Meet: Sushmitha Pidatala
Founder of: Arjuna
Tell us about your business:
Arjuna is an online lifestyle and home décor boutique focused on the South Asian aesthetic. Arjuna is an affordable option that fills a market void. It’s where traditional designs meet modern day form and elegance. Arjuna is much more than just a brand, but rather a branded platform that showcases undiscovered artists and their work from all over the world --- people with a creative flair and inspirational voices.
What was the best piece of business advice you were given when you were starting out?
Always be open to pivoting. Because if you're married to an initial idea, design or iteration, it's often ego speaking louder than acumen. And if you're catering to the ebbs and flows of a diverse consumer market, you need to be ready to shift the direction of your business to meet customer demands.
Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently when you were first starting out?
I would have been more transparent about me and my personality as a founder. This is because, ultimately, a brand is about the human being(s) behind it. This is what initially resonates with customers and makes them want to not only purchase your items, but more importantly engage with the brand. In the beginning I was paralyzed with the fear of what I thought other people would think about me "putting myself out there." The fear of those potential judgments was a handicap from the get-go.
Name the biggest overall lesson you've learned in running a business?
Consistency is critical to everything, from designs to marketing to social media engagement. This is because success rarely happens overnight. And if you want to be more than just a flash-in-the-pan, temporary hit, you need to be consistent over a longer period of time, keeping in mind that that penetrating a market is not the same as cultivating one.
In moments of self-doubt or adversity, how do you build your resolve?
I go back to my "Why?" Meaning, I pause, take a deep breath, and remind myself why I set out on this journey to begin with. This allows me to put things in perspective and see where I and my journey fit into the grand scheme of things. That's when I inevitably realize that I'm not as "behind" as I thought I was. Some of the answers to my "Why?" are: being in control of my own destiny; creating and curating products that are missing from the mainstream marketplace; and establishing a self-sustaining business that can inspire my children to work hard and step out of their comfort zone, if need be.
Discover more:
www.arjunadesignstudio.com
arjunadesignstudio
