Mridu Goel: Founder, Bansiwalla

Mridu Goel pursued her Chartered Accountancy and MBA from SPJIMR, after which she started her corporate journey with Cadbury India followed by Unilever India. But from early on in her career, she always had an inclination to run her own show, being a foodie at heart commencing a startup in the F&B industry was always in the back of her mind. After the initial fear and hurdles, she launched Bansiwala. With a vision to offer authentic Indian sweets and savouries to her customers. “The true pulse of a city can only be experienced by its local fair,” Mridu Says. Initially, the learning curve was steep, everyday was filled with new challenges. “But I always focused on my team, If you take care of your team, they will take care of your customers,” Mridu added. They were an offline focussed company with a presence in Modern Trade like Big Bazaar, Reliance, Star Bazaar. But when the COVID-19 crisis hit, her business came under jeopardy. Malls shut down, most of the employees traveled back to their home town and Logistics channels were disrupted.

But as they say, crisis brings opportunities – Learning, innovating, and rising from disruptions to put the worst behind.  “We explored the unexplored and brought the concept of Online sweets. Increased the product range from 8 SKUs to 50+ SKUs. My website was up in 20 days straight and in the first 4 months of operations we have reached more than 4000 customers and received a Facebook grant for Small Businesses!” she recalled.

Apart from being a passionate entrepreneur, Mridu is a mother to a 9-year-old who she calls- “my biggest cheerleader and critic!” In her downtime, they bond over the love for food and also talk about business! Her daughter has a discerning taste even at such a young age and she gives her feedback on branding, product pricing, and the brands marketing initiatives!