Ramya Nagendra
The story of Ramya Nagendra has moved from local markets to state-wide attention as her imitation jewelry brand reports steady growth, three physical outlets, and daily online sales that now reach into the hundreds. The founder and chief executive of Ramyanagendra Imitations Private Limited began her venture with a ₹500 budget in 2019. By early 2026, the company says it has crossed an annual turnover of about ₹5 crore, built a catalog of more than 1,600 designs, and created close to 100 jobs, most of them for women in Tier-2 towns of Telangana.
From Tailoring to Trade
Ramya Nagendra was born in 1994 in Jagtial. Her first work experience came through tailoring at home, a skill she learned from her mother at a young age. As a child, she learned how to cut and stitch garments and later ran a small home-based tailoring setup. The work built a steady local client base and also taught her how to manage time between family duties and paid work. Over time, long hours led to health issues, including severe back pain, which made daily tailoring hard to continue.
That health setback forced a change in direction. With a newborn at home, Ramya began to look for a business that would reduce physical strain but still allow her to earn from home. Jewelry became that option, though the move came with risk and little capital to spare.
A ₹500 Start and Early Risks
In 2019, she set aside ₹500 from savings and bought a small batch of imitation jewelry. The early days were basic. She and her husband, Nagendra, traveled long distances on a two-wheeler to source stock. Cash flow stayed tight, and each purchase had to be planned with care. There was also doubt from people around her, since jewelry retail was new territory for the family.
What kept the venture alive was a mix of low overheads and direct sales to customers through social media. The business did not have a shop at that point. Orders were packed at home and shipped as and when possible.
A Bet on Live Video Sales
Towards the end of 2019, Ramya tried live sales on YouTube in Telugu. The format was simple. She would show each item on camera, explain the price, and take orders during the session. At that time, this approach was rare in regional markets. When the COVID-19 lockdown began in 2020, the format found a much larger audience.
Within a month during the lockdown phase, the channel added tens of thousands of subscribers. The company says it received around 3,000 orders in the first few weeks of this surge. Logistics were slow across the country, and many small sellers struggled to ship goods. Ramya’s team chose to clear all pending orders, even when transport delays stretched delivery times. That decision helped the brand hold on to customers during a period when trust in online sellers was low.
Growth Brings New Problems
The jump in demand also brought new risks. At one point, the company faced a loss of about ₹6 lakh due to inventory that did not sell. For a bootstrapped business, that was a major blow. The response was to tighten buying decisions, focus on designs with steady demand, and avoid stocking items without a clear market. Inventory planning and cash tracking became more formal after that episode.
This phase marked a shift from trial-and-error to process-driven growth. The catalog began to focus more on black beads, or nallapusalu, a category with strong demand in the Telugu states.
Building a Niche in Black Beads
Black bead jewelry holds cultural value in the region, and the brand chose to build depth in that segment. Over time, it added hundreds of variations in design and finish. This focus helped the company build a clear identity and repeat buyers. It also introduced a pricing band near ₹399 to make purchases easy for first-time customers. The idea was to keep entry prices low while offering higher-priced options for buyers who wanted more detailed work.
The approach worked in both online and offline sales. Today, the company sells through its own website, social media channels, and Indiamart, where it maintains a high customer rating.
From Proprietor to Private Limited
As volumes grew, the business moved toward a formal structure. In February 2025, it was incorporated as Ramyanagendra Imitations Private Limited. The shift allowed the company to put clearer systems in place for accounting, staffing, and supply chain work. It also matched the scale of operations, which now include three physical outlets in Jagtial, Mancherial, and Hyderabad’s Saroornagar area.
Along with stores, the company runs sales expos in several cities, including Karimnagar, Hanamkonda, and Nizamabad. These events target customers who prefer to see and try products before buying.
Jobs and a Women-Led Team
One of the notable parts of the company’s growth is its workforce. The firm says it employs close to 100 people, all women, across stores, packing units, and support roles. For towns like Jagtial, this provides steady work options that did not exist at this scale before. Many roles focus on quality checks, order packing, and customer support, which are key to handling up to 500 orders a day during peak periods.
A Family-Run Operation
The company is co-founded by Ramya and her husband, Nagendra. Their roles are split between front-end and back-end work. Ramya leads marketing and customer-facing efforts, including live sales. Nagendra handles logistics, sourcing, and operations. This division has helped the business keep costs under control while scaling up.
Digital Reach and Customer Trust
The brand’s online following has grown with its sales. It reports more than 355,000 followers on Instagram and over 100,000 subscribers on YouTube. Live sessions remain a key sales tool. Customers watch items being shown in real time and place orders during the broadcast. The format has helped build a sense of transparency, since buyers can see the product before paying.
Looking Ahead
The company plans to add more outlets and expand its expo network across Telangana. It also aims to widen its product range and work more with traditional artisans for new designs. On the digital side, the focus remains on improving the link between live sales, online orders, and store pickups.
For Telangana’s small business scene, Ramya Nagendra’s journey shows how a low-capital start, regional language content, and steady customer focus can turn a home venture into a mid-sized retail operation. From a ₹500 start to a ₹5 crore turnover, the business now stands as one of the more watched examples of digital-first retail growth in the state.
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