“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” – Mother Teresa
Tucked away at the foothills of Himachal Pradesh lies Dharamshala, a small city where the scent of Deodar Cedars and spirituality eternally waft in the air.
If you are ever on an intense quest to find yourself, you might just stumble upon it here. It’s no small feat, but it starts here.
Hailing from such a place is Saadho, a small business that savors the idea of being small.
Saadho Weaves makes handspun, organic cotton and wool clothes that evoke a strange sense of familiarity to the fabric. They also offer “a range of conscious cotton, naturally dyed (Indigo, areca nut) clothes.”
“Living in a village which used to make its own clothes, it was sad and amusing to see things being brought from the cities. Woollen clothes come from Punjab! The idea behind Saadho weaves was to make more things locally. This is how me, my partner Saraswati and three other friends started the clothes line. And we make very simple clothes, the kind which were (surprisingly) difficult to find,” Jubin Mehta of Saadho tells us.
Saadho goes extra miles to obtain its raw materials. The organic cotton comes from Gujarat while the conscious (eco-friendly) cotton is sourced from Karnataka. The materials are then tailored in Dharamshala and distributed across the nation.
But doesn’t all that make it an expensive brand? Not so much!
The whole idea was to make organic more affordable, Jubin explains.
“It doesn’t have to be elitist. Only when more people shift towards organic would the needle tilt and prices for organic products would come down,” he explains.
Despite operating from a small town near the mountains and its spiritual philosophy, Saadho hasn’t shunned away from technology. They are even open to 3D printing their woven clothes!
Saadho also runs a digital, quarterly magazine “Slow Tech” that aims at covering conscious businesses dabbling in creativity and crowdfunding.
While their focus is on offline selling, they have a social media presence that’s helping them supply quality clothes all around the country. You can see their products on the Instamojo store.
How does Saadho manage payments?
Saadho has been using Instamojo to make paying for their organic weaves easier. Customers can shop directly on the store and pay up using net banking, Credit or Debit cards and other mobile wallets.
“I knew Instamojo and we went for it because of the ease and simplicity it offers,” Jubin says. “It gives us a payment gateway in the online world. It saves us from the hassle of maintaining a crucial part of any business that sells online.”
What’s more?
Going forward, Saadho has big plans to stay small. Apart from adding more “product designs, introducing woolens, setting up a small natural dyeing unit,” it wants to stay genuine to its intention.
“We’ll be small scale. We believe in small is beautiful and for the soul to be young and fresh, small scale is conducive. Also, since we are based out of Dharamshala, Himachal, the needs are less and we seek joy in creation, not the scale,” Jubin adds with a smile!
1 comment
Truly inspiring