Analica Rodrigues began Beaded Reverie as a side quest while pursuing her commerce studies, little imagining it would become a commercially viable business
KALYANI JHA | NT BUZZ
It began with a broken beaded bracelet. Reluctant to throw away this accessory which had been a little expensive, Analica Rodrigues decided to fix it.
“My mom bought me a whole kit of these beads and I didn’t know what to do with so many,” she recalls. On a whim, a friend asked her if she could make a few bracelets for her as well. Rodrigues made her friend over 10 bracelets.
“At that point of time, I had not even considered that this was something that I could turn into a business,” says the commerce student at St. Xavier’s College, Mapusa.
Soon, news spread around college that Rodrigues was making pretty beaded bracelets and she began getting orders from her classmates.
Rodrigues was later offered a stall to display her crafts in Porvorim for a pop up market. When she received customers, she realised this actually worked as side business. “I was hesitant at first. It was like an experiment for me. But then it all worked out,” she says.
With time, Rodrigues upgraded her skills through Pinterest and YouTube tutorials and expanded her range beyond bracelets to also include necklaces, anklets, charms, earrings, bookmarks, and other customised pieces.
She also moved from marketing her work from word of mouth to setting up an Instagram page and selling via WhatsApp. She now ships pan India and has already received orders from Chandigadh
and Bengaluru.
“I still remember the first time I made my business card,” says the youngster who named her venture Beaded Reverie
Rodrigues now confidently participates in small pop-up markets and has learned what works and what does not. Initially, she says, she did not know which markets to go to and which ones to say no to. With time, she has learned where she can do business fairly.
Beaded Reverie, she states, is her escape from the everyday hustle of life and is what keeps her inspired. “This is something that helps to ease the stress and it makes me feel peaceful. I do not think about anything while I do it,” she says.
Looking back to her now one-year-old business, she says, not every business begins with a grand plan or the certainty of success. “One needs to be open to opportunities and ideas. There are a lot of people who doubt whether they will find support and thus do not even begin,” she says. “Honestly, I never thought it would work out the way it has. But I decided to give it a go anyway, and here I am. It’s working, and it can for others too.”
