Strong, Single Mom Brings To Life Traditional Art Based Jewellery Brand Indu Diva

From taking up an email id ‘indu diva’ more than a decade ago to being called Indu Diva, and then starting a jewellery brand named Indu Diva, this mompreneur, Indu Nair, has a bit of a flare for design and is herself a bit of fashion diva.

About the founder 

Nair was always fascinated to go saree shopping with her mother. Kolkata being famous for its beautiful and enormous variety of sarees, Indu learnt a lot about the different weaves — chanderi, phulkari, banarasi, jamdani, maheshwari, and many more.

Post marriage Indu shifted to the city of dreams, Mumbai, from the city of joy, Kolkata. Falling in love with the city’s bindaas vibe, she, post separation from herhusband in 2011, had to shift back to Kolkata. During this time, as a passion-hobby, she started up-cycling and creating new, fashionable outfits out of old clothes, for friends; one being a fashion designer who urged her to take it up as a profession.

“Mom always said that I had a keen eye for design and fashion”, recalls Indu.

In 2013 she returned to Mumbai with a promotion transfer in a corporate insurance MNC Company. As a single parent her son was her priority amongst anything else, and thus settling in the city, her new office, and a different routine was hard work. She kept juggling between multiple responsibilities to fulfil all her duties, but finally found the year, 2017, to fulfil her long ideated dream — start her entrepreneurial journey with a jewellery brand Indu Diva.

Indu Diva, the brand 

Indu Diva is a brand of traditional art form fused into eclectic artisanal jewellery. Initially Indu designed and made the accessories herself, while the karigars perfected its finishing. Now, with 750 SKUs, she procures the raw material and sends it to the karigars, with her designs, who make the products from start to finish. These talented artisans are mostly based out of Kolkata, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan. 

“If you wear art, it allows you to speak about the art form to people, and thereby keeps its heritage alive and preserved.”

The brand has employed an intern for business operations, whereas the shipping is completely outsourced. Indu Diva’s products are priced between Rs. 500 – Rs. 20,000; higher prices for items made of pure silver, and also, the brand allows customisation as per the client’s request. They have a secure customer base of 2500, consisting mostly of B2C clients, plus they have tie-ups with some of the boutique stores in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, and Kolkata. 

With an initial investment of Rs. 5 lakhs, the bootstrapped company had an annual turnover of Rs. 35 lakhs, pre-Covid. Their primary channel of sales has been through social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, along with their website, which was recently made live. Indu Diva not only sells pan India but processes orders from international clients, mainly in the USA, UK, and Singapore.

Speaking about competition, Indu is confident about her credibility as a seller, and believes that, 

“No matter when you decide to enter a business, competition for it shall always be there. I stay current with brands and market trends, so the unique designs and stellar quality of my products does not make me worry about the competition.”

Surely, ‘I Boss Mom’

The mom founder advises women to have a support system when they are trying to build a start-up, as new businesses requires a great deal of effort and nurturing, almost as needed by a baby. This support system will help in taking care of either the business or the baby at a time when the mompreneur’s attention is demanded by both, simultaneously.

She shares,

“It was never easy to bring up my child and this business together. Blessed that my friends, cousins, and even my bosses at work were supportive of me, specially when I decided to pursue Indu Diva. Post separation it was this hobby-cum-passion, which I built into a full-time business, that helped me cope with my mental trauma, giving me the confidence to handle and re-build my life. Whatever I worked with, whatever I visualised, there is a great satisfaction to have birthed a tangible business product, and I always wanted that.”