While the starting point for most business ventures is ‘profitability’ there are some young entrepreneurs who have given ‘social concerns’ a commercial twist to become niche players for international buyers looking for handcrafted products. Ex-Niftian, Sharmita Roy, Founder of Natural Home International (NHI), Ghaziabad is one such person who has successfully combined a social cause with business acumen to export niche home furnishing products to various countries that are known for a lot of handwork and use of traditional Indian techniques. Five years into the business, Sharmita today is associated with more than 60 women of various villages in Western Uttar Pradesh, not just to provide them employment, but also enhance their self-esteem by offering them more than minimum wages.
Sharmita has always been inclined to local art and after working with companies in export and retail, she decided to take the plunge as an entrepreneur to follow her passion. “My interest in development of local art and passion for designs brought me closer to home workers. I personally sat with these Muslim women who are mostly wrapped under veils to make them understand what it takes to be in the international market. Being a woman helped me to interact with them, to know them and develop samples with them directly. Once we were ready with a collection, I made a presentation to my high-end international clients in the USA, UK and Australia and got rave and rewarding reviews which materialized into orders, although in smaller quantity but ensuring a continuity of work and hence a possible livelihood for these women,” shares Sharmita.
Five-year-old Natural Home International, (NHI) is working with 5 buyers including Orson & Blake (Australia), Debrray (UK) and Harvy Associated (US). It is looking for buyers that can pay for high-end products.
Initially, the pieces sent over to the home workers were returned with a changed shade, from white to grey. Due to this, working with these women was not easy and lot of training has gone into creating the now successful business model. Training not only included sharpening of their skills to make the product as per design, but also to make them understand importance of cleanliness and personal hygiene. To Sharmita’s credit now the women appreciate the criticalities of each minute aspect of quality and requirement of buyers. “With an average FOB of US $ 25, we are working with high-end retailers and some good wholesalers, so quality is always top priority for us. The women get good piece rates as there are no mediators and payments are paid as per their comfort (mostly twice a month). Though I can work easily on the same cost with the help of a contractor, but that is not in the favour of women so we work directly. The biggest change is that when I start working with them they were not making a balance between work and home, so working was not a priority, but now they are doing it in better way with greater motivation,” says Sharmita.
“There are several crafts that I have worked on in handloom as a part of a project sponsored by the Ministry of Textiles. The closest to my heart is working on hand knotted products made by the able skill of the women of rural areas in western Uttar Pradesh.” – Sharmita Roy, Founder of Natural Home International (NHI), Ghaziabad
All 60 women working with her on regular basis make Rs. 8,500 a month with normal working of 8 to 10 hours daily. The quality standards are regularly checked by a team of women as well as fellow female designer/colleagues from Sharmita’s team. The knotted panels created by the home workers are brought to the NHI Studio and stitched in-house to make the final products like decorative pillows, scarves and throws and curtain panels as per the product request of clients. As the USP of these products is handwork and techniques like ‘Macrame’, development of swatches in various design patterns is the key determinant of business, the average order size NHI accepts is from minimum 250 pieces to maximum 700 pieces. “Our strength is our designs and I am also giving design consultancy to various retailers and exporters. Design convertibility by handwork is something that attracts buyers. While the buyer treats these products as niche, for us also small order quantities are easier from timely delivery point of view,” avers Sharmita. NHI has a team of 18 people including designers and sampling department. Though lead time of specialized products is almost 5 months, but that is mostly for creating uniqueness and buyers mostly understand this.
Though NHI also deals in mass products but it is known for such niche products and same is the priority of Sharmita as it gives her satisfaction not just business. “During my jobs in various companies like LNJ Bhilwara, Nalli Silks and other companies, I learned everything from design to production and also had the opportunity to work with many Design Directors in the USA and UK from companies like Target and Walmart during my tenure of working with export organizations, and this helped build a strong understanding of the likes of the East and the West. But I always want to do something for grass root women and for their skills. There are ample opportunities in export market to explore these skill and such niche products. Once the overall market conditions improve, we will definitely see better and good demand,” opines Sharmita, who is confident about 35 per cent growth this year and to create pool of capable women to achieve this growth she works continuously to train an average 10 women every month.
Sharmita does work on weaving and crochet to bring more offerings to her product basket. “I look forward to generating more revenue based on these crafts as there is lot of potential in this product category and in generating employment among the women of these villages I can give back to society. Their sincerity and handwork is commendable as most of the products that have reached the client have always been appreciated,” she concludes.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
