On June 15, around 10:30am, Asha Mahapatra, the admin incharge at an MNC in Connaught Place, was told that her services were no longer required. “I had been working there for the past 15 years, and they asked me to leave that every moment. My world fell apart,” recalls the 40-year-old. But Mahapatra didn’t waste time being dejected. “We went through a lot of trouble because my husband’s business was also not going well. Then, I got the idea of starting a clothes venture.
Saris have always been very close to my heart since childhood. So, I contacted a seller from whom I used to buy saris for myself, and I started off by reselling these at a nominal margin.” She proceeded to create WhatsApp and Facebook pages, and joined a few online groups to spread the word. “This is how my online business @Saicreations started in August.
And I received my first order on September 10 from a Sarojini Nagar-based woman through FB. It planted a seed of confidence in me,” adds Mahapatra, a mother of two, who manages her house chores to her business single-handedly. Today, she continues to run the venture from her tiny abode at Uttam Nagar in Delhi. From saris silk, linen, cotton, and other materials to kurtis, accessories and jewellery. Her garments start from Rs 800 up to Rs 10,000 and jewellery is priced from Rs 399 up to Rs 4,999. Mahapatra counts herself lucky to have her husband’s support.
“While visiting Kolkata, he bought saris worth Rs 15,000 from local artisans, which became my first big investment. By then, I had realised that reselling was not a great deal as buyers had to buy the garments at costs more than the actual worth,” she adds. In November, Mahapatra travelled to Kolkata, “and for next two months, I explored the local cloth markets and made deals with the manufacturers and sellers.”
Now, she orders the material directly from Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai. Her business peaked in Diwali 2020. “I got two big orders worth Rs 11,000 and Rs 22,000. Now, I get eight-nine orders per month. Good reviews from my customers and word of mouth has helped me get a lot of new customers.
So, the journey has been good so far,” adds Mahapatra, a Sai Baba devotee, who believes that god paves the way for her. With zeal in her heart and dreams in her eyes, she plans to launch her website and then open a Sai Creations store. “I don’t want to sell other people’s stuff. I want to do something of my own, and hopefully I will do it by 2024,” she concludes.
CONTACT: @saicreations (Facebook) and @sai_creationsonline (Instagram)