Finding the right tailor for our outfits has been a struggle for some of us. Sometimes the design isn’t how wanted it or the size just does not fit or worse, the tailor doesn't deliver on time! But Hyderabad’s Susmitha Lakkakula offers a solution in the form of her start-up - Cloudtailor. Wondering what that is? It’s a simple app that promises to solve all your tailoring needs.
Susmitha says her mother played a huge role in her interest towards all things tailoring. "Growing up, my sister and I had almost always worn clothes stitched by our mother. We barely wore ready-made clothes. That is how I know a little something about tailoring," says she who left her software career of 19 years to pursue entrepreneurship.
Having worked for the likes of Wipro, Quantum and Dell, among others, what pushed her to give it all up for a relatively newer experience? She answers, "During my second pregnancy in 2019, I had trouble finding clothes that fit my growing belly. I live in Kokapet which doesn’t have a lot of shops. That’s when I thought I should start a boutique myself. I coupled my technical expertise with my need and thus, Cloudtailor was born, with my husband’s suggestion."
Asked how it works, Susmitha explains, "It's simpler than you'd think - you place an order using the app and the designer takes your measurement. Soon, a pickup executive takes the fabric from you and brings it to our fulfilment centre and delivers it as promised on the delivery date to your place."
Cloudtailor's fulfilment facility started only now, but until that came into the picture, Susmitha did the delivery, designing and running around herself.
She shares, "My daughter was only five months back then, I would carry her around for work. I had visited about 500+ customers across the city. But this has helped me understand the various issues and shortcomings, allowing me to scale up well. Thankfully, we have about 120 staff working with us. We also have branches in Pune, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Patna and Siddipet and will be coming up with one in Gujarat too."
The lockdown served as a blessing in disguise, she says: "People didn’t want to step out of their homes and loved the idea of giving their measurements online and not worrying about pick and drop and delivery time."
Calling Cloudtailor her third daughter, Susmitha proudly says, "We have completed over 1400+ orders from across the world and I see a lot of capability in this. We plan to make this a unicorn and there are a lot of opportunities here for everyone, especially upcoming fashion designers looking for jobs. We believe this will be a great push for the fashion community."