An idea, a pandemic, and a pivot — built into a 10-brand marketplace.
COVID lockdown in Mangalore, India. My co-founder Chakshu had an idea for a health food brand. We had $340 (₹20,000), zero industry experience, and the drive to build something rather than sit idle. No supply chain, no brand, no customers, no team.
We started by sourcing healthy snack products from third-party vendors — negotiating with 5 suppliers to get SKUs on credit terms because we couldn't afford upfront inventory. I built the entire supply chain: vendor selection, quality checks, packaging specifications, delivery logistics.
I set up the Shopify store with automated order workflows — from purchase to dispatch tracking. Managed the P&L end-to-end: revenue forecasting, COGS tracking, margin analysis, and cash flow management on a spreadsheet that I lived in daily.
We grew Instagram from zero to 2,500 followers organically. No paid ads — we couldn't afford them. Content strategy, engagement, partnerships with micro-influencers, all done by a team I was simultaneously hiring and training.
Built the team to 8 people across design, content, sales, and business development. Managed vendor relationships, negotiated payment terms, dealt with packaging failures, delivery delays, and the constant chaos of running a physical product business during a pandemic.
Cut costs by 20% through supplier renegotiation and logistics optimisation. Reduced waste by 15% by improving demand forecasting and storage processes.
The pivot came when we realised single-brand D2C had a ceiling. We repositioned as a multi-brand health food marketplace, onboarding 10+ partner brands. This changed the unit economics entirely — we became a platform, not just a brand.