Inspiring Small Businesses: Stitch by Stitch

In our ‘Inspiring small businesses’ series, we share and celebrate great stories from small business owners who started and run their own business. By bringing you closer to these inspiring businesses we hope that you find motivation, tips, and ideas for building yours. For this weeks interview, we spoke to Karen Sear Shimali Director of Stitch By Stitch a textile design studio based in London.

Stitch by Stitch is a textile design studio working with highly skilled textile artisans in India, Nepal, and England.  We create handmade and small production textile home accessories using traditional skills and a fresh, modern design approach.  Sustainability and fair trade principles are at our company's core.  Our hand stitched quilts, cushions and handwoven fabrics are made in Gujarat, our rugs are woven in villages in The Himalayas, and a small mill in England weaves our wool and alpaca blankets.

What's the story behind your business?

My old friend from art college, and now business partner, made several trips to India about ten years ago, and was introduced to a group of embroiderers in the remote Kutch region of India.  This is a deprived, rural area, which has a rich cultural textile tradition.  We were inspired to collaborate with these textile artisans, to create something new with their incredible skills, and to provide much needed work for them.  Over the years we have expanded our connections in the region so that today we work with two different groups of handweavers, a family-owned quilt making business, and a group of embroiderers.

What inspired you to start your own business?

Both myself and my business partner had worked for years as small cogs in large wheels of the design industry.  We both felt the need to be masters of our own destinies, and after having left full-time employment to have children, I had no desire to return to traditional employment.  Having children necessitated a pause on the career treadmill, and it gave me time to think about what I wanted the next 30 years of my working life to be like.  I wanted flexibility and autonomy, to learn new skills and to return to my design roots.

What is the most difficult aspect of running your own business?

You have to learn so many new skills and gain so much new knowledge, quickly!  This is also one of the most enjoyable aspects, however.  For example, I've had to teach myself digital marketing, something which hardly existed in my past working life.  Also, you have to do everything yourself, and you make so many mistakes!

What is the best thing about running your own business?

The number one thing for me, is to be your own boss; you are accountable only to yourself.  This is hard, and can be stressful, but it's not as difficult as having to justify yourself to your superiors constantly!  I can also do something I'm passionate about.  You can be more creative, and allow yourself to do things your way.

How has your business been affected by coronavirus and how have you adapted?

Sales are definitely affected, as most of our income is B2B via the interior design trade, which has slowed down considerably.  However, I've seen it as an opportunity to pause, reflect, upskill, and re-evaluate our core business values and why I'm doing this.  I realised quite early on in lockdown that this was the time to work on our PR if we weren't to slide into oblivion, and have had time to concentrate on this rather than just the day-to-day aspects of running the business.  We also decided to put our own faces out there quickly using the Instagram Live streaming platform, and to collaborate with our network by running a series of public Textile Talks twice a week with friends in the business, which has gained us lots of exposure and "like, know, trust".

What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own business?

Ask yourself what you are passionate about.  What will sustain your momentum, and give you the energy to keep going when it gets tough.  Be prepared to just keep at it because building a business takes years, not months.

To find out more about Stitch by Stitch visit their website or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.