YANIKA AMARASEKERA

Yanika Amarasekera, Founder and CEO of Silver Aisle, is a driven entrepreneur with discerning taste whose curatorial approach has helped quickly establish Silver Aisle as an industry tastemaker. After obtaining a BA in Political Economy and a BA in Mass Communications with an emphasis on Digital Marketing at UC Berkeley (USA), she completed her MSc in Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Management at Imperial College London. Shortly after moving back to Sri Lanka, she founded Silver Aisle. 

(1)In your own words, what is Silver Aisle? Silver Aisle is a premium online gifting platform with an edge. We have our pulse on the latest trends which ensures that our highly curated selection of gifts are chic, elevated, and unique. Silver Aisle currently has two services: an online Wedding Gift Registry and a Gifting Service for all occasions. Our Registry features 2500+ products from over forty of Colombo’s leading vendors. What’s unique is that the entire process is online, this means “engaged” couples can create a free account with us within minutes, and then add the products and experiences they’d like to receive as wedding gifts into their individual and customized registry in just one click! Likewise, the couple’s wedding guests can purchase a gift (or contribute towards a higher value item) in just a few clicks. Silver Aisle then delivers the beautifully wrapped gifts to the newlyweds on a date of their choosing. Seamless would be the word I’d use to describe the entire experience. On our Gifting end, we feature an elegant curation of flowers, sweet treats, and experiential gifts, from Single Malt tastings, to Pottery experiences, just to name a few. Silver Aisle makes gifting effortless with a little bit of panache. 

(2) What inspired you? Silver Aisle was first launched solely as an online Wedding Gift Registry at the end of 2019. Growing up, my parents frequently joked about having received ten tea-sets at their wedding, and everyone I spoke to had their own variation of this. I realized then that there was opportunity to create something truly special that would subsequently solve a very common problem, in our fast-evolving world, I wanted to provide a technological solution to what is otherwise a time-consuming, everyday task. Just as we were gaining traction, Covid arrived and weddings were postponed or cancelled indefinitely. I knew I needed a Plan B, and that is what propelled me to launch Silver Isle Gifting after the first lockdown. In part, Silver Aisle was conceived through inspiration, but evolved through necessity. 

(3)What was the journey like, starting from scratch and building the business up to where it is right now? The journey has been a mix of highs and lows, and I’ve felt every emotion across the spectrum; excitement, frustration, happiness, disheartenment; the list goes on. It has been the steepest learning curve I’ve ever encountered but has also been rewarding in so many ways; from starting with one vendor on board to now proudly featuring over eighty, to the innovative products we’ve created, and all the partnerships I’ve gotten to nurture. 

(4)What were the hardships you faced as an entrepreneur and what was the toughest one yet? During the first Covid outbreak, and for a considerable time thereafter, when the entire wedding industry almost came to a standstill, it was difficult having to constantly maintain a certain level of motivation, even when I felt disheartened, so that my team wouldn’t get discouraged. It’s easy to be optimistic when things are going well; but when things weren’t, I felt obligated to put on a brave façade to inspire my team, and myself, to an extent, to not lose hope in the start-up.

(5)What has been the most frustrating thing about being a start-up? Finding the right talent, understandably, many employees prefer working at established companies and there’s also a misconstrued notion out there that start-up life means either less work or a more flexible schedule, neither of which is the case. I’m slowly understanding the specific personality traits that make a candidate a good fit for start-ups. 

(6)Explain a marketing strategy you have implemented, and what made it successful? Creating more wholesome content. For instance, this Valentine’s Day, we launched a “Love is Love” campaign that was a compilation of small clips featuring an endearing moment from couples across the spectrum, from an elderly couple, to same-sex couples, to toddlers, and more. In an age where we’re constantly inundated with advertisements and promotions, I realized that more meaningful content (which also tie into your brand) have a more profound and far-reaching impact.

(7)How did you get the initial start-up capital? My parents invested the initial capital, and since then I’ve bootstrapped the entire company.

(8)What separates Silver Aisle from its competitors? The Wedding Registry is in fact the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka, along with the propriety, first-in the market technology we developed to offer this complimentary service for couples and their guests alike, there’s nothing else out there like it.  With Silver Aisle Gifting, in addition to the high-quality products we offer, we also feature an array of experiential gifts that are exclusive to us. Overall, the website is aesthetically soothing and user-friendly, and our customers love coming back to it. This, along with the exceptional customer service we provide and the reliable and prompt delivery has helped established us as a go-to gifting service. 

(9)What is your definition for the word “success”? Professionally, it would be to establish Silver Aisle as a fast-paced, agile and dynamic company that is constantly evolving and innovating. On a personal note, it would be to live a happy, balanced, peaceful life; to spend a lot of quality time with loved ones, to keep exploring the world, and to always have the drive to keep challenging myself with new ventures.

(10)When did you discover your passion for your business? Having studied at Berkeley in very close proximity to Silicon Valley for over four years, I was constantly exposed to and surrounded by techies and tech startups. This together with my stint at Imperial College London, inspired me to one day start my own (though I did assume this would happen later on in life). I’ve also had proclivity towards design and creativity. Once I realized the gap in the market for a wedding registry, it was a perfect storm of sorts, bringing in two things I love, tech and design, to solve a problem.

(11)Who are your role models? My parents! My mother led by example in showing me that as a woman, you can do it all; succeed professionally and break countless glass-ceilings, all while being a present and devoted mother, wife, daughter, and sister. She multi-tasked with such ease that it was etched in me that doing-it-all was the norm, she showed me what has to be done and how to do it. My dad has been a role model to me in so many ways, but particularly now as I enter the world of business, he has been my greatest mentor. He is a wiz at time management and he showed me his ways, he taught me the importance of compartmentalizing, and how to run a business with integrity.

(12)Was your family supportive of your new venture? Incredibly supportive. My parents, boyfriend, and extended family, particularly my aunt and cousin, have helped me and been my biggest cheerleaders.

(13)What is the end goal for Silver Aisle? It’s two-pronged: to hopefully establish it as Sri Lanka’s go-to platform for high-quality gifting and take Silver Aisle (particularly the registry) regional across South East Asia.

(14)What advice would you give other start-ups? While I’m still learning the ropes myself, I would firstly say be agile. While being small has its challenges, one of its greatest benefits is that there is virtually no red tape; so, you can adapt and pivot as needed. The past year kept reiterating the importance of this. Secondly, I always analyse my numbers and sales trend. Keep a close eye on the products that catch on (it might not necessarily even be what was meant to be your primary offering) when planning for future product releases. 

(15)What do you think of the current start-up ecosystem in Sri Lanka? I think it’s incredibly challenging. I realize how fortunate I was to have some incredible individuals’ advice and guide me through the process, without whom it would have certainly been more confusing to navigate. As far as I’m aware, there isn’t a one-stop-shop (that is also accessible, monetarily speaking) to nurture budding entrepreneurs who may not have a trusted mentor to seek out to for advice.