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Page99 – A Better bookstore and a labour of Love

By Abhik Prasad on 38 Comments / 8983 views

A common friend introduced me to Nivida sometime back when she was looking for someone to help her with Digital Marketing at her newly launched startup. 

Nivida is very passionate about books and used to write reviews at her blog called Page99. After almost two years, she decided to open an online book store which would only sell books that have been read and reviewed by her and her team. The idea was to build on the community of book lovers who loved reading a physical book and enjoyed stuff across a wide genre, and make it easier for them to buy great books.

While reading and reviewing books is fun, running a startup involves a bit more work and a lot of stuff she hadn’t bargained for. However, she seems to be enjoying it at the moment and is determined to make Page99 a successful community of book lovers in India.

So without further ado, here a brief interview which encapsulates some of her triumphs and tribulations as an entrepreneur.

  • How did you end up becoming an Entrepreneur?

Chance. Dad’s bookstore (The New Book Depot in Connaught Place) was shutting down and there was a sentiment to keep it alive. We decided to take a real bookstore online despite all the big fish, do it better, and here we are. 

  • What is Page99.in?

Page99.in is an online bookstore, which is being developed specially for book lovers. We spend our
day finding books worth reading and bringing them to you. We use modern media to try and reach back out to old school philosophies of books made of real paper. There’s an alarmingly large community of book lovers that don’t subscribe to e-reading and we’re here to bring to them what they love most, and restore the aesthetic value that is inherent in books.

  • There are quite a few ecommerce websites, which sell books. How is Page99 different?

We want to be a platform for every true book lover to flock to us for information and for buying books that are handpicked and not available easily in India either. We believe in what we do, and are very meticulous in how we do it – customers and books come first, and that is seen in every action, be it design, customer service, our gifting, our packaging, our policies, etc. Everyone I meet asks me this question and I’ve come to realize that there is really is nothing to compare. The megastores are just that – megastores. Page99 is a niche, love filled, honest little bookstore that works with books, and people who love books. Books are not treated as objects here. You should see the excitement in office when new books arrive! We also like recommending books to people, whether they buy or not (but we prefer the buying please!) And we gift with serious thought. No two gift-packagings that we have sent out are the same – we scour various markets to find unique and eco-friendly materials for our gifting!

  • What are some of the challenges you faced while starting up?

Well a first would be answering questions about how we’re different from others, and establishing that firmly. Another would be that of setting up the e-commerce module, technology, reaching out, staffing, finances, logistics etc. One of the challenges we still face is people looking for the “best deal” and “discounts”. There are so many people who stick with us despite the lack of discounts. Our motto is: We deserve to earn money too! 

But honestly, none of them really seem like problems when I compare them to the emotional and psychological troubles of being an “entrepreneur”. I’ve hated my job, run away from it, ignored it, bawled in the face of insecurity and done everything wrong – and that’s the easy part. The tough part is getting through that and finding your way back. There is a lot of meaning and responsibility in my mind that comes with the word “entrepreneur” and I see a certain amount of success factor attached to it. At the moment, I don’t think I’m there. Getting over these fears of failure and insecurity is a mammoth task, and there’s no definitive “getting over” them. It’s an ongoing cycle. And I must add – I have experienced the stress of being a woman in business. But I won’t harp on about that here.

  • And how did you overcome them (or are still overcoming them)?

Like I said… ongoing cycle. The “business part” of stuff just happens. You think, you solve, you move on.
For the emotional stability: I hate this cliché but I do have a ridiculously supportive set of parents and a husband who has blind faith in me. Sure they piss me off with that occasionally because I don’t see reason behind their faith, but somewhere that must have kept me grounded. That and the fact that I’m a trained psychologist really helps me analyze myself and keep it together. Again, keeping it together is much much MUCH harder than letting loose and screaming or crying. I’ve stopped taking myself so seriously, and have introduced humor at work 🙂

  • Who has been a key source of inspiration in your life?

I don’t have a concrete answer. Maybe Dev (husband, etc). He’s taught me how to think creatively and think laterally and critically, and ideas inspire me. Every new idea is like a shot of adrenalin, whether it works or not. I get so kicked I can hardly sleep. But I’m sure I would not have been able to think the thoughts that I think today without the conversations that I’ve had with Dev – singularly.

  • What motivates you to wake up everyday and come to work?

First and foremost – NOTHING can motivate me to wake up. I love sleeping. But when I do pull myself out of bed, it’s mostly because some crazy idea is bubbling in my head and I just have to get up and see what I can do with it. And there are a bunch of days when there is no inspiration, just a little sense of responsibility.

  • What do you love most about your job?

Do you have to ask – books!! Reading is a part of my job – how much better does it get?!

  • Which are your 5 favorite books and why?

Oh no!! Not this question!! Can I not answer it please?! It’s such an unfair question! I feel like I’m betraying them by picking! (Book lovers will understand!) So I’ll pen down 5 but it’ll have changed by tomorrow:

a. Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli : The art and architecture of this book are a bit awe-inspiring. It’s a graphic novel that I’m going to frame page by page one day

b. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn : redefining light thriller reading. Could not sleep till I finished this book. Then I felt bad that I had finished it so fast. 

c. The Illicit Happiness of Other People by Manu Joseph : witty, dry, true to life, and a mystery solved. I’m in love with this man. He has a special ability to narrate quietly. Total opposite of Flynn

d. There Once Lived A Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya : Russian hero of literature for me. Her ability to connect the unreal and real is unmatched. She will make you so uncomfortable that you’ll start rethinking your views on what makes for something that is beyond us, and that which is really within reach

e. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera : to be read by EVERYONE to get a better understanding of “life” (love, loneliness, longing, philosophy of the highest order). You’ll be a different person when you’re done with it. If you’re not, there is something seriously wrong with you.

  • Any word of advice to future aspiring entrepreneurs?

Yes. Retain your innocence. 

Its one of those truly passionate ventures. To get a sense of how they do stuff, here is picture of how they pack some of their gifts. More gifting photoshere 🙂


About me : I joined Rodinhoods when it was just 3 weeks old 🙂 Love bouncing and sharing ideas here. My day job involves running a Digital Advertising agency called Experia Media based in Gurgaon. If you have just started up and are looking for office space in Gurgaon, check out our co working space here. Benefits include free marketing advice 😉

 

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Awarded the

“Rodinstar” Post 

of the week!!

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Editor’s note: This is interview is part of our series of ‘Meet the Rodinhooders’ – where any Rodinhooder can interview another one! if you’d like to interview another Rodinhooder, or would like to be interviewed, simply send an email to asha@rodinhood.com

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Other recommended interviews:

Have your Bagel and eat it too!

The man who is bringing TechCrunch to India!

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38 Comments

  1. i was having a typical monday abhik. thank you for making my day. thank you for introducing us all to Page99.in…

    nivida – welcome to trhs once again!!!

  2. Just a small feedback: For books that are easily available in diff stores online by giant players like Amazon, you could maybe fine tune your prices a bit. A book X in available in store Y for 2XX as compared to 4XX in your site.

    By the way, loved the website layout and design. All the best 🙂

  3. Thanks for finding me guys! Super excited to be here – it’s the first entrepreneurial community that I’m a part of!

  4. Hey Sidharth!

    Thanks for reading Abhik’s post on us! Just a quick response to you: our books are sold at MRP, not a rupee higher. Many giants can afford discounts, we can’t. We’re hoping to build a community of true book lovers, who value books and book buying as an experience, and who look forward to our efforts on recommendations, gifting, packaging etc. These people will hopefully not mind paying the deserved “extra” hundred rupees or so!

    Here’s hoping!!

  5. AWESOME!!!

  6. What a find! Loved the concept and the website design… May the force be with you.

  7. Too Good! All the best Nivida 🙂

  8. Creative !!! All the best

  9. You have carved a bold niche for yourself Nivida – may the force be with you.

    An online book store would put a customer in the center and Nivida, possibly runs a book lovers’ community, so she puts the book in the center. Which is what explains her response on pricing. Loved it!

  10. nivida,

    quick suggestion – your ‘about us’ page needs photos!!! you’ve got such a cute, friendly, easy to navigate website!! if one can put a face to the names, it will only add to the warmth and personal touch to the site! my husband and i did this to our own site and we got a lot of positive feedback from it!!

    https://www.indiadecoded.com/about-us/

    thought i’d share with you….

  11. Thanks again Alok! Going through your thoughts these days – via your articles! Enjoying myself!

  12. Thanks Naveen!! 

  13. Thanks Sukanya!! Good to see more women here! Was discussing that with Abhik once 🙂

  14. Thanks Manish! 

  15. Thanks for getting it Kanchan! Very cool of you to grasp the concept so well!! It’s a balance to be struck between the customer and the book. The second I understand that the customer themselves care about books, then I can place them back in the center 😉 That’s their rite of passage with us!

  16. On it right now! It’s just one of those things that keeps getting pushed lower on the list. But you’re right. It needs attention right away. Should be done in the next half an hour! Thanks so much! Hugs all around!

  17. Just so liked the advice, retain your innocence. I could feel your simplicity, honesty and innocence while reading the article!.:):)

  18. gosh! such good looking and fun people you are!!! made a world of a difference to that page :))))))

  19. Hi Nivida, that’s an awesome venture! 🙂 Your answers are so endearing..I just loved reading the entire article. Thank you so much Abhik for introducing Page99 to us.

  20. Btw – when I shared the link for Page99.in on twitter, one of the first responses I got was – “I loved their team page”

  21. Here’s a small suggestion for the site – I know you want it to become the community for the book lovers.

    Do give an option for readers (only those who buy books from you!) to be able to post their thoughts about the book they read (only about those books which they bought from you!).

    You could show these on the page where you show book details, blurb and your reasoning for recommending the book.

    I guess this would go a long way in engaging the book lovers with your site and build a strong independent community of reviewers.

    May be it’s already there in your roadmap, or may be it doesn’t make sense. In any case, you got to live with unsolicited advice when I do respond to a post on a trhs 🙂 

  22. did i hear “community”….?!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    LOL!

    nivida – your next transition should be to have a Page99ers!!! when you’re ready – all you need to do is set up a community like trhs on NING! it could have everything like – 

    – reviews

    – blogs

    – book club news

    – events like book launches – talks with authors

    – interviews of authors

    – video clips

    – photo gallery

    i’m in delhi for the diwali break – happy to meet you and abhik together to help you with this!

    #excited 

  23. Really?! That’s amazing!! Thank you for sharing, and thank you Asha for the impetus!!

  24. Wow I’m so glad that came across 🙂 , especially in world of textbook answers!

  25. Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts 🙂

  26. Of course it makes sense!! We’re working towards it day by day! Please let me know if you have other thoughts as well!

  27. I love ning! Have been exploring it for a while now! We’ve been discussing this – Abhik and I.

    PS. Loving Rodinhoods! Everyone is so warm and thoughtful – absolutely amazing! high sharing spirits 😀

  28. hey abhik,

    didn’t want to mess with the header so messed with the bottom of your post!

    🙂

  29. Oh my god!! This is so exciting!! Abhik – time to celebrate!! Another lunch??

    One party pending with you Asha!

  30. May be you would be interested in this discussion:

    https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/distribution-of-a-publishing-house-1

  31. Very nice use of the .in extension Nivida.  Have added your site and facebook page to the Indian Advertising Network across the site http://www.ketab.in.  Was unable to locate your twitter or pinterest account.  Please let me know if you have any one of these and will ensure that your advertisement gets updated.

    Best,  .indy

  32. Hey Chetan!

    The book publishing industry is a notorious one and it’s brave of you to have tried to venture into it. I’ll post the rest on your page 🙂

  33. Thanks Indy 🙂

    You can find us on twitter @the99thpage and at pinterest @getbooked

    (unfortunately page99 was unavailable everywhere!!)

  34. would wait for the feedback..

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