Sukhi Jutla is the co-founder of MarketOrders, an online B2B platform for the gold and diamond jewellery industry. She has won numerous awards including Asian Women of Achievement, Female Entrepreneur of The Year and named Top 100 European Digital Pioneer by The Financial Times and Google. She is a leading international speaker and influencer in tech, qualified IBM Blockchain Foundation Developer and holds board positions with the Mayor of London’s Digital Skills Partnership, the Department of International Trade in the UK and is an Industry Associate of the University College London Centre for Blockchain Technologies (UCL CBT).
Tell us about your life before the venture/leading up to your venture?
Graduating from university, I thought all I ever wanted was a high-powered role in the city working in finance – but they do say be careful what you wish for! I got the role I so desperately wanted but very soon afterwards (around one month into the job) I realised I was not working in an area I enjoyed and that was because my skills weren’t suited to that type of work.
I found working in finance very monotonous with a lot of rules and regulations and not much space for innovation or creativity. So, I kept moving jobs, from one company to another, thinking I would enjoy my next role, but alas! It was not to be as I finally discovered I was in the wrong line of work! That’s when I decided to leave the day job and pursue my entrepreneurial ambitions
Tell us something about your organization. What is it about and how is it helpful for people?
MarketOrders is an online marketplace helping independent retail jewellers to source the products they need faster, cheaper and direct from suppliers. We aim to make the process of buying and selling more efficient for the jewellery trade industry using digital technologies such as the online marketplace we are creating for more efficient ways to buy and pay for gold jewellery from trusted suppliers globally. Find out more at https://www.marketorders.net/
What has been the response of the consumers towards your venture?
We are disrupting a very traditional industry where most transactions are done offline and in person. So the key here is how to build something for our customers where trust is embedded into the process and this is what we are working on. To be the world’s most trusted platform to source the items the jewellery trade industry needs at the best prices with convenience. Changing mindsets and shifting consumers to the digital landscape can be a challenge but we are encouraged in our mission with the responses we have received from our supporters and customers through various awards and accolades we have won including being named Top 100 Digital Pioneers by Google and The Financial Times for the work we are doing.
How has your life changed because of your venture?
I want readers to understand that life is a process and that it’s OK to experiment and fail. Pursuing my entrepreneurial ambitions has allowed me to step outside of my comfort zone and keep learning and evolving as a business leader. In today’s society we are surrounded by ‘overnight’ success stories and presented with images of people who wake up and know exactly what their purpose is in life. The reality is that it’s a messy process mainly because most of our dreams and ambitions have been coached out of us and replaced with the status quo or ‘getting a good job to pay the bills’.
We have forgotten how to step out of our comfort zones and that is where real joy resides. But to get there you have to be willing to face a few roadblocks and potential U-turns. Instead of seeing these as failures we need to see all these experiences as opportunities to learn about ourselves and learn new skills. I used to think my 10+ years’ experience working in finance was a waste… until I eventually started my own businesses and was able to benefit from all the skills I had accumulated. No skill or experience is ever wasted if you approach it with the right mindset!
Give a motivational message for the audience/women who are reading this.
There is no such thing as failure- only lessons learnt.
