MADE AT HOME

Nidhi Kapur was frustrated that she couldn’t find good custom-made american furniture. formerly the head of business development at online beauty brand birchbox, Kapur, now 31, raised $500,000 and in 2017 launched Maiden Home, an e-commerce platform that designs original furniture, supporting hundreds of craftsmen in north Carolina. revenue last year was north of $2 million.

What were the early days like?

i pitched to two dozen furniture companies in four days; we partnered with three. We’re working with family-owned manufacturers who never did e-commerce, so we had to be sure they could meet demand. Word of mouth from decorators initially generated half our business. We’ve just started paying for social-media ads and influencers.

What’s hardest about working with small manufacturers?

When demand accelerated 20% month over month, it stressed our supply chain. everything is cut to order, so if one number is off, it can take a week to remake. our software developers had to build a better system. one partner has since doubled the size of its facility; another expects to double its workforce in 2019.

Has choosing U.S. partners stunted Maiden Home’s growth?

We could have plugged into factories in China and scaled instantly, but we chose domestic artisans. We made that tradeoff because selling high-end heirloom pieces is more important.