Will Try To Put Creste Kids In Schools As B2B Is Always Bigger, Says Founder Nidhi Sethia

Launched in August 2020, Creste Kids offers subscription-based do-it-yourself (DIY) activity boxes designed for kids aged between 3 and 12 based on their chosen hobbies. While the kits are divided into three segments as per age, its 50-activity range covers topics like robotics, gardening, art, chemistry, cooking and physics. With ‘learning through playing’ at the heart of it, every kit has a QR code that takes the kids and their parents to a 10-minute instructional video before they dive into the activity. The start-up has been self-funded so far with an initial investment of Rs 10 lakh. 

As it nears its second anniversary and witnesses a shift in its customers’ behaviors with kids physically back in schools and parents back in offices, a lot has changed. But, as Sethia says, “Situations keep coming.”

Here are the edited excerpts from the interview:

What has the response been like throughout the pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns?  

We have received a good response. So far, we have sold over 2,000 kits with more than 250 flying off their virtual shelf in December 2021 alone. We even introduced wooden toys which also appeal to the grandparents as they feel like they are revisiting their childhood. Most of our clients come back to us and we have seen a 60 per cent return customer rate. 

Now that schools have reopened, do you think Creste Kids’ sale will be impacted?  

I presently do not think so. Situations keep coming. Coronavirus was one situation, this (back to school) is one situation. Now there will be summer vacations. If we try and put Creste Kids in schools, the orders will be in bulk and B2B is always bigger. Things automatically change.  

Are you looking to innovate to make sure your model blends in with school time, study time, and playtime?  

We have started collaborating with schools and are planning to come up with something called ‘Creative Labs’. The New Education Policy states that schools are supposed to have a fixed number of hours where the kids are without bags—activities without books. We fit in perfectly over there. The labs will have our kits and we will also have a set-up for activities like pottery and carpentry for older kids in classes six to eight. We have one school in Lucknow on board currently and want to do our prototype on that school—set up a whole system and see how it will work, how teachers will be trained, and other things. Once we are comfortable in that zone, we will push it in another school. By the end of this year, we plan to collaborate with 12 schools across Lucknow.  

What are the hurdles you think you’ll have to face in a post-pandemic world when neither parents nor kids will have enough time for such activities?  

The trouble that we face, pandemic or no pandemic, is many parents feeling that if it is fun, it is not development. If it is studies, it must be troublesome, and you must sit there and put in your head. Only then it is development for them. If you are doing it with fun and laughter, they see it as playtime with no development. We build interest-oriented activities that help the parents and kids decide which of their interests is more prominent. That is what we want them to understand.     

 What is the road ahead for Creste Kids? 

We are planning to do a lot in the offline mode now in Lucknow. We realized that mothers of younger children are unable to do things with them at home and the kids end up being in front of the screen. So, they are happier sending them to us on Saturdays and Sundays, where the kids, aged between three and seven, join us and we have activities planned with them at the Creste Kids’ office. We have a professional storyteller, a person who does puppeteering—teaches the kids to make puppets themselves and enacts the whole thing with them, a lady who teaches them gardening, among other professionals helping us out. We started this in the first week of April and already have 20 kids. We also have workshops for the younger and older kids over the weekend where we do several age-appropriate activities. We have had seven workshops so far.   

 What are your expansion plans? 

We want to focus on schools and do a lot of B2B business. Now that we know how this whole thing works, we are looking out for investors. We would need them for the Creative Labs in schools because with our funds, we will not be able to go for it with our whole power. If we had someone on board, we would also be able to make our online business scale aggressively.