Meet the SHEROES - Ritika Bajaj

Ritika Bajaj founded Merit C2, an innovative company that provides complete design and content solutions for varied mediums. Her business isn’t limited by industries they serve or type of work generated, as she says in her own words ‘we work with everything that needs content and design’.

Let’s hear the story of Merit C2 today.

How did the inspiration for Merit C2 come about? What does your venture offer?

While working at different jobs I always dreamed of starting my own content and design house. I enjoyed conceptualising, editing and design. I worked for different magazines for a long time and was looking to experiment with other reading formats.

That’s when my first client approached me with a short story book that she wanted me to help her produce. I took it on while still at a job. Unfortunately or fortunately, the project at the company I was working with got shelved due to recession, and that’s when writing on the wall became clearer to me. It was time to give my enterprise a chance. So we completed the short story book, branded it with the MeritC2 logo and that’s how it all started.  

MeritC2 offers a wide range of services from writing and editing to concept design and execution for various mediums. From books and brochures to branding and packaging, we work with everything that needs content and design.

As an entrepreneur, what top qualities are necessary to succeed, according to you?

An entrepreneur needs to have tremendous staying power, as the journey can be very slow and trying at times. There may be days of no work and then days with lots of work. Thus, I also feel one should focus on bagging multiple projects at the same time to ensure there aren’t many dull moments.

An entrepreneur also needs to be comfortable working alone as there will be times, especially in the early stages of an enterprise, when you don’t have the luxury of hiring too many people.

An entrepreneur also needs to have great people management and time management skills. Everything from pitching to the client to retaining the client, or networking and dealing with your vendors, all need great tact and skill. Time management of course helps you juggle between business development, going for meetings, pitches and eventually executing the job - It helps to be organised as an entrepreneur.

Besides content and design, is there any other new product / service you hope to offer in the near future?

Content and design lends itself to many formats and mediums. You’ll be surprised but we get enquiries with something different all the time but it still fits the umbrella of content and design. For example, we are currently working on a project for children’s activity kits. The possibilities of taking content and design to anything and everything is huge.

What are the top challenges faced in this line of work? How do you overcome them?

The top challenges are getting quality vendors and still retaining the right price points for clients. But luckily with the internet opening you up to so much more talent, this has become easier to tackle.

Another challenge of course is maintaining a constant revenue stream in the initial few years of being a start-up. But once your clients are happy with you and they become your repeat clients, this problem reduces. The next challenge then is to retain your clients. Client satisfaction is paramount, with that will come word of mouth and then a continuous stream of business.

What advice would you give other enterprising women / aspiring entrepreneurs out there?

Go pursue your dream with everything it takes. It’s not always easy but it’s very rewarding and gives you a great sense of freedom and accomplishment to be working for yourself.

Most importantly, work toward creating something new, aim at changing the game, redefining the way things are done, in other words - focus on innovation. When your work truly impacts the lives of your customers, that’s when everything seems truly worth it.  

And for women in particular – “the world is your oyster”. This is the best time for women and entrepreneurs in particular, in India and in the world. There are great support networks, there are a lot of women out there happy to collaborate with you and take your dream ahead. Additionally, entrepreneurship gives you the flexibility to work and grow at your own pace, which is what most women need at certain times in their career.