Vikaas Gutugutia

Vikaas Gutgutia is the founder of Ferns N Petals which is a florist and gift portal with branches in India.

Early life

Born in a modest, middle class family in Vidyasagar – a village in Bihar, Gutgutia’s father was a government contractor. After school, he moved to Kolkata where he graduated in Commerce. He started his career by assisting an uncle in a small flower business in Kolkata. At this point of time he didn’t want to return to Bihar or stay in the flower business as he thought it would not be lucrative enough. After several years of exploring opportunities in Mumbai and Delhi, in 1994 when he sent flowers to his girlfriend in Delhi on her birthday, the florist did so poorly. He was convinced he could handle it better himself.

Career

In 1994 after incident Ferns N Petals began on a pavement in South Extension in New Delhi. There was a lack of air conditioned flower shops in Delhi and flowers were sold on the roadside. He had only Rs 5000/- but found a partner who invested 2.5 lakhs in the business. The partner later cashed out.
It took Gutgutia nine years -- from 1994 to 2003 – to break even. In that period he imported flowers and personally transported them to franchisees. At the high end of the spectrum, he joined hands with fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani with a view to set up luxury floral boutiques under the auspices of FNP Tahiliani. He has also ventured into luxury weddings with another designer and old friend -JJ Valaya.
Gutgutia’s career is not without its failures; according to him, his foray into street foods proved to be a disaster. With his success in FNP, he ventured into “Chatak Chaat” – a chain which served north Indian street foods. But the venture failed and Gutugutia lost a large amount of money with this business failure.
Today Gutgutia’s focus is directly on gifting, his core proposition. Within this trade he has found room for diversification. His gifts have included flowers, and cakes, stuffed animals and potted plants. He has also adopted several forms of home delivery – express, superfast, midnight and international.
After having established shops in tier 2 and teir 3 markets such as Coimbatore, Tirupati, Nellore and Sangli, Gutgutia is targeting cities like Kottayam, Bhillai, Jalandhar, Amritsar, and Bilaspur. He has taken Ferns N Petals’ wedding vertical international starting with Dubai and has expanded the e-commerce arm which currently delivers across 150 countries worldwide.
Ferns N Petals has expanded from a single store in South Extension to 185+ outlets across the country. With seven active verticals expert the franchise model, he has stated he wants "to add a mile to the trade of floristry, event and weddings."

Honours and awards

Franchise Award 2003
Franchise India Group 2003
Conferred with the Franchise Award for The Retail Florist Category.

Franchise Award 2004
The Franchise India Group 2004
Conferred with the Franchise Award 2004 for the Customer Service Category.

Best E-Retailer of the Year
The Franchising Group 2008
Felicitated with the Best Retailer of the year Award for three consecutive years 2008-10.

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2009
Nominated for the The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2009.

Best Gifting e-Retailer of the Year, 2012
Franchise India Group
Conferred with the Best Gifting e-Retailer of the Year in 2012.

Best E-Store of the Year, 2012
International Institute of Fashion Design (IIFD)
Best Online Store of the year for 2012.

Most Admired Retailer of the Year, 2012
Images Retail Group
Felicitated as The Most Admired Retailer of the Year in The Leisure Category for the year 2012.

Best Online Retailer of the Year 2013
Asia Retail Congress
Conferred with the E-retailer of the Year by Asia Retail Congress
(ET NOW- Award for Retail Excellence 2013)

Indian e-Retail Award 2013
Franchise India
Specialty E- Retailer of the Year – by Franchise India (Indian e-Retail Award 2013)

Inspirational Leaders of New India, 2013
Planman Media
Ferns and Petals listed in The Indian Power Brands as one of the Inspirational Leaders of New India.