How Naina Doi turned a simple Instagram page into a handcrafted textile export brand serving clients across Europe, Japan, South Korea, and beyond.
Naina Doi
Founder: Arbudaa Blockprints
Industry: Textiles and Handicrafts
Business Stage: Growing
Location: Udaipur, India
Naina Doi is a founder, creative director, and advocate for India’s handcrafted textile heritage. Through ARBUDAA Block Prints, she is redefining the hand block print industry by making authentic craftsmanship accessible, sustainable, and commercially viable. Her unique understanding of design, silhouettes, colour aesthetics, and buyer requirements has helped bridge the gap between global female buyers and traditional manufacturing networks, creating a brand rooted in authenticity, innovation, and artisan empowerment.
When people look at a successful entrepreneur, they often see the outcome. The thriving business. The international customers. The confident founder who seems to have everything figured out. What they rarely see are the silent battles that happen behind the scenes. The doubts, the family expectations, the tears shed in private, and the determination it takes to keep going when nobody fully understands why you’re trying so hard.
Every success story begins long before the world starts paying attention.
Naina’s story isn’t about chasing the dream of becoming a founder or building an international business. She was simply trying to solve a problem that many women know all too well. A way to create financial security for herself and her family.
Growing up in Kota, Naina’s world revolved around one dream. Like thousands of students around her, she believed success had a very specific address-IIT. The entrance exam wasn’t just another test. It was the benchmark against which ambitions were measured, futures were evaluated, and self-worth was often defined. For years, she immersed herself in preparation, convinced that clearing IIT was the path to a successful life. But life has a way of redirecting us toward destinations we cannot yet see.
Naina didn’t make it to IIT.
At the time, it felt like a setback. Looking back, it was perhaps the first sign that her journey was meant to unfold differently. She went on to pursue engineering and later completed a Master’s in Business Management with a specialisation in Marketing. Like many young graduates, she stepped into the workforce, determined to build a stable career and make something of herself. The work was interesting. She found herself managing marketing campaigns for brands, learning how consumers think, what catches their attention, and how businesses build relationships with customers. Every project sharpened her skills, though she had no idea then how valuable those lessons would become.
Yet beneath the excitement of a promising career was a growing realisation.
The salary she earned was enough to get by, but not enough to create the life she wanted. Her family needed support. She wanted to contribute more. She wanted the freedom to make her own financial decisions without hesitation. She wanted the confidence that comes from knowing you can afford your aspirations. At that stage, her dreams were simple and deeply personal. She remembers wanting to buy an iPhone with her own money. Not because of the phone itself, but because of what it represented. The ability to earn enough to reward herself without depending on anyone else. It was a small dream. But like many dreams, it carried a much bigger meaning.
What Naina didn’t realise was that the universe was quietly preparing her for something far larger than she had imagined. The marketing skills she was learning. The financial pressures she was experiencing. The desire to create more for herself and her family. All of it was leading her toward a path she had never planned to take. A path that would eventually transform a simple Instagram page into a business serving customers across continents.
Social media was beginning to transform how businesses connected with customers, roughly around 10years ago. Drawing upon skills she had learned during her marketing internship and job, where she managed social media campaigns for major brands, Naina decided to experiment. In 2017, she started an Instagram page selling handcrafted cotton block-printed products. There was no office, no support staff, no financial backing. Just a woman trying to create an additional source of income. And what happened next changed everything.
Every entrepreneur remembers the moment when an idea suddenly stops feeling like an experiment and starts feeling real. For Naina, that moment arrived in the most unexpected way. On the very first day she launched her Instagram page, an order came in from France. Even today, she recalls the moment with a smile and a hint of disbelief. “It was a blessing from the Universe. Otherwise, how does someone get an order on Day One itself?” she says, her eyes lighting up with nostalgia. Someone thousands of miles away had discovered her products, trusted her enough to place an order, and chosen to buy from a person they had never met. And then came the advance payment through PayPal. To an outsider, it may have looked like a small transaction. To Naina, it felt like validation.
For the first time, a stranger had put a monetary value on something she had created. For the first time, she saw proof that her skills, her products, and her effort could become more than just a side hustle. That single order did more than generate revenue. It gave her belief. And sometimes, belief is the first investment every entrepreneur needs!
What began as a small Instagram experiment slowly evolved into Arbudaa, a business dedicated to authentic handcrafted textiles rooted in India’s rich heritage of block printing. Today, 99 percent of Arbudaa’s products travel to Europe, with customers spread across America, Australia, Japan, and South Korea. But the journey from that first order to international growth wasn’t as effortless as it appears.
Selling handcrafted products internationally isn’t simply about beautiful designs. It’s about trust. Clients sitting in another country cannot physically touch the fabric, inspect the craftsmanship, or visit the workshop. They buy because they believe in the person behind the business.
Naina understood very early that in a business like hers, products alone would never be enough. Trust was the real product. So she built her business around a simple principle: never promise what you cannot deliver. If a client requested a specific shade of blue, they received that exact shade of blue. If samples were promised by a certain date, she made sure they reached on time. And when challenges arose, as they inevitably do in any business, she chose transparency over excuses.
Slowly, order by order, conversation by conversation, she earned something far more valuable than revenue. She earned credibility. Over the years, that consistency became Arbudaa’s greatest strength. While many businesses focused on scaling quickly, Naina focused on becoming dependable. She understood that customers may place their first order because of a product, but they return because of trust. And trust, once earned, travels far.
But trust does not make entrepreneurship easier!
Behind every shipment that reached a customer on time were countless moments of uncertainty that nobody ever saw. There were days when customers would suddenly stop responding after weeks of discussion. Days when vendors failed to deliver despite repeated follow-ups. Days when consignments got stuck in logistics bottlenecks and paperwork delays. Days when production timelines collapsed for reasons completely outside her control. And then there was the invisible weight every founder carries. The physical exhaustion of managing multiple responsibilities. The mental stress of solving problems that never seem to end. The self-doubt that creeps in when things don’t go according to plan. The moments when giving up feels far easier than pushing forward.
For Naina, entrepreneurship was never as glamorous as it looked from the outside.
It was messy. It was unpredictable. It was emotionally draining. Yet, every time something went wrong, she returned to the same question:
“How do I still deliver what I promised?”
That mindset became her superpower.
While circumstances were often beyond her control, her commitment wasn’t. And so, one client at a time, one order at a time, one challenge at a time, she kept showing up. The customers saw beautifully crafted products arriving at their doorstep. What they didn’t see was the founder behind the scenes, quietly fighting a dozen battles to make sure that promise was kept.
Few years into the business, Naina married into an affluent family and graciously embraced her role as a daughter-in-law. She made a conscious choice to become a mother early so that she can get back to her full-time business responsibilities sooner. But while the business grew, another battle continued quietly in the background. Like many women entrepreneurs in India, Naina found herself navigating a complicated reality. Professional success did not exempt her from traditional expectations. There were questions. Comments. Comparisons. Subtle reminders about what a woman should be doing. And even after building an international business, there were moments when household chores seemed to attract more attention than business milestones. Even after proving herself repeatedly, there were assumptions that her husband must be the real force behind her success.
Naina decided not to fight every battle. Instead, she found validation elsewhere. In the clients who trusted her, the customers who returned, and the business she had built through years of persistence. Because sometimes success is not about convincing everyone around you. Sometimes success is about refusing to stop believing in yourself. And Naina did exactly the same.
One of the most moving parts of Naina’s journey is her openness about the role of support systems. She said, “Entrepreneurship is often romanticised as a solo pursuit. In reality, very few people succeed entirely alone.”
Naina speaks with deep gratitude about her parents and her husband. Her husband, in particular, became a crucial pillar through the highs and lows of business ownership. From operational support to emotional encouragement, he stood beside her through difficult phases, helping her navigate challenges without asking her to give up her dreams. She describes him simply as a gem. It’s a small word for something profoundly important. Because behind many successful women is not necessarily a person leading the way, but someone willing to walk alongside them.
Like every entrepreneurial story, Arbudaa’s growth was not linear. Between 2021 and 2023, the business faced a significant revenue decline. For many founders, such periods become breaking points. However, Naina chose to adapt. Rather than relying exclusively on exports, she diversified the business by entering retail. She opened a physical outlet in Udaipur. The decision created a second revenue stream and helped stabilise the company during uncertain times. The lesson was simple but powerful: Survival often belongs to entrepreneurs who are willing to evolve.
Today, along with operations in Udaipur, Arbudaa also has a manufacturing unit in Jaipur that caters to the export business, as well as a retail outlet in Udaipur.
Another aspect of entrepreneurship is that the conversations often focus on strategy, funding, and growth. Rarely do they address emotional health. Naina does. She speaks candidly about stress eating, moments of overwhelm, and the emotional weight of carrying responsibility. She talks about crying. About pressure. About the exhaustion that comes from trying to manage production, sales, customer relationships, and business operations simultaneously. Yet she also speaks about transformation. The quiet girl who once lacked confidence gradually became a woman capable of leading teams, negotiating with international buyers, and building a global customer base. Success did not remove the challenges. It changed her relationship with them.
Ask different people how they define success, and you’ll receive different answers. For Naina, success isn’t measured only through revenue.
It is also measured through independence. The ability to make her own financial decisions. The confidence to reward herself without seeking approval.
The freedom to build a life aligned with her aspirations. And perhaps most importantly, the ability to support the people who supported her. One of her dreams is to build a permanent home for her mother, a woman who stood by her when others questioned her choices. That dream says a lot about the kind of entrepreneur Naina has become. For her, success isn’t merely personal. It’s generational.
Today, Naina envisions Arbudaa becoming a retail chain and is actively exploring opportunities to scale the business further. She describes herself as both tough and empathetic, a combination many successful founders eventually develop. Strong enough to withstand setbacks. Human enough to understand people. But beyond titles, revenue numbers, and growth plans, her journey represents something larger. It represents the countless women who continue building businesses while simultaneously navigating expectations that their male counterparts rarely face. Women who are asked to prove themselves twice. Women who carry ambition and responsibility in equal measure. Women who refuse to choose between being successful and being themselves.
Key Lessons From Naina’s Journey:
- Entrepreneurship Doesn’t Always Begin With Passion. Sometimes It Begins With Necessity.
- One Opportunity Can Change Everything
- Trust Is a Bigger Competitive Advantage Than Marketing
- Women Often Have to Build a Business and Defend Their Ambition Simultaneously
- The Right Life Partner Can Accelerate a Woman’s Dreams
- Adaptation Is Essential for Survival
- Mental and Physical Health Are Business Assets
- Financial Independence Is About More Than Money
- Learn the Business Before You Delegate It
- Success Is Not Just About What You Build. It’s About Who You Become.
As our conversation drew to a close, Naina reflected on a belief that has carried her through every stage of her entrepreneurial journey:
“Believe in your vision. Not because others can see it. But because you can.”
It is advice forged in the everyday realities of building something from scratch. Naina believes founders must learn the business from the ground up, stay close to the details, and build resilience before chasing scale. But above all, she wants women to hold on to their dreams, even when the path feels lonely and the validation is slow to arrive. Because if her story proves anything, it is this: You do not need the perfect degree, the perfect circumstances, or universal approval to succeed. Sometimes all you need is the courage to begin, the conviction to keep going, and the belief that your dreams deserve a chance. Naina started with an Instagram page and a need to earn more. Today, her handcrafted textiles travel across continents. But perhaps her greatest achievement isn’t the business she built. It’s the identity she refused to give up on while building it.
If you are inspired by Naina’s story, connect with her on Linkedin
Blog By: Nidhi Vadhera
Startup Strategist | Investor | Author (Romancing Targets)
Connect with Nidhi On LinkedIn