Guwahati Woman Clocked Rs 2 Cr By Selling Art Jewellery You've Never Seen Before - Chilli, Scorpion, And Durga Earrings

“When you wear a piece of our jewellery, we ensure that you are wearing your personality on your wrist, fingers, or neck.”

This is what Diksha Singhi, founder of A Little Extra, believes in.

For her, jewellery has always been about art and symbolism.

“I realized that while there are many options for dainty, minimal jewellery designs, very few brands actually dabble exclusively in concept and statement pieces that are bold, chunky, and with the potential to genuinely accessorize an outfit. That's what inspired me,” Diksha Singhi tells Startup Pedia in an exclusive interview.

Founded in 2020 and based in New Delhi, A Little Extra is an affordable concept jewellery brand that offers cuffs, bracelets, rings, earrings, neck pieces, hair accessories, brooches, bag charms, etc.

To date, the fashion jewellery brand has served 75,000+ customers.

THE BACKGROUND

Hailing from Guwahati in Assam, Diksha Singhi completed her undergraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the Indraprastha College of Delhi University.

While still in her final year of college, she decided to do something of her own.

“I started my digital marketing agency in 2015 and started working with numerous consumer brands. Even collaborated with the likes of MamaEarth when they were in their initial stages,” Diksha tells Startup Pedia.

Up until 2019, she kept scaling the digital agency. It was during this time that she developed an affinity towards storytelling.

After spending close to five years assisting brands in marketing strategy, Diksha decided to look for more opportunities.

“I wanted to do something more product-oriented. Very soon, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country in 2020. So I moved back to Guwahati,” she says.

Jewellery was something that had interested Diksha Singhi for years. But she admits that it wasn't the first thing that came to mind.

Instead, she tried experimenting with building a clothing line, but soon shut it down.

“I came back to jewellery. That happened when I sat with myself and carefully thought about something I can do in the long term. Jewellery was a great fit for someone like me who loves storytelling, art, and just fashion in general. I did some research and also found gaps, like the lack of a large dedicated fashion jewellery brand was evident,” Diksha Singhi mentions.

Read More: Gurugram Startup Eliminates Stress From People’s Life By Running Errands On Their Behalf – Clocks Rs 4.8 Cr In FY25

INITIAL JOURNEY AND CHALLENGES

Once the idea to build a jewellery brand was solidified, Diksha invested Rs 5,000 and gave an order to a kaarigar.

“I have always had a thing for colourful, unique items. So I asked for a small batch of handmade terracotta earrings to be made,” the entrepreneur says.

As soon as the items were delivered to her, she put them up on Instagram.

To her surprise, she got close to 30 to 40 orders in the first couple of days itself – and the batch was sold out.

“I made Rs 15,000 from these earrings. Since then, I've only been reinvesting money in the business and never had to put in anything from my pocket,” Diksha confirms.

Next, she gave the kaarigar another order – this time a larger batch.

This was also the official start of A Little Extra in 2020.

“For the next order, I decided to experiment with some variety. So I asked for fabric and oxidized jewellery,” startup founder Diksha Singhi says.

Eventually, A Little Extra started offering a larger portfolio of fashion jewellery – like neckpieces, rings, bracelets, and earrings.

According to Diksha, it took her at least seven months to find her first good vendor that aligned exactly with what A Little Extra was trying to build into.

“They continue to work with us today. Apart from them, we expanded into giving projects to more kaarigars across the country. They would contribute with not just their artwork but also their designs,” entrepreneur Diksha Singhi says.

But…how did the fashion jewellery founder manage the itsy-bitsy details?

• For A Little Extra’s logo, Diksha made it on Canva herself.

“Although I like how it is currently, I've been meaning to change it for a while now. But now people resonate with it and we feel like we shouldn't change up things,” she laughs.

• Initially, Diksha’s sister, who has a knack for art and craft, helped her with customized packaging. From writing beautiful, short notes to wrapping the jewellery pieces in delicate makeshift envelopes, they did everything.

“Eventually, I decided to finally buy customized packaging. That happened when our Durga earrings went viral. It was the first product to gain that kind of traction. But at the time, we didn't have many options for lower minimum order quantities. We went to a packaging vendor and got 5,000 corrugated boxes and stickers to customize them. One box cost me Rs 12 then,” Diksha Singhi explains.

• A Little Extra partnered with Delhivery for its order delivery processes.

“Earlier, Delhivery was fine. But now that we are serving a larger base of pin codes, we also have BlueDart and sometimes Shadowfax helping us,” she says.

As for the challenges, the fashion jewellery startup founder says that hustling or working round the clock was never really something that she considered a challenge.

“I was always blessed with a family and a support system of my friends who would pitch in and help me manage A Little Extra. I think the real challenges began when the brand started growing – hiring the right team, retaining it, looking for more manufacturers, delving a bit deeper into customer satisfaction – those are the action points I had to begin working on as and when the brand scaled,” Diksha says.

Read More: Gurugram Engineer Starts A Cybersecurity Co. From Home; His Startup Now Serves 800+ Clients Globally & Generated ₹25 Cr+ Rev During Last FY

CONTENT GAME AND UNIT ECONOMICS

Since the inception of A Little Extra, the fashion jewellery brand has been heavy into content marketing.

“From 2020 to 2022, we were selling and handling orders only via Instagram. No website,” Diksha says.

According to the startup founder, what worked for the brand was the fact that the content game was “non-serious.” 

“We didn't take ourselves too seriously and people loved that about us. To date, my team and I become models for our products,” she laughs.

After 2022, A Little Extra started running Meta ads via a marketing agency.

As far as the unit economics of a product by the fashion jewellery brand is concerned, Diksha Singhi explains, that if a product order costs Rs 1,500 (which is also the brand's average order value), then:

• 25% of the price is the direct product cost (goes into manufacturing and making the product)
• About 25% to 30% of the amount is taken up by marketing costs (like running Meta ads)
• Salaries and agency fee would be 10%
• Shipping costs are another 10%
• Then, another 10% goes into payment gateway fees, miscellaneous expenses, rent, electricity, and packaging
• Around 15% is the net profit margin

Read More: Bihar Friends Clock Rs 1.5 Cr Monthly By Selling Flavoured & Raw Makhanas In Bulk To 41+ Indian & International Food Brands

A LITTLE EXTRA: JEWELLERY THAT SPEAKS

Today, A Little Extra operates as a fashion jewellery brand with concept and statement jewellery pieces in the categories of Earrings, Rings, Cuffs, Bracelets, Neckpieces, Heritage Jewellery, Hair Accessories, Gifting, Brooches, Bag Charms, Belts, and even Men’s Jewellery.

The brand’s USP is literally in its name – a little extra.

Diksha Singhi says that customers come to the brand primarily for products that make a statement – think spider-inspired jewellery, chilli earrings, chunky flowers with stems, scorpion earrings, and even cobwebs.

Along with working with freelance designers, the brand has its jewellery pieces manufactured across India (Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, etc) and now even internationally.

“We encourage wearing your personality on your sleeve. You know, we do sell those dainty hoops and rings as well, but we are not necessarily known for them. What our identity is and always will be is something that speaks and makes heads turn,” startup founder Diksha Singhi says.

“This is something that we keep reminding ourselves also…that our USP is jewellery that speaks,” she adds.

GROWTH

A Little Extra, as a fashion jewellery brand, has seen steady growth in its annual revenues.

In FY21, it recorded an annual revenue of Rs 17 lakh. In FY22, this figure zoomed to Rs 47 lakh, Rs 1.22 crore in FY23, and Rs 1.85 crore in FY24.

In FY25, the brand closed Rs 2.14 crore.

As for customer numbers, that has seen a steady rise as well.

From serving just 4,500 customers in 2020 to having catered to 75,000+ customers to date, A Little Extra has proven the demand for statement fashion jewellery.

The brand also made it to Shark Tank India Season 3 and secured a deal of Rs 60 lakh.

If you are even remotely into fashion and lifestyle, you would've seen celebrities and influencers like Shreya Ghoshal, Rubina Dilaik, Rebelkid, Sanjana Saanghi, and Nancy Tyagi style A Little Extra's jewellery pieces.

“The way you go to a mall and know exactly which brand stores to head towards to buy Indian ethnic wear or formal attires or street wear – we want A Little Extra to become the brand people turn to when they're looking for statement fashion jewellery that adds to their personality,” Diksha Singhi signs off.

Read More: Kerala Man Who Went To The USA To Become An Investment Banker Now Runs An AI-Trading Firm That Lets You Buy Real Estate In Fractions