2017 is here, and so are the long weekends. For a happy holiday, why not plan a vacation, this time with your pets? No more “I missed you my dear pet” and no more regrets, CollarFolk is here to help families plan pet friendly holidays.

“Every single family that goes on holiday brings us so much joy. Looking at their photos, hearing their stories and watching their pets become seasoned travelers, is what we work for”, says CollarFolk Founder Rukmini Vaish.

CollarFolk has recently launched a new range of pet inspired merchandises, too.

Excerpts from an exclusive interaction with Rukmini Vaish of CollarFolk:

Background of Promoter

I am Rukmini Vaish and I come with 8 years of experience across sales and marketing across companies such as Vodafone and AkzoNobel.

The initial period- the challenges & the ecstasy of quick wins!

Since we had a very new concept, something never seen in India before, the biggest challenge for us initially was to educate customers as well as supply side partners. However, being nimble footed with our processes and constantly speaking to our customers and partners, we have been able to overcome this over time.

The journey so far!

We launched our website in February of 2016. Since then we have had over 200 families take holidays with us and more than 500 families have traveled with us. Over the course of this year we have been successful in building CollarFolk as a brand that is loved by over 5000 pet families and as an extension of the brand we recently launched CollarFolk merchandise as well!

Strategic Alliances & Partnerships

One of the biggest partnerships right now is the Aquaterra Challenge with pets. This is Asia’s first triathlon with pets scheduled at Rishikesh on the Holi weekend in March. For this event we have partnered with Aquaterra, India’s leading and safest adventure company.

We also work with companies such as www.dogkart.in to promote outdoor wearables and accessories for pets.

The future, as you see, 3 years from now in terms of scope & scale of your business enterprise

We will continue to grow our holidays and experiences verticals as lifestyle services. In addition, we will focus on pet inspired merchandise as a brand extension to reach not only pet parents but also pet lovers all over in India.

Key moments of reckoning in business life

One of the first things you face with a start-up is building the team. Infact, we wanted to start the Pet Taxi business in Delhi, so we put up a poster at one Vet to check demand (all this while we didn’t have a taxi or a driver). So when the first time the phone rang, I drove my personal car to do the taxi ride and then many more for the first month! We now do more than 50 rides per month. It made me realize that as a Founder you need to do everything and anything to build the business.

The feelings on getting the first big order / contract for your company

I was over the moon. It’s that first recognition of all the hard work that is put in to get a company up and running. It’s the fuel that keeps you going!