“The market for costume jewellery and accessories is estimated at $16.3 billion”, Nandita Bose, Burnt Sienna

Nandita was also one of the finalists at the British Council’s Young Fashion Entrepreneur Awards in 2010. To know more about the Young Fashion Entrepreneur Awards, click here. To follow the Young Creative Entrepreneur Awards on Facebook, check out http://www.facebook.com/YCEAwards

Tell us about Burnt Sienna Jewellery.

Young, urban and artistic - aptly describes the handmade contemporary Jewellery under our label, Burnt Sienna. We are a jewellery manufacturing company, based out of New Delhi. We began operations in 2005.

Presently, we have 4 distinct lines of jewellery under the brand Burnt Sienna

Burnt Sienna Organix - Metal Jewellery using elements of filigreed copper, mango wood, feathers, shell, mother of pearl, faux pearls, river grass, screw pine, swaroski crystals, organza and leather.

Silver Sienna - Linear designs in 92.5% pure silver with no bling. Sleek lines with no frills, contemporary wear based on the dictat "less is more".

Burnt Sienna Aaliyah Diva - Contemporary festive jewellery inspired from Indian moughal motifs using glass and semi precious gemstones set in 92.5% silver with gold plating.

Burnt Sienna Fine Jewellery - Custom made, one of kind designer jewellery crafted in 14 K, 18K gold embellished with diamonds, precious & semi precious hand cut gemstones.

Burnt Sienna jewellery is available at 28 stores pan India, and at 77 stores in the United Kingdom.

That is very interesting. Please share your background with us.

I completed Political Science Hons from Presidency College Kolkata, then I went to the Indian Institute of Mass Communications, Delhi specializing in advertising and PR. What followed was a 8 year long career in Corporate Communications with companies like Saatchi & Saatchi, Unesco, Taj and Crafts Council of West Bengal.

What led you to starting up Burnt Sienna? Please share the backstory with us.

What’s your USP?

Burnt Sienna is known for its globally popular designs, in sync with its wholesale model. Marketing our designs innovatively via social media has worked remarkably well for us and our business.

What are the challenges you faced while starting this up?

We faced minor hiccups in getting workers to understand working with non conventional mediums(like glass, screw pine, resin). But the response within the first two years was extremely encouraging for us, from stores in India and buyers alike. By the time recession hit in mid 2008, we took our products to people and were one of the first few wholesale companies in India to sell jewellery on Facebook. As social networking grew, so did our client base and revenues.

Our mainstay is supplying to stores and buyers. We use Facebook to promote and sell our products to over 20,000 members in India.

How much capital was required to startup? And, what is your projected revenue?

We required Rs. 2 lakhs while starting the company. Revenue is 2 crores.

How do you plan to expand?

We plan to open 3 stand alone Burnt Sienna Stores across Delhi/NCR within the next 5 years. However, we are seeking financial assistance in this regard. Our Website will be launched on 15th August, a one-stop shop for all our jewellery. First of the Burnt Sienna Design Studio’s is opening in New Delhi on August 1st.

Any advise that you want to give to entrepreneurs in this space?

Always think out of the box. For a “traditional” wholesale company like ours, to skilfully use  e-commerce and ride the Facebook wave in 2008 has propelled our business into an advantageous position!

Finally, share with us your experience at YCE.

Watch out this space for more details http://www.burntsiennashop.com/ or write to [email protected]. And, feel free to share your thoughts on this story by writing to us at [email protected]

Varsha Adusumilli | YourStory.in