If you are someone who likes owning stationery products with cute designs and inspirational quotes, you can probably relate to Urvi Suwal’s feelings of dismay at the unavailability of such products in Nepal. But unlike most of us, she actually did something about it. Suwal, along with her friend Prachi Pradhan, launched the brand Piffle in mid-June with the initial intention of coming out with cute and charming notebooks.
Both of them have been friends since childhood and have just finished their A Levels from Rato Bangla School. Currently, both Suwal and Pradhan are taking a gap year before joining a Bachelor’s program. Besides operating Piffle, Suwal is also a writer and actually holds a job in the media industry.
When questioned about their choice of name to represent their brand, Suwal claims that there isn’t any significant or deep meaning behind it. “It’s a fun name that rolls off your tongue and is easy to remember,” she says. The literal meaning of the word ‘piffle’ is nonsense or a trivial and senseless talk. So, in a way, the name Piffle compliments their brand perfectly.
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Piffle’s first collection, titled IVORY, was launched on their Instagram page in early July. It was an exclusive collection of four notebooks with different designs and they only made a limited number of copies. The collection was an instant hit and it sold out. Suwal claims that both her and Pradhan were extremely surprised by the reaction and that this event motivated them to carry on further with Piffle and develop it into a proper brand.
Something Suwal and Pradhan realized soon after launching their brand is that Nepal has a lot of untapped areas when it comes to things like stationery and home decor. So they started working on expanding their brand as a lifestyle brand than just one that comes out with notebooks. Suwal reveals that they are currently working on a few more products that lean towards lifestyle and home decor before adding that this is where she sees Piffle as a brand heading to in the future.
Pinterest and Tumblr are the two holy-grail sites for Suwal and Pradhan when it comes to getting inspirations for their products. Although most of their products designs are original ones, Suwal admits that Piffle does have some products carrying quotes or sayings that are popular on Tumblr and Pinterest. But she insists that even these products have alterations and changes that give it an authentic ‘Piffle’ look.
“The most challenging part of our journey while working on Piffle was probably the start-up period. We were not very clear on the niche of our business and didn’t really know how everything worked,” states Suwal. She adds that she is still learning new things regarding how to operate Piffle effectively every day.
Something else that helped Suwal and Pradhan regarding Piffle is the support of their friends and family. Suwal states that both of their families and friends have been really encouraging. Her father is actually considering taking over the brand next year when both Suwal and Pradhan will be abroad pursuing their Bachelor degrees. A lot of Suwal and Pradhan’s friends have been helping them promote Piffle by giving it shout-outs on their Instagram accounts.
Right now, Piffle does not have its own outlet but their products are available at both Maya Ko Chino and Alchi Ko Pasal. Customers can also place their orders through Instagram and Piffle Nepal have partnered with Aayo Express to have them delivered. A personal physical outlet for Piffle is something that Suwal claims are on her agenda but she is not sure if or when that will actually happen.
