Kolkata Woman Quit Job To Pursue Her Crochet Hobby, Invested ₹1 Lakh Savings - Clocked Rs 5 Lakh Revenue In 3 Months

In June 2025, Nikita Shaw from Kolkata was juggling two things: a full-time job as a marketing consultant and a small crochet hobby. 

A video she posted about beautiful sunflower clutchers (crocheted sunflowers pasted on a clutcher) suddenly went viral and garnered more than 33 million views. 

At that point, she knew she couldn't just pursue crocheting as a side hobby. It had real demand, and the universe had made it very evident to her. 

“I have been pursuing crocheting since 2015. I would usually make cute stuff for family, friends, and relatives. Sometimes, I would get online orders via Facebook and Instagram, and over time, before I knew it, I had already catered to 1,000+ orders over the years. Then when the video went viral in June 2025, I knew I had to convert this into a full-time business,” Nikita Shaw, founder of Croise, tells Startup Pedia in an exclusive interview. 

Founded in 2025, Croise is a Kolkata-based crochet small business that offers handmade, customized, and original crochet toys and accessories.

THE BACKGROUND 

Currently 29 years old, Nikita Shaw finished her master's at NIFT Bhubaneswar in 2019. Right after college, she joined DateTheRamp as a marketing executive, and eventually climbed the ranks to become the Head of Marketing.

As for crocheting, it has been a hobby for Nikita since 2015. 

“During my master's, I was into handmade stuff like crochet and other crafts. Somehow, that love never left me and I started crocheting at home. At the time, I named my social media pages ‘Croise by Nikita,’ because it was just me at the time. This side hustle gave me an identity,”she tells Startup Pedia. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country in 2020, Nikita joined women-led groups on Facebook. They would conduct Facebook lives, and have the participants showcase their handmade products and innovations.

“I would show my crochet artwork, and receive direct orders. I would ship them informally to customers. At the time, I was making close to Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 a month, purely from crocheting,” the small business founder says. 

And just like that, ‘Croise by Nikita’ continued. 

It was in June 2025 when she got an idea to make sunflower clutchers, and it instantly went viral on Instagram. To date, the same video brings in new customers. 

“The CEO of the company I was working at, Chinmay, has been extremely kind to me. He encouraged me to start my own thing and even helped me take note of the universe sending a clear sign. Because of that viral video, I was getting tons of orders from people who wanted to buy it as a haldi return gift,” Nikita shares. 

By July 2025, her boss said he even wanted to place a bulk order for his company. Finally, Nikita decided to quit her job and pursue her crochet hobby seriously, and more formally.

This was the official start of Croise in August 2025. 

The business was revamped into ‘Croise’ because Nikita knew it wasn't just going to be limited to her. She wanted a team, and she needed it fast.

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JOURNEY AND CHALLENGES OF THE CROCHET SMALL BIZ

Nikita came back to her town of Kankinara in Kolkata with a clear plan: make Croise big, cater to customers, and build a team. 

“I had taken a six-month challenge with myself. The next step was to get a team of women workers, but it was Ganesh Puja at the time. My father said I might not be able to get workers, but I decided otherwise,” entrepreneur Nikita Shaw smiles. 

Nikita got flexes and flyers made with one clear line of communication: the opportunity for women to earn Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per month for part-time work. She even mentioned a free one-month training for the job. 

“I asked a household staff member to distribute these 500 flyers and a few flexes to every woman they saw even slight potential in. They went to stalls, pandals, and everywhere where the festival was being celebrated. Within days, I started getting calls from women enquiring about the opportunity,” small business founder Nikita explains.

Next, she entered into a rental agreement with her father for the household garage, cleaned it thoroughly, and transformed it into Croise’s working space. 

Between August and September, Nikita trained 30 women in the art of handmade crocheting. By October, 20 women joined Croise.

“The reason I needed a large artisan team is simple: crocheting is a lovely thing, but it makes your eyes hurt after 4-5 hours. I cannot expect one woman to work for 8 hours every day. Hence, the team of 20 women was needed. At this point, I was a bit sure about one thing: my production was sorted,” the entrepreneur says. 

After this, Nikita started sourcing quality fabric from vendors who manufacture cotton yarn in units across Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

“I already had some of these contacts because I had been crocheting since 2015. But for the new ones, I searched on the Internet,” Nikita Shaw says. 

But…how much money did the small business founder bootstrap Croise with?

In the initial month, it was Rs 1 lakh in total, which came from her savings. 

• Rs 50,000 was spent sourcing the material, revamping the garage into a cozy workspace, and getting quality packaging boxes.

• Rs 50,000 was spent hiring labour, training women, and ultimately paying salaries. 

“Honestly, my monthly labour charge at the moment is coming to nearly Rs 50,0000 to Rs 60,000 now. This is because my business runs on quality artwork, and I need very, very skilled people for the same,” the entrepreneur notes. 

Also Read: “We made the Saiyaara kurti & it was sold out,” Best Friends From Jaipur Started A Kurti Brand With Rs 17k – Clocked Rs 15 lakh In 6 months

CROISE: THOUGHTFUL AND ORIGINAL CROCHET ACCESSORIES 

Today, Croise runs as a Kolkata-based crochet small business that offers thoughtful, handmade crochet gifts and accessories.

From beautiful and intricately designed bag charms and key chains to flower hair accessories, magnets, coasters, and car dangling buddies – Croise has something for everyone. 

“All my designs come from my brain or are Pinterest-inspired,” Nikita laughs. 

She also notes that a lot of crocheters in India were inspired by her viral sunflower and rose clutchers, and they started making variations of the same. 

“Honestly, I have zero issues with that. This is such a precious space and everyone gets inspired by everyone. Art works like that,” she says. 

As for packaging, Croise uses carton boxes with honeycomb sheets. They do not cost the small business much, but Nikita wants to invest in proper packaging and branding in the future. 

“Along with the order, we send a thank-you note as well as a small freebie. This freebie is also a small crochet piece, either imperfect or a work-in-progress,” she smiles. 

The average order value at Croise stands at Rs 500. However, Nikita did not reveal the unit economics structure of the small business. 

As far as shipping is concerned, after multiple hiccups with Shiprocket and Shipway, Croise has zeroed in on DTDC and the Indian Post. 

“Fortunately, things are smooth now. There's an extra delivery charge if a customer wants an order shipped to them on an urgent basis,” entrepreneur Nikita Shaw notes. 

Along with individual orders, Croise also fulfills bulk and corporate orders.

Recently, it collaborated with Plum India for the brand's new perfume launch, as well as Samosa Party, a popular snack brand. 

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GROWTH: STEADY AND SUBSTANTIAL 

From a simple crochet hobby to building a crochet small business, Nikita Shaw’s Croise currently has a team of 30 women who work on a contractual basis. 

There are only two permanent employees, including Nikita and her production manager who is responsible for quality checks.

“Croise’s production manager is my househelp’s daughter. I trained her in all things crochet, and she's now an integral part of the business,” Nikita smiles. 

As for the orders, Croise fulfilled 10-20 orders every month across August, September, and October. 

In November, the order number jumped to 50+, driven by the crochet small business’ ‘Angry Bird-inspired’ accessory. 

In December 2025, Croise fulfilled 50+ orders as well. 

“These are individual orders that we receive from across India. As for bulk orders that are charged at a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh, we have fulfilled at least four of them, with quite a few already in the pipeline,” the entrepreneur explains. 

“We get bulk orders from brands, resellers, and cafes,” she adds.

Presently, Croise receives 80% of its orders via Instagram, and the remaining 20% from its website. 

Since October 2025, the crochet small business has clocked a revenue of Rs 5 lakh. 

In the future, the founder plans to onboard Croise on Flipkart as well as on Amazon. 

“If there's one thing that makes me truly grateful, it is how many identities are now attached to Croise. Each woman's fingers, eyes, and sense of detailing matter here. Each woman's efforts matter here. The end product is not just a beautiful piece of crochet, it's almost a piece of our soul,” Nikita Shaw signs off.

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