A girl from Ambala who went on a scholarship to study in Singapore and then to London School of Economics before working as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, and finally realising that she wants to do something of her own. That’s the story of Swati Bhargava, the young co-founder of India’s largest cashback and coupons website, CashKaro.com.
“When I went to LSE, I had no idea what I wanted to do,” shares Swati. “But while I was there, at some level, I just wanted to be an investment banker. I don’t know the reason for that. Perhaps, it’s the marketing. But, I must say that it’s also about the money. A lot of Indians at LSE think like that after having spent so much on their education.” So right after she graduated, she started working at Goldman Sachs. And after four years of investment banking, she joined the executive office and worked with the two CEOs of Goldman Sachs in Europe at the age of just 25. After one year of working in the new role, Swati decided that it was time to leave and start something of her own.
“It was a very difficult decision as it was a time when everyone was getting fired because of the recession, and I was leaving by my own choice. I remember the day I was leaving and I was hoping that I don’t regret this,” she says. And now she admits that she never had to regret that decision.
With her husband Rohan, Swati decided to work on the idea of starting their own venture of cashback and they launched PouringPounds in the UK, which was quite a success. “That made us realise that there was more to this business. We knew that we wanted to bring it to India. We decided to go for it and raised $750,000 in just 48 hours, half a million more than we wanted. And that’s how Cashkaro.com came into existence,” says Swati.
A lot of people agree that that it’s very complicated to work with your life-partner, but Swati begs to differ. She says, “For us, we found out that because we work together, things work better in our relationship as well. Because we understand each other and we understand the requirements of the business and we know why we make the little sacrifices we make every day. I believe that our work strengthened our relationship. We appreciate each other’s strengths and I belong to the group that believes that couples working together is a good idea.”
Swati loves nature, going for long walks and outdoor activities. She starts her day with a brisk morning walk and one hour of pranayama yoga. In fact, she is a trained yoga instructor as well. “You can even think of it as a backup plan. If nothing else, I can always be a yoga teacher,” she laughs.
Swati and her husband Rohan love to travel. It’s the one thing that they to do when they need a break. “Our first trip together was in the South of England to a beautiful seaside place called Cornwall. We stayed in Tintagel at Camelot Castle and were impressed by the entrepreneur couple who ran that beautiful castle and gave us lifelong memories. Our trip to Maldives was super special as well, as it’s such a gorgeous place," she says.”
So what has changed after the transition from a well-paid job to being an entrepreneur?
Swati responds, “Life is now a lot more work than ever before. That’s the difference between having your own business and having a job. While Goldman was a lot of work, the party life was more in London, which has now changed. I never thought that I would consciously make a decision to stay at home on the weekends and work without being forced by someone else. But now I am constantly doing that and I am happy with it.”
