Mansi Bansal, Founder of Hastnirmit dishes about starting her own bookish goodies shop!

“Hastnirmit was the first word that randomly popped in my mind when I was setting up my Instagram page.”

We would love to know what was the inspiration behind Hastnirmit?

I enjoyed looking at various aesthetic Bookstagram pictures of readers on Instagram. I admired the Beautiful bookmarks that were used as a prop to enhance the picture. I began painting a lot of bookmarks inspired from various designs on Pinterest. It was a therapeutic and relaxing hobby.

Then I started my Instagram page and tried to click some good pictures and posted about them. As I created more, my painting and design techniques also improved.

We noticed that it started off as a bookmark shop and slowly introduced other products. What’s the story behind that?

Yes, initially it started off as a bookmark shop. But I knew I had the potential to do more. In order to expand and reach wider audiences, I introduced other products such as mugs, notebooks, framed artworks,phone-cases, coasters, and tote bags etc. These products garnered great appreciation from the community of avid readers. However, finding good vendors and raw materials for these products was a cumbersome task and involved myriad trials, errors, failures, and successes.

Why did you go with the name Hastnirmit?

Hastnirmit was the first word that randomly popped in my mind when I was setting up my Instagram page. Hastnirmit, meaning hand-made/hand-crafted is a unique name that accurately describes the type of products in my store. Not only the artwork is hand-painted, but the final product is also handcrafted by the local vendors. To explain this, the book sleeves that were introduced last year, were made in collaboration with a home-grown brand, where the artwork was hand-drawn and painted by me and bleeve was hand-stitched by the other party.

It is really funny when someone addresses me as Nirmit or Hastnirmit, thinking it to be my name.

What has been your favourite product that you’ve created by far?

My favourite product is undoubtedly the bookish Mug and coaster set. Also, I love to create custom Book-stack magnetic Bookmarks. This type of bookmark is unique for every reader.The readers their set of favourite books and I convert the list into a bookmark.

Has there been any product that did well even though you were in two minds about launching it?

Umm… not yet

How did you discover InstaMojo and how’s the response been so far?

Instamojo is a great platform that helps a small business to sell their goods and collect the payment online. It is completely hassle free. The best part is the security and protection it offers to a buyer in case of some unpleasant circumstances.

I discovered it through an Instagram Advertisement and it has definitely helped me in my journey.

If there was a dream author whose words you want to inscribe on a product — what’s the quote and what’s the product?

Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light. This quote by J.K Rowling gives me strength, optimism and hope for the future.

I would want to inscribe it on a mug with some illustration based on The Harry Potter series.

We absolutely adore the bookish coaster and mug set. What gave you the idea to launch that product?

The bookish mug and coaster set is one of my absolute favourites. The mug was designed first that has a cute girl reading a book , a bookshelf,a cup of tea(or coffee) and a cute dog(or cat in other variations).This is my idea of a perfect day(As I am sure, it is of other avid readers as well)and I tried to capture the essence of this idea in the design.

I first saw these wooden discs on Pinterest and then quickly ordered these discs from Amazon. Next I painted the coasters with a design to compliment the bookish mug.

This product is a great prop for the bookstagram pictures and also enhances the reading experience of a reader, who enjoys having a cup of tea/coffee while reading.

We know the Lockdown has affected small businesses a lot. How are you dealing with it?

Lockdown has definitely affected the sales. But I am trying to utilise this time to curate a lot of other products and also plan my future releases. I am trying to shape a lot of ideas that keep running in my mind all the time.

I am grateful to all the amazing people who have shown tremendous faith in Hastnirmit and have placed an order despite the current pandemic situation. So these orders have also kept me busy.

Finally, what does the future hold for Hastnirmit?

I plan to organize some fun coaster painting/ bookmark painting workshops/sessions where I can share my ideas and my drawing techniques with the readers.

A few products are already under production and I plan to introduce more. I just wish for continued support to keep creating more innovative products for the buyers.

If you would like to buy any of these awesome products, just head over to: https://www.instamojo.com/hastnirmit

You can also follow Mansi’s amazing IG page at: https://www.instagram.com/bookmarks_hastnirmit/