With a number of special occasions and festivals like Valentines’ Day, Holi and Nepali New Year among others lined up; you must be having a hard time trying to figure out what presents you should buy for your loved ones. Well, if you have read Nepali constitution thoroughly, you might remember a clause that says, “A Nepali citizen shall never be upset and confused about anything as long as NeoStuffs is still in existence.” And that’s why, here we are with a solution, of course. We shall be introducing you to a new startup today that might be your genie for all the special occasions.
Little Things is a Lalitpur based startup founded by Abha Dhital and Sabin Bhandari. It all started back in March 2015 when Sabin, designer & developer, came to Abha, writer and illustrator, with a folded card with print of a design that Abha had made some weeks ago. He gave it to her and said, “Here, start that card business.” She had always wanted to run a card company of her own and it was that very day when she finally decided and was determined about what she was going to do. The two were pretty sure to make a great team; as Abha had always been a relentless scribbler who loved to doodle as well. And on the other hand, Sabin had been graphic designing for quite some years and had all the necessary expertise about how to start and run startup as he had already been running another design-driven startup called threadpaints.
“Little Things, the name was picked rather impulsively. There was never an alternative. It just felt right”, Abha told NeoStuffs.
The first set of cards were sold on local Mother’s Day in April 2015. The founders basically just mobilized their immediate network – in person and through social media – and it was well received. But a couple of days later, the devastating earthquake took place and the two had to take a long break until the end of the year, except for Friendship Day in between when the maximum number of cards were sold.
The year 2016 was a year of experiments for Little Things. They experimented with designs, materials, vendors and customers. It took them at least six months to find vendors who understood exactly what they were looking for. They like to call them collaborators instead of vendors today as they are the people who Little Things can always rely on. The selection of paper too proved to be a mammoth task and it took them months to finalise the paper of the cards. They also started experimenting with mediums where the designs could be displayed and expanded their range of products. They currently don’t only design and sell cards but also have mugs, totes, bookmarks, magnets, badges, stickers and apparel – tees and sweatshirts.
In September 2016, Abha and Sabin decided to kick it off as a full-fledged startup and launched a website. But, the two still had doubts and they wanted to see how the customers felt about their products. So they introduced the products to the Art Market (Yellow House). When they saw the response and feedback of their customers there, they just knew that there’s no looking back and there’s no stopping.
The two expect 2017 to be a big year for their startup. “We’re getting incorporated this month. We’ll also hopefully start a physical store this year. We have also started expanding our team with design and admin interns”, Abha informed.
In quite a short period, Little Things have sold over 900 cards, 70 mugs and 50 tote bags. “Our customer base is all organic – they either know us through network, recommendation or art market and when we are lucky through quirky posts that just blow up and start surfacing on social media”, says Abha. “The cash flow has been enough to keep us out of debt and to self-sustain. The workflow has been enough to decide that it’s high time we hire an intern.”
She says that it’s the response of the customers that has kept them going on. They serve a niche market and don’t claim that everybody love them, but those who do, they are recurrent and loyal to them. The best thing about their work is that people of all ages can easily relate – the teenagers in love, the snarky folks in their quarter life, the fun couples, and parents in their mid-life.
Little Things sell bookmarks, post cards, stickers and badges for under Rs. 100; magnets for under Rs. 150; cards for under Rs. 180; mugs and tote bags for under Rs. 600 and apparel for under Rs. 1400. The price for the customized products cost as per the work that goes into them. ‘Yeti Maya Garchhu’, ‘Gaadha Maya’ and ‘Ekai Dyangka Mula’ are some of their bestselling cards. ‘Lukichhipi’ and ‘Hippies’ mugs; along with ‘Donut’ and ‘Hippies’ totes too are some of their bestselling products.
Connect with them on Facebook or you can make a call at +977-9818333596 to get in touch with them.
Some of their works.
