Eshita Kabra-Davies, founder and CEO of By Rotation

Kabra-Davies founded the social fashion rental app By Rotation around six months before the first Covid-19 lockdown. “Terrible timing,” she says, “because who is renting clothes when we’re all at home?” She founded the business as a side hustle initially, and for the first six months, she was still working full-time at a hedge fund and using her salary to fund By Rotation.

Kabra-Davies used her salary to pay a freelance senior developer and a marketing intern and, like Harris, she was also bootstrapping her business with her full-time job. However, she made the decision to leave after six months when she hit certain qualitative and quantitative milestones. When it came to quantitative measurements, Kabra-Davies looked at transactions that were happening outside of her circle of family and friends. Qualitatively, she analysed the impact of press and marketing on the business. “People during lockdown started to realise the need for sustainability and realised that we all have too much clothing.”

But she didn’t want to quit her job. “I wanted to keep doing my hedge fund work for as long as I could. Because of the stable salary, but also so I could continue going to industry events and trying to meet people. I was very much an outsider in the space.” Eventually, Kabra-Davies realised that if she really believed in her idea, she needed to go all-in.

In the beginning, By Rotation had a lot of industry professionals tell them that an app wouldn’t work and they’d be better off building a website, but Kabra-Davies wanted the business to be app-first. “Because that’s how you get a community fully engaged. And now you see all the retailers finding ways for a customer to download their app, so it’s worked.”

Top tip: you don’t need a business plan, just a mission statement

“I never wrote a business plan. By Rotation was part of my itinerary for my honeymoon spreadsheet! And I still haven’t written a plan. I’ve got themes that we’re hitting on for the next couple of years. But too many external factors (like a global pandemic) can completely change your business plan, so I’ve never really done one. Having a plan can stop a lot of people from going for it and setting up their business.

I’ve found that after a few years of running the business and having a team, it’s been incredibly helpful to formalise a mission statement and the company’s vision. Because now, everything we do is about that vision – transforming consumption for good – and any new projects or partnerships have to be in line with our values and vision for the future.”

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