A Jaipur-based eCommerce platform Deeps Shop is celebrating Rajasthan’s local artisans
December 3rd, 2020, Jaipur: The struggles faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic by local artisans and craftsmen of Jaipur came to an end with the rise of Deeps Shop, an eCommerce platform started by Deepak Jha in Jaipur. This platform supports artisans working in the home decor and home furnishing industry. In comparison to the other eCommerce platforms, Deeps Shop stands out for its elegant, royal, and spiritual curated products. The Jaipur-based digital marketer already claims to be making a profit and garnering nearly 500 orders a month.
Before setting up Deeps Shop, Deepak worked as a digital marketing manager with many IT companies. Even after getting opportunities to shift to metro cities such as Delhi, Deepak continued to stay in his hometown, Jaipur, as he believed that when your hometown has the opportunity you must stay there and give back to your city. This was the same reason he started a side project to celebrate his state’s art and craft. Later on, Deepak quit his job in the first week of October to shift his full-time focus on the start-up. As of now, Deepak is running a one-man show with two of his family members as his helping hands in the venture.
Initially, they started off by just reselling, taking orders, and helping suppliers in Rajasthan to manufacture products like handcrafted home decor outside of Jaipur. Deepak shares that the eureka moment for Deeps Shop ignited only when a supplier whom he worked with informed him regarding the March-June lockdown which had left the local artisans in dearth. This is when Deepak decided to launch his envision by pursuing his passion project as a full-time project. He then started empowering artisans in Rajasthan and other states to get business and help India go ‘vocal’ for real. He created a website with just Rs 5,000 and joined social media pages to get started. The trust that the artisans and suppliers had in him made things easier as he did not have to spend on inventory because they waited for the payment until after the sale.
“I always wanted to start my own venture and COVID-19 made this possible. The pandemic helped me understand the pain of local businesses and motivated me to work on my dream project and join the bandwagon of start-ups who are making Jaipur a start-up hub,” says Deepak. “We have generated revenue to the tune of Rs 15-20 lakh so far, but all have gone back into the business as operation costs and to fuel growth,” he added.
Deepak’s digital marketing experience took more meaning when he got orders from all over India and more than 100 orders within the first month of the launch. Speaking about competition with companies Amazon and Flipkart, Deepak says, “I don’t want to compete with any of the eCommerce players as they are quite big and they have different business models. I want to go niche and work on my own segment of home decor and home furnishing with small and local manufacturers.”
Although the biggest challenge for the start-up at the moment is cash flow, he prefers being bootstrapped as he wants to grow the company’s valuation before getting investors on board. As of now, the start-up lists products from a handful of artisans in Rajasthan as well as UP. Deepak’s dream is to get local craftsmen from across India on his website and help them get business from all around the globe. “My aim is to reach 5,000 orders per month by the end of 2021,” he adds.
