EmbroideryMaterial.com helps you source embroidery material for daily needs
EmbroideryMaterial.com (EMC), making a quick entry into the popularity chart, started out in 2013 as an e-commerce venture. And there has been no looking back since then.
The product range at EMC, which is a B2B startup, includes material like beads, sequins and rhinestones for the apparel/accessory and lifestyle industry and all sorts of tools related to the embroidery process, ranging from wooden frames of different dimensions to a variety of needles. There is always a steady number of in-house supplies in stock for daily sampling orders and for bulk orders.
The company sources its materials from manufacturing partners. It has interesting clientele ranging from small-scale boutiques to internationally acclaimed designers to large-scale export houses.
Prior to starting up EMC, Varun Kumar, the Managing Director, worked as a production consultant for an export house dealing with high fashion women’s wear. “My job there was to ensure that sampling and production happens fast and smoothly. It was during one such production meeting that I thought it would be convenient if we could see and source the materials for the next trend at that point in time without going through the hassle of a fashion designer first giving the latest designer collections to the runner to source either the same or similar material. Often, it has taken us more than a week to make a single sample according to the current trend. This got me thinking that there would be a great demand for an embroidery material e-commerce platform,” says Varun.
Failures are the stepping stones to success
Varun learnt his lessons hard. He had a failed business in apparel manufacturing before he started up EMC. That was the time he did everything from making hotel uniforms to high-end garments for designer stores, a brand for a domestic ready-to-wear market and also exporting to different countries. At one point, he had 100 people on the payroll. But it became a bit too much for him to handle and he sold his business to a firm and joined them as a production consultant for a year. All this experience made him realise the importance of focus in life.
Varun then stepped down as a production consultant and left his job on his birthday in April 2013.
On June 19 of the same year, Varun started up EMC alone. It was after some time that his wife, Simi Biswas, and friend Bhupinder Singh joined him in this venture.
Funding status
The company is currently looking at an investment of USD 1 million to update their e-commerce platform. Competition is tough especially when they are up against etsy.com, Dawanda.com, both of which are into exclusive sales of embroidery of varied kind.
USP of EMC
The company believes its USP to be the constant updating of the product catalogue strictly adhering to the international trend by way of doing research. This, in turn, dictates surface ornamentation trends to the entire world, which is followed by high street and mass markets in huge quantities. This allows EMC to provide customers relevant and high grade products which are much ahead in the competition. In place is also a global sourcing network from artisans in India to supply to factories in Japan, China and the Czech Republic.
The startup has an in-house team to do fashion forecast research and photoshoot of the supplies. While it ties up with PayPal for international payments, there is an option of paying with Pay U by credit/debit card and with Fed Ex for Cash on Delivery (COD) for domestic orders.