process of setting up Bizcrum – Agra’s first B2B tech startup.

But they still needed an entrepreneur, someone who could give direction to the process. That is how they met Sumat Nanda in Agra after interviewing countless number of technological entrepreneurs. Work on Bizcrum then started.

Siddharth said Sumat was the one who came up with the concept of ‘ShoeKonnect’. It gave a face to Bizcrum, telling the world what this network was all about, he added.

ShoeKonnect aims to bring together component suppliers, footwear manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers on a single platform. This will not only help exchange ideas and innovations in shoe-making but also make trade smoother as it allows a manufacturer from India to get in touch with his counterpart in other countries.

The team spoke to over 200 footwear business owners as a part of their research, understanding their needs, designing rough mockups of their platform and building strategies around the business model. They worked through their final exams and were able to concentrate on this venture when their college ended in June. “For the next two months, all of us slogged hard, conducting field studies, meetings and even taking up odd jobs to meet costs,” Siddharth added.

Once the groundwork was laid, the team found that spreading awareness about the venture was even tougher than setting it up. But they managed to come out with flying colours. They divided the work among themselves and made sure that every aspect was taken care of.

Acknowledging the role of those who helped them, Siddharth said, “The whole endeavor couldn’t have been possible without the help of seniors such as Rakshit Tandon (cyber security expert), GP Sharma, Ravi Saini and Rittwick Visen, the creative team of – Rishav Kumar, Varun Gupta and several bright student interns. It is thanks to them that we have 150+ members associated with shoekonnect in the past 28 days. Among the 150 members, 20 are from other countries.”

Appreciating the initiative, Pooran Dawar, chairman of Dawar Group (leading Indian footwear manufacturer) and AFMEC (Agra footwear manufacturers and exporters chamber), said, “These kids are doing extremely well. As a shoe manufacturer, I felt the need for something like Shoekonnect. It will surely take India’s shoe industry to the next level.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Agra / by Ishita Mishra, TNN / November 10th, 2014