How this woman entrepreneur braved multiple challenges to build a successful ecommerce brand
Shivani Singhania founded ecommerce brand I Am For You in 2010. Along the way, she faced diverse challenges to keep the brand thriving. Here’s her story.
When the lockdown was announced in March last year, Shivani Singhania was with her husband in Mumbai. Diagnosed with cancer, he had undergone surgery and a course of treatments.
Unable to get back to Delhi, the successful ecommerce entrepreneur and the founder of the womenswear brand, I Am For You, wanted to give it all up. She was overwhelmed by personal responsibilities and professional compulsions, but says the support of her family and her team kept her going.
The brand, founded in 2010, already had a manufacturing unit in Noida, around 800 SKUs, close to 800-1,000 orders a day, and was hugely popular on ecommerce marketplaces like Flipkart, Amazon, and Myntra until the pandemic struck.
“The lockdown was announced the day my husband was discharged from hospital. However, we were unable to leave the city. During that time, I felt lost and low,” Shivani tells HerStory.
Though she lost a lot of business, none of her staff left her. After the lockdown on ecommerce was lifted, she continued managing the reins from Mumbai, with her team backing her up all the way.
“We learnt a perfect lesson about working from home and getting things done. Most of my meetings happened over Zoom, and WhatsApp calls. By now, all my tailors and masters are used to this kind of call. Except for dispatch, everything was happening on the phone,” she adds.
Surmounting diverse challenges
From the I Am For You range
Today, the business is back on its feet, was featured on Myntra’s front page on International Women’s Day for its sustainability and intense focus, and Shivani is raring to go.
But things haven’t always been easy.
Married at 18, Shivani couldn’t continue her education beyond Class 12. Two years after she had her first child, she set up an exports business along with her husband.
“My husband always felt that I should fill the void because I was not educated enough. He helped me move in South Delhi society, gain confidence and hold my own, and be socially secure,” she says.
Her father-in-law offered them the property for the business on the condition that if they didn’t break even in a year, he would sell off the stock. The couple worked night and day to pull this off successfully.
In 2008, the itch to start something on her own and help others, especially women around her, prompted Shivani to think outside the exports business.
An avid traveller and passionate about fashion, she wanted to cash in on the ecommerce boom taking off in India with a womenswear brand.
On her own
She registered her brand I Am For You in 2010, initially partnering with Jabong, but it took a long time to convince herself, the people around her, and her husband that it was the right decision.
She used the spare laces, sequins, and fabric from the export business to create a line of womenswear that would employ the women living in the villages near the unit.
“My husband was upset as I opted out of an already successful exports business. He supported me later, but it was a trying time. I put in all my savings into the brand,” she recalls.
When Jabong bought outright from her, she knew she had taken the right call.
The marketplace module was introduced, and Shivani started learning about online trade and business.
Her “own” brand was empowering, and business picked up fast.
“I recognised the pulse of my target audience, who were looking at fashionable outfits at an affordable price. These were girls who could not dream of buying an international brand and had to look closer home for the best options,” Shivani explains.
Her export line ensured that she had the best finishing from top tailors, far better than brands one would look for in a retail shop.
Apart from 12 core team members, of which eight are women, Shivani works with around 250 tailors and has 300 machines in her unit. She also has a patent master, karigars, and graders working in a digitised system. She has also added new avenues to the business by tying up with Meesho, Udaan, etc.
With an initial investment of Rs 2 lakh, the brand clocked around Rs 6.5 crore in revenue recently.
“This past year has taught me that life is very unpredictable, and that I have to be diverse in thinking to move forward. I am happy with the way the business has regained its strength. And the only way now is onwards and upwards,” Shivani signs off.
Edited by Teja Lele