So what am I really doing here? If you’ve been following my blog, it might seem like a wild adventure, which it certainly is – but the majority of my time is spent working for Bagru Textiles.

In comparison to past Minerva Fellows at BT, I have a very unique position. The previous fellow, Dave Masterson, hired an Indian manager named Sonia Jain. Sonia speaks perfect English, commutes from  Jaipur every day, and is a crucial asset to our business – but above all else, she has been a great mentor and keeps me good company in the office (my bedroom).

Since Bagru Textiles has expanded, particularly in the past three years, many of the fellows have gotten bogged down with daily tasks: emails, custom orders, meeting deadlines, quality control, etc. But, now that Sonia is here, we get to split the daily business tasks; this allows both of us to focus on bigger, more long-term aspects of the business.

I am still actively involved with daily responsibilities: assessing new orders, skyping with clients, negotiating prices, shipping finished products, updating social media, and dealing with our many inquiry emails. All of this takes lots of time, particularly when the Internet is never cooperating, or it’s 100 degrees, or there are children looking over your shoulder. However, if my role is limited to daily, short-term duties, the business will only maintain its steady trajectory. To grow a business, to expand it, and to change it – one must put in extra time and effort. One must think differently, offering new perspectives.

On the first day at work I ripped off a sheet of notebook paper and taped it to the wall: “Long-Term Goals.” We had a company-wide meeting (Vijendra, Sonia, and myself) and strategized on where the company is heading.

Orignally, Bagru Textiles was founded with the mission to connect consumers around the world with our local artisans, thus enhancing quality of life for our impoverished workers in Bagru. We advertise “pair wages, fair prices” at Bagru Textiles, paying our artisans more than any other company here in Bagru. The business model targeted people like you, who could go on our website and order a stock-item: a shirt, headband, yoga bag, scarf, etc.

While this model got the company off the ground, it wasn’t a sustainable practice. Aside from a handful of Union College students, few people were logging onto our site and ordering  moderately-priced short-sleeve button downs. This, along with sizing and some other issues, caused us to pivot our business strategies.

Today, nearly all of our business comes from custom design prints. Designers from America, Australia, Singapore, etc. work with us to create their own block-printed design for a scarf, cushions, bed sheets, table runners, curtains, etc. This means that our traditional “Bagru designs” have become nearly obsolete. American and European markets are not interested in 100-year-old Indian designs, but rather are attracted to more contemporary, geometric designs you see at J Crew and Urban Outfitters.

Now, instead of targeting people like you, we are targeting high-end designers with boutiques and wealthy, American clientele.

You can check out Block Shop and Seek Collective to see some of our biggest clients.

I have been working hard on having our business model and marketing materials to reflect this pivot. I quickly realized that our company’s mission, information packets, canned response emails,  etc. is outdated. Our website has also been down for a few months, and have been working on revamping all our web content to adhere to our how business expansion. The goal is to have the site up and running soon, which will ideally advance our brand name.

At Bagru Textiles I am essentially my own boss, which also means I am my toughest critic. One of the hardest things, on the business side, is seeing so much opportunity. Every day I find something new that can be fixed or improved, but I it’s challenging to get from  from point A to B. With few hands-on-deck, it’s not easy to swiftly implement these business ‘visions’. We’re not a big company that can hire someone to take on a new project, or throw cash to fix our issues. My brain is overloaded with ideas and objectives, but the process is slow; this can be frustrating.

On the flip-side, I can’t complain about opportunity. I just have to maintain a keen and critical eye on every process that occurs here, and eventually, over time, we will change and develop some of these business strategies into reality.  I’m taking bits and pieces from my education and rubbing them together, trying to ignite a fire for this company.

I am in constant awe of how much responsibility I’ve assumed in such a short period of time. While many people my age have supervisors, who in turn have bosses, who report to CEO’s – there is no concrete chain of command here. The freedom is encouraging, and dares me to work harder, think creatively, and establish something sustainable for this community.