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Sustainability isn’t her only goal. Of course, she would like to make a worthwhile contri-bution to sustainability. But the core lies elsewhere. For Nisha Varman Shetty, founder of The Urban Yogi, art and creativi-ty mean a lot. But even more important is to care for the ar-tisans and craftsmen whose talents and skills manifest in the artefacts they create. This compulsion drove her to found The Urban Yogi, home-grown furniture and furnishing con-cept that believes in sustainable sourcing and offers fair wages to the creators of its artistically crafted products.

Respect talent,don’t exploit itRupkatha Bhowmick speaks to Shetty about her journeyMy father is a Bollywood music composer. He is very talented and committed to creating good music. But he doesn’t have a clue about commerce. I was only five-or-six years old when I first realised that passionate artists and artisans don’t really get their true value and worth. They don’t have a sense of how to go to the market. They need a manager who’s practical and can add commercial value to their talent.

My mission is to ensure that talented and passionate arti-sans are well looked after and get their worth for their crea-tions. A weaver, potter or paint-er must have food on the table and more. My mission is to promote art, artists and artisans and to be practical about it, with the right element of quirk-iness. That’s what The Urban Yogi is all about. I may get emo-tional about art and craft, but I’m practical too. When I see an artistically crafted product I im-mediately think: How can I sell it profitably?

We evolved every single dayThe Urban Yogi started with a four-day exhibition at the Du-bai Ladies Club. That gave us the initial exposure we were looking for. Soon after, we launched a pop-up concept at

YOUNG & ENTERPRISING47 | JANUARY 2016

Mercato, followed by another at the Dubai Marina Mall. Around the same time, we started de-veloping an online presence through different marketplaces like Souq.com, Tejuri and Little Majlis. We also became active on social media, a potent me-dium to reach out to big crowds without spending big bucks. To-day, we have even moved on to a physical store at Town Square Centre.

So we have tried and tested all these different retail for-mats over the years – pop-up, online, social media and, most recently, physical store. It’s this combination of everything that led us to success. What worked for the brand in year one won’t necessarily work for it today, simply because we now have a bigger inventory.

We had to evolve every day, every month and every passing year. But we grew organical-ly, building up a strong brand ethos. So people now come to us to buy our products, no mat-ter where we are located.

Our loyal customers connect with us through our products. They want to know how a table is produced, who made it, were new trees felled and how their purchase impacts the artisan who created the product. We constantly educate the market.

A new and critical area that we’ll focus on this year is our ‘Make in UAE’ or ‘Made in UAE’ campaign. We are already collaborating with 10-15 local craftsmen who are developing products for us. This is a big step. It will open up the local produc-tion industry. In the long-term, I see 50% of The Urban Yogi’s inventory made locally. That’s a big part of sustainability – to reduce our carbon footprint by sourcing locally. Of course, global sourcing will continue. But our goal is to develop a ‘make in’ programme in every country we venture into.

We are a community-focused brand How can we add real value to a mall and how can a mall help us grow?

It’s a two-way process. We collaborate with malls that un-derstand our vision, mission, values and what the brand stands for. These are typically community and neighbour-hood malls that draw shoppers with a serious intent to buy.

Dubai isn’t what it used to be even a decade ago. Back then, people didn’t really mind travelling across the emirate

to shop at different places. Of course, there weren’t so many malls in those days. Today, it’s a different scenario altogether. That’s why we’re always looking for new ways to engage with the community we operate in, go-ing beyond malls to open mar-kets like Ripe, Urban Market and ARTE. It works beautifully for us because we don’t have that kind of cash flow to pay high rents or do mass media marketing.

It also gives us the opportuni-ty to collaborate with like-mind-ed, home-grown brands. That helps foster the entrepreneurial spirit. There’s so much talent and so many talented people in Dubai who don’t have the luxu-ry of renting prime locations in malls.They aren’t even keen to trial shop-in-shops. So we give weavers, potters, painters and furniture makers the opportu-nity to exhibit their wares on our platform. It’s our gesture of giving back to the community. That’s the idea around which The Urban Yogi was founded, which dovetails into our goal of creating a culture of sustain-ability.

What gives me the strength to pursue my mission?I don’t have a background in interior or furniture design, or even retail. What I’m good at is seeing things clearly and practically. I strongly believe in my vision and go for it despite the challenges I encounter along the way.

I like taking one step at a time, not going too fast, too soon. When running a small business in a place like Dubai, you have to be tenacious.

My husband is a pillar of strength. He brings a lot of positivity and strength to me and to my business. When the going gets difficult and challenging, he’s the one who tells me, “If you’re doing something right, it’s got to be difficult.”

A new and critical area t

hat

we’ll focus on this

year is

our ‘Made in UAE’ campaign.

We are already collab

orating

with 10-15 local craftsmen

who are developing p

roducts

for us. In the long-term, I

see 50% of The Urban Yogi’s

inventory made locall

y.

YOUNG & ENTERPRISING JANUARY 2016 | 48

Why are sustainable products so expensive? That’s a question I often confront.

Sustainable products do tend to be high priced. That’s because they aren’t mass pro-duced. A lot of thought and en-ergy go into creating each prod-uct. You need creative juice as well as practical sense to recre-ate a block of reclaimed wood into a beautiful coffee table. It’s a work of art, an expression of the self.

Add to that the fair wage sus-tainable retailers like us pay our artisans – and that, too, upfront. A person who can’t afford a square meal for the family can’t create beautiful pieces, which is why traditional and local art is slowly dying out in every part of the world. It doesn’t fetch enough money for sustenance. We want to change this. We want to give artisans a decent livelihood so we can harness their skill and talent. We want good energy in our furniture pieces. For that, we’re willing to pay fair wages and our custom-ers understand the brand com-mitment.

Challenges are many for a small, home-grown businessThe regional retail landscape is built for bigger brands with an international presence or brands belonging to big con-glomerates. To cut through the clutter to establish a small, home-grown brand in this market is difficult. It’s even more difficult if the concept is self-funded.

The second challenge is to get space. The first step in this process is to get a meeting with or response from mall oper-ators. When we started out around three-and-a-half years ago, only community malls like Mercato gave us the opportuni-ty to showcase our brand in the market.

Super-regional malls usually have a cookie cutter model to retail, which makes it difficult for concepts like us to penetrate. We’d like to optimally use every square foot of space, for which

we pay exorbitant rents. So if there are restrictions around using the floor or operating only with racks, it makes things difficult for us. We aren’t selling jewellery or sunglasses or cos-metics that can be showcased on racks. We’re into home fur-niture and furnishing, a market that’s built around aesthetics. You have to show visitors how to make their homes beautiful with eclectic statement pieces and handmade accessories. So while we want to go into high traffic super-regional malls, it isn’t easy at all.

We have many plans to build a sustainable futureThe Urban Yogi has definitely grown stronger every year since it entered the market in 2012.

On running a businessRetailing must be taken seriously: Today, we see a lot of creative entrepreneurs doing different things. But many of these brands are hobby concepts that are different from retail brands. If retailing is your goal, you have to get serious. For example, you must get a trade licence to begin with.Mistakes can teach many lessons: A few times during our initial years, I made the mistake of believing everything automatically works out if you’re located in a big or luxury mall. That’s not true. I realised this over time. Today, we’re in the basement of Times Square Centre. We took a huge risk to go into this location, but our products enlivened the space. This is a big lesson I’ve learnt. A lot depends on how well you market your concept: Of course, location is key, but marketing is important, too. For us, guerilla and referral marketing has worked well. Our loyal clients refer us to their friends and family so our customer base keeps getting stronger. Advice to young entrepreneurs: When you write a business plan, a lot of it is theory. You have to carefully identify the proof of concept and have a clear vision. If you have an idea, go ahead and implement it. It won’t be easy. There will be challenges and sacrifices. Yet you should just do it. Don’t overthink.

We believe in giving

our artisans what

they are worth

We have built a strong connect with our customer base, with a strong recall factor. People love us. But it’s been a challenging journey that has tested my lim-its of endurance.

Entrepreneurship isn’t some-thing business schools or uni-versities teach you. It requires patience and strength to keep growing a brand. When I see my brand and products bring-ing good energy to homes, I feel proud.

I aspire to create a regional and international presence for The Urban Yogi. I don’t want to confine the brand to Dubai alone. I also want to grow our product segments – from furni-ture to lifestyle and, someday, a café, yoga studio and spa. But a lot depends on how quickly we get funded. ■