Shradha Gulati story of creating handmade chocolates and business too!
A story of dedication: We are talking about this lady who is damn passionate about life to do several things at one go. For all those who say that we cannot do more than one thing!!! Well, then the below stuff is a sheer example of small steps each day. Shradha Gulati is a successful woman entrepreneur who sells handmade chocolates of high quality. Her passion and entrepreneurial skills have earned her significant revenue, respect, and reputation!
Over to you Shradha Gulati –
ChocoArray journey
The ChocoArray journey goes back to March 2016 when I was alien about making chocolates. Except for my never-ending love and desire to eat every excellent piece of this world. During my trip to the US in 2003, I had to purchase a new travel bag just because I wanted to bring back a massive quantity with me. That time I have never dreamt of making these sweets myself in my entire life.
I remember the 1st time I saw a sweet mold that a friend gifted. I thought it was an ice tray, and it is for creating fancily shaped ice cubes. But, yes, this happened to me! I loved eating them, though, but making them was not my cup of tea.
Yummilicious Bonbons
One beautiful day in February 2016, when one of my friends made a batch herself and made me taste, the inquisitiveness started. After that, I tried my hands on it again. I fell in love with the process of creating those yummilicious bonbons. The possibilities were limitless in terms of the ingredients that you can make chocolate. Chocolate can range from rum, nuts, crackle, kiwi, cranberries, prunes, paan (a sweet Indian delicacy) to name a few in white, dark brown, light brown, marble, and much more.
After coming back from my friend’s place, I mustered the courage & invaded my mom’s territory; yes, you got it right – Her kitchen! That day I played with every ingredient to lay my hand on my journey to make the bonbon myself. I must confess that I did leave a mess behind, and that first trial was an average product for a person like me who is a great fan when I tasted myself. The kitchen was looking like a piece of land as if recently struck by a tornado.
But that provoke me to do something real in the chocolate world. It took a couple of months, close to a hundred tests, and a ton of relatives hungover with bad & good flavors to get the recipe right.
Mom’s Support
Today, mom is the biggest fan. She calls up her friends, their friends, and everyone she ever meets so that they can taste my creation over and over again. Motherlove, I guess. or maybe she is proud to say that my daughter makes these.
In April 2016, I officially launched ChocoArray, my first company. Facebook became a go-to-market place. I made sure that I share each cooking experience. I carefully documented every testimonial and annexed every Facebook group with ChocoArray. After that, I took it; literally, I stepped into the sweetmeat business on a journey to become an entrepreneur.
The next big leap was to participate in corporate exhibitions and try for some corporate orders. It was an experience to deal with big brands like Airtel, Weather Risk Management Services, Chadha investments, Crystal children’s center, to name a few.
The next milestone
At this time, I did not know that the next enormous milestone was just around the corner. I got an opportunity to showcase my piece of art at a food event where Masterchef Sanjay Raina of Mealability fame and Chef Arun Sahdev of Mutton King’s fame were the Judges. It was a massive platform for all the home chefs and home bakers. ChocoArray Rum and Raisins dark bonbon won an award there. Yeah, my baby got recognized by the industry leaders — a moment to enjoy and relish.
During this time, more learning opportunities and appreciation came to me in the form of coverage by Suburb Gurgaon magazine. In their January 2017 issue, Chocolate Learning Session at the Academy of Pastry Arts, ChocoArray of Shradha Gulati got appreciation from the best of their chefs. I also received an invitation for a dessert tasting session by Chef Priti Khullar Manchanda. I felt honored.
Till all these moments, I had no idea what fame was, but these experiences changed my life.
Another milestone added to ChocoArray was when ICICI recognized me for my courage, hard work, and inspiration.
USP and Encouragement
My journey has been peppered with honest feedback & encouragement from clients, friends, and family. I crave feedback more than my candies now as it helps me improvise and pack new innovative flavors for clients.
My USP is creating unique flavors that are not generally available in the market. And I add a truckload of love with it. The only thing that we do not add is any artificial flavoring.
I have managed to create a community on my social pages where my clients share their happy moments. And feedback in almost real-time. Some clients invite me to their family functions, vacations, and get together. Of course, they expect me to bring them a special gift — a box of my ChocoArray Chocolates.
There can not be a better way would be to end this journey with feedback from our clients. I am sharing feedback along with some pictures.
A few of our Client Reviews
Shradha Gulati – Our storyteller
Shradha Gulati is a working woman with experience of 16.5 years of working in eminent corporate. Travelling has always been her biggest passion in life. She has been to more than 15 countries and plans to cover much more across the globe. Having picked up a flair for writing Shayri from her dad, her first book is publishing soon. She always had a sweet tooth. Still, a couple of years back, she developed a love for experimenting with different kinds of chocolates to develop fillings and flavors which are typically not available in the open market.
It is how ChocoArray was born. She dedicated all the time to the same passion, whatever time she gets from her job during late evenings, early mornings, weekends, and holidays. A friend of hers told Shradha Gulati one day. I always used to think about how Cadbury’s, Hershey’s, and other big chocolate brands reached where they are. After seeing ChocoArray’s progress step by step, I’m getting answers to all my questions.
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