Heartening stories of small and medium business owners overturning their entrepreneurial journey by going online

“When the pandemic was at its peak, I was on the brink of shutting shop…The livelihoods of local artisans associated with me, all supremely talented at their work, was hanging in the balance. I was always thinking how I could revive the business and help these good folks survive the crisis” - Swattik recounts his entrepreneurial ordeal from a year ago.His team had been focusing primarily on wholesale orders and individual contracts for two years before India became one of the worst-affected countries globally due to the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases. Several small businesses had been adversely hit. Swattik’s SS Bamboowala, a small niche business that provides household bamboo products sourced directly from Tripura, was one of them.
It wasn’t so much about generating revenues for this youngpreneur as it was about supporting the livelihoods of his artisans, given that scores of others like them had merely been able to survive. Determined to turn the crisis into an opportunity, he decided to take his business online. The idea was to gradually increase SS Bamboowala’s business outreach and boost the revenue inflows. In no time, it had order requests pouring in from several regions across India. Swattik’s grit, never-say-die attitude and thinking on his feet had finally managed to sustain his business and saved several households from devastation overnight.
Even today, even though SS Bamboowala’s offices, factories, and stores have opened up, the business has adapted itself to the changing times and continues to sell online. Listen in to what his artisans ask him before they start their day. It will put a smile on your face:

Many more entrepreneurs like Swattik who decided not to hang up their boots and embraced the online world have a flourishing business to their credit today.

Take Rachit Goyal, for instance. Founder of Vaibhav Industries, his company manufactures ethnic wear for women. What makes it a unique business is that it utilises the talent of multiple local karigars for its beautiful creations. Right from procuring the raw materials, manufacturing to dying, and selling them in their offline stores, the entire business model of Vaibhav industries is dependent on these workers, and they, on his business.
In 2020, when Rachit was noticing a significant rise in revenues, the first lockdown was imposed. Like Swattik, this made things equally tough for him. With business sustainability and supporting employees’ livelihoods as his top priorities too, he took his venture online too. Today, he employs 25 people and one of the most significant things he shares is how his orders have been reaching rural parts of India, despite courier services being hit and designer shops being scarce in the region.
He sums up his journey beautifully in this video:

Each and every small business journey is unique in its own right. So is Neha Saharan’s Sow and Grow, a young small business that provides boutique gardening solutions ranging from DIY gardening kits to geo-fabrics. It is a classic example of how offline businesses restricted to their local environs can start selling in all parts of India by simply venturing into the online space.
Started back in 2017, this company specialized in bulk and corporate orders, and birthdays. Since most of its orders were related to public gatherings, there was a massive slowdown in business once the pandemic struck. The business lost at least half a dozen of its orders in the initial two months of the lockdown. They soon had to shut their offices, and were compelled to cancel half a dozen pre-booked orders. Neha was not ready to call it quits just yet. She then decided to take her business online. Today, she claims to be getting orders by the day. Add to that, their offline store is picking up as well. Listen in to her being her good-humoured self while talking about the tumultuous-yet-rewarding journey so far:

It’s small business owners like her, Rachit and Swattik that make Amazon. In fact, this sentiment echoes among each and every entrepreneur on the platform today. They don’t just identify but also proudly stand with the #WeAreAmazon campaign that brings into focus inspiring tales of the resilience, sheer grit and passion of lakhs of small business owners to sell their products to people across the country.
Their businesses haven’t just stayed afloat but also continue to boom today. Reducing shipping costs, expanding customer reach, logistical support to assistance in promotional budgets etc is the kind of assistance several small businesses have got from Amazon to multiply and scale at an unbelievable pace, which has eventually ended up uplifting the livelihoods of lakhs of people across the country. So, if you have a venture too, give it wings by starting your selling journey with Amazon today.
Disclaimer: The article has been written on behalf of Amazon by the Times Internet's Spotlight team.