Guwahati: Woman entrepreneur scripts success story with simple design innovations

From a corporate job to entrepreneurship, Mitali Deka has come a long way.

Deka left her job at Hindustan Unilever in Kolkata in 2017 with the idea to work from home. Her creativity prompted her to take up handicrafts. So, it was in 2017-18 that Deka, who was trained in candle-making by NSIC in 2009, started making candles.

A graduate of Foreign Trade from Pondicherry University, Deka’s objective is to produce handmade products without using machines at any stage of manufacturing. Now, her venture, Maestro Assam, sells candles, diyas, table runners, gamosas, Christmas wreaths, mekhala chadar etc. The company exports these products to the UK, the US and Canada.
The dining mats contain designs that are used in gamosa. The hand towels that Maestro Assam makes also have the same designs. Again, they are also planning to make mekhala chadar made of pure silk, which is unique for the people of Assam. After gauging the high demand, handloom has been added to their products.

A number of wine glasses are converted to candles too.

The 39-year-old entrepreneur from Guwahati says she does not have a permanent shop but puts up stalls in various exhibitions.

Maestro Assam employs around eight weavers from Hajo, Nalbari and Guwahati. They are paid per piece they produce.
Deka recalled that a customer from London wanted a mekhala chadar set and wanted her to send a stitched blouse. She was nervous as it was her first international demand. But the customer gave them the exact size for the blouse and she did it accordingly. The customer was happy after receiving their product. The mekhala chadar was of Rs 5,000.

Deka informed that mekhala chadar fetches a higher price in foreign countries than in Assam. Like this, they are earning Rs 70,000-80,000 per month. The earnings were as high as Rs 2,50,000 last year. One percent of the profit is kept to run the business.

Now, she is earning more than her salaried job earlier. Various organisations approach them for corporate gifts as well. They are popular among customers for designing customised gifts.

In 2022, they also achieved Assam Excellence Award from a news portal called Prothom Khobor.

Next year, Maestro Assam is planning to expand to various parts of the North East. In the future, their main emphasis will be to get export orders.

The products are sold through https://www.etsy.com.

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