The social network

The portal deals with designer tees that claim to be made of 100 per cent organic cotton. The company started in 2009 with the idea that if designed,priced and marketed smartly,environment-friendly products will find acceptance. “We knew that school and college students would support the idea of organic products at low prices. So instead of beating the drum about being environmentally conscious and hiking the prices,we decided to start this,of course at the risk of lower margins,” explains Dixit.

Apart from the environmentally-conscious business model that SheepStop has built,its commitment to a social cause is remarkable. In the year SheepStop was conceived,the Joy of Giving Week (JGW) philanthropic movement too began. So it naturally lead to a strong association that has continued in the past three years. “The business began because we wanted to give back to society and environment in a more full-fledged way instead of once in a while,” says Dixit.

When the participation with JGW was being initiated,the SheepStop team realised that a large number of NGOs are struggling to raise funds and awareness. So they thought of offering freebies like one tee free on the purchase of two,the resulting money being then donated. During this year’s JGW,they put out an offer where for every tee bought,Rs 50 would be donated to Deep Griha,an NGO that works with children of low means. The small efforts caught the attention of corporates,so much so that they offered to collect new tees on their own. “People want to see that the funds or clothes collected reach the NGO. So we have corporate representatives at events – they get to see the repackaging of the clothes and also the smiles on the faces of the children when they get them,” says Dixit.