Business by design

"After working for 14 years in aviation, hospitality and the BPO sector, I chose to be a stay-at-home mum and have started a business called The Hamper Company,” says budding businesswoman Aban Elavia. Believing that good things can come in small packages and that gift-giving is all about individuality, Elavia creates personalized gifts – towel sets, linen, tee shirts, etc embroidered with customers’ names and designs of their choice which can be presented on weddings, birthdays, anniversaries...

Mother of five-year-old Zahan, Elavia gave up her job with 3, a Fortune 500 company (part of the Hutchison Group), last year and says being a stay-at-home mum is an experience she thoroughly enjoys. "A home business is ideal for me. I wanted to be able to spend more time with my son and an enterprise run from home, though demanding, can give you flexibility in terms of timings, which is exactly what I needed. The idea of receiving a personalized gift instead of just another gift has always appealed to me,” she says. The Hamper Company has designs for men, women and children. "You can have your child’s name and favorite toon character or you can have his/her picture printed, with a custom-made message. Marine designs or patterns pertaining to nature are available too,” she explains.

Elavia also provides what she calls towel and spa hampers — personalized towels teamed with a wide selection of Thai spa products from Soul Flower. The cost of spa products is as per actuals, with the range starting from Rs 50. Towels vary in price from Rs 390 for medium size to Rs 475 for large. Full sets attract a discount.

Monograms and designs are machine embroidered. Elavia terms the embroiderers "immensely gifted artisans” who are competent to embroider even by just looking at a design. Lending substantial support is husband Farhad who is the chief operating officer at Umbrella, a well-known design house. "Since he is in a creative field, he really helps in terms of software. Fonts are easier to find, I can bounce off designs and colors and tap his creativity,” she describes. Though buying power and choice of gifts is vast today, "it’s still the little things that touch our hearts, that we remember for a long time, which is something I am attempting to provide via this business. My market research too proved I was on the right track.” Slowly breaking into the market via family and friends, word of mouth advertising has helped her a lot, she believes. "Many who have seen the gifts received by people are calling to get things made. My reward would definitely be satisfied patrons. Being from the customer service field all my professional life, I live by the adage ‘customer is king,’” she asserts. Bandra-based Elavia also looks to provide in future monogrammed crockery, cutlery and glassware. She can be contacted at thehampercompany@gmail.com