The first page of my album reads ‘Life is not measured by the breaths you take but the moments that take your breath away.’ It is followed by some of the glorious and special moments that I shared with my family and friends. What can be more precious than the smile on the face of our dear ones and the unforgettable moments of joy with our loved ones? The duo working to emboss these everlasting smiles and moments in others lives is the story we bring to you. They are cousins, colleagues, soul mates and what not! (Varun says pointing at him that the clown out there is Harsh and we’ve been married since long). One small incident has changed not just their lives but has inserted sparkling pages in the diaries of thousands of people.

It started off with Harsh surprising his friend at an airport. They planned a surprise for her by stopping the car at various points all along the way and presenting garlands, chocolates and people dancing. It was a lot of fun and they started getting calls from people who wanted to gift such experiences to their dear ones. Varun says it was more of a passion to them which later turned into their profession when they realized that they had potential and should give it a shot.

Varun isn’t sure if he can call himself a creative person but says he has been in the creative industry since long. Varun worked as a copywriter before being into ‘oye happy’. And firmly mentions that if not this, he would definitely incline himself towards innovative and artistic arena. Defining ‘happiness as the tiniest things we can look back at’, Varun says the label has emerged because they wanted the name to reflect both excitement (OYE!!) and happiness (HAPPY). He emphasizes that happiness varies from person to person and can never be packed and distributed in a similar fashion to every individual. For instance, even the world’s best bouquet cannot make a person happy if he hates flowers. Therefore ‘oye happy’ has diverse choices varying from a ‘Harley Davidson ride’ to ‘Gift a smile (a day at orphanage)’. He mentions that the products they offer are very insightful and well thought of.

Reminiscing their first order, he says it came from a family friend who wanted to tell his girlfriend that he misses her and planned to surprise her. So they went to her house with a huge card that had ‘I miss you’ written all over it. The presence of her entire family there made it very embarrassing for her. So that marked the beginning of ‘Oye happy’ and they kept on evolving with every passing day, with numerous such memories. This being a very unconventional idea, success didn’t knock their door overnight. It has been a complete journey of building up one stone on the other, rising from six orders per month to forty orders per month. The fundamental element on which their venture runs is the trust of people.

Varun asserts that people prefer to call them up and talk to them about it when they look for some of the exquisite orders like booking a private island for a day. In today’s world where social media takes the spotlight, oye happy’s unique products find a place in people’s timeline and the joy of personal experiences spreads around within the circle.

Looking back, he says that initially they were very rigid about their business idea and wanted to provide highly customised services which involved getting to know every detail about their customer which was a deterrent to their growth. But as they evolved, they realized that flexibility is important to shape things in a better way for a successful business. They incorporated simpler services that do not demand meticulous care and attention. Talking about Harsh, Varun says that they could connect to each other with a similar vision, No matter how different they are and how different their approaches have been, they have managed to stay on the same path by sharing their responsibilities and complimenting each other (Harsh handles the technical side while Varun manages marketing) and that makes them a successful pair.

They started off with the funding of 30 lakhs that they received coupled with their own savings. In contrast to the 10 orders per day in the beginning, today they are stable at 40 orders per day and are a profitable firm. Being the biggest gifting company in India presently, they look forward to take it across the boundaries of nation in two years.

The way they carry out their work reflects why they are a success story today. In Varun’s words,“The sole reason behind Oye Happy is to make people happy. It is what we truly love. So, once in a while, we ourselves carry out the orders accompanying the guitarist or spending time in the orphanage. We don’t want to become too management focussed and therefore we take time for witnessing the customer’s moments and experiences personally”.

A proper vision and passion are the requisites for a startup. Owning a business for the sake of being one’s own boss is not the right approach. You need to have a reason that can push you to reach high.