From $10,000AUD in savings to a $1.4M-a-year garment exporter

Who built it, and what they built

Arpit Aryan Gupta runs NG Apparels, a garment export unit operating out of Ludhiana that serves clothing segments worldwide. The business began with complex fabric accessories and premium streetwear, and today it makes any product built on woven or knitted fabric.

Buyers are spread across many countries, including the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Brazil, the Netherlands and Germany. The company reports a turnover of 12cr($1,581,547) achieved without any loan or CC limit.

Where the idea came from

Arpit grew up in Ludhiana, attended a Convent school, then studied Business and IT at the University of Technology, Sydney, with a scholarship-funded exchange stint at Loughborough University in the UK in 2010. He had taught himself to build websites at 15.

The 2008 crash hit his father's US-facing fabric trading business hard and forced it to close, leaving the family unable to cover international tuition. Arpit worked part-time in Australia and put aside roughly $10,000AUD.

Back in India, he first tried the IT industry, but found Ludhiana short on the talent and support that work needed. He then noticed the city's strong clothing manufacturing ecosystem and decided to set up a garment unit instead.

Against his father's wishes, he spent his savings on an initial batch of single-needle stitching machines bought from a Juki dealer. With no industry experience, he landed a first order for customised accessories and t-shirts, and says finishing it taught him the trade.