Shivangini Parihar, co-founder, The Summer House, sustainable luxury brand selling clothing and houseware

As the story goes

I was on my way to Bhuj to experiment with new block print designs and while on the train I was reading up about hand-woven denim. In the block printer’s courtyard, I met Shani Himanshu of 11.11 designs (a clothing and accessory design label co-founded by Himanshu and Smita Singh Rathore). We were discussing hand-woven fabrics and he told me about a great set up in Saurashtra that had young girls from low economic households weaving, guess what, hand-woven denim. I think that was a great stroke of luck. We still continue to source hand-woven denim from there.

How you see it

When people say, I got lucky, I always agree. A lot of people have ideas, they are all willing to work hard too, but it falls into place for just a few. So I do believe that a little luck is important along with all the sweat, blood and tears that go into being an entrepreneur.

Favourite quote on luck

Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck. – Dalai Lama, XIV

In a measure

The equation of 99 per cent hard work and 1 per cent luck is true. I believe consumer insight, focusing on the product rather than profit and of course, enjoying the journey as much as the destination, is critical to achieving success.

What’s your Plan L?

You can only plan to put in the hard yards.