Turning her dreams into reality allowed Vidhi to gain an invaluable experience along the way
21-year-old Vidhi Modi posing with her signboard - in front of the newly opened store located at the central area, 61 Haji Lane. She’s currently a university student at SIM, pursuing a Degree in Cyber Security.
“If you don't start, you will never know what you are capable of achieving in the future.”
The sky is not the limit for 21-year-old Vidhi Modi, who has successfully turned her ambitious dreams into a full-time career - following the momentous opening of her first physical store at the Chinatown area, under her jewellery start-up XVXII.
How XVXII Jewellery started
Earrings are just one of 7 main collections that are readily available to purchase via her online store, with most of them being priced at an affordable price around 30 dollars. (PHOTO: Vidhi Modi)
Founded at the start of last year amidst the pandemic, XVXII was more than just a jewellery merchandise to herself personally. The significant naming of the store is actually a personal touch to her father’s birthday in Roman numerals - whom she treasures dearly as a source of support.
In fact, she has always been passionate about running a full-scale business in Singapore since she was young - despite not knowing what particular area she intended to pursue back then.
This was the case until 2 years ago in 2019, when her trip to India managed to pique her curiosity towards the different craftsman-ships which were unique to the region - this ultimately was a driving force in kick-starting XVXII soonafter.
“I really admired the local craftsmanship which expressed the Indian culture, so I decided to bring glamorous Desi jewellery to Singapore and see how receptive the response would be,” Ms Vidhi quipped.
Some of the promotional photoshoots that Vidhi has organised for her brand. Most of the photographs actually showcase the stylish yet modern nature of her jewellery, which she personally takes pride in. [PHOTO: Vidhi Modi]
She added that she actually never had an interest in jewellery, but due to her initial success via online platforms - the opportunity to expand to a full-scale business was a key turning point for her, as XVXII has since been locally recognised by several Singaporeans as an avenue to purchase affordable yet quality jewellery.
Challenges faced along the way
It has not been straight-forward for Vidhi and her XVXII brand though, with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing many local businesses to downscale to online e-commerce platforms- the opposite approach from her XVXII brand.
In fact, the Ministry of Trade and Industry have raised that Covid-19 has severely disrupted Global economic activity and has led to both supply and demand shocks to the Singapore economy”.
According to research done by Statistia, 63 percent of local businesses have been negatively affected by the pandemic - where only a slim 6 percent of small businesses actually reported that Covid had a positive impact in terms of economic viability for them.
When she first launched her brand, she struggled to sustain her business when switching from online to physical - since she was only at the tender age of 19 at the time, with insufficient income to contribute then.
“For one and a half years, most of the income I earned from my part-time jobs went towards the business rather than individual expenditure. So I realised there’s always the need to make sacrifices, at least till there’s a clear profit margin months later,” Vidhi tells us.
In fact, another challenge she faced along the journey was marketing her new, unknown brand then - she found it hard to gain traction initially, having to rely heavily on Instagram and her friends to spread the word around.
“Even though it was difficult initially, I still believed in the marketing value because we’re in a way unlike other jewellery brands.
XVXII focuses on promoting inclusivity for all, by not having any discrimination about one’s race and gender - so we’re using this message to target our followers, to get them onboard,” Vidhi said.
Models of different races posing for a promotional photoshoot, wearing XVXII’s collection. For XVXII, the brand believes in inclusivity for all, where they carry different collections of western and desi jewellery to suit everyone.
Thankfully, her brand direction eventually took a positive rise in attention thanks to her marketing, after joining the TikTok platform, which allowed her to expand her customer base quickly. In fact, the brand has since grown to a decent following of 25,900 followers.
A look at some of the promotional content that Vidhi actively pushes out on a usual basis, showcasing the vast diversity of jewellery available for consumers to purchase. [PHOTO: Tiktok/@xvxiibyvidhi]
Despite these major hurdles so far though, she believes that the future of XVXII is gleaming bright - where she is looking to expand locally towards the western & eastern part of Singapore with more physical outlets.
Pursuing individual dreams and ambitions
With that being said, for Vidhi she believes that it is important for people who have aspirations to not easily give in, even when the going gets tough.
“I think that whenever we are pursuing our ambitions and dreams, people of our generation have to understand that it is alright to accept and experience failure.
Various setbacks are bound to happen in our lives at some point, but seeing it as a learning point to leverage on for the future is important,” expressed Vidhi.
She also encouraged those who have similar dreams of starting a new business to be bold, because if you never start - you’ll never know what you’re actually able to achieve in life.
A glimpse of Vidhi’s first XVXII outlet is located at 61 Haji Lane - in the heart of Chinatown. Her first store only just started 3 months ago, and is open till 9pm daily. [PHOTO: Tiktok/@xvxiibyvidhi]
“Even if one ends up failing, at least one would know what worked and what went wrong - and how to avoid such pitfalls in the near future. Therefore, it’s always good to start small and slowly work your way onto success,” Vidhi said.
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