Finding a Reliable Karigar for Your Small Business
At some point, a growing small business runs into its owner's hours. Orders are coming in, but every piece still passes through your own hands — cutting, stitching, embroidering, finishing — and there are only so many of those hours in a day. Bringing in a karigar or an outside maker is how many Pakistani brands grow past that limit. Done well, it multiplies what you can sell. Done badly, it produces late orders, uneven quality and an argument about money. This guide covers when you are ready, where to find skilled people, how to test them properly, what to agree in writing and how to keep quality steady once the work is no longer in your hands.
1. Are you ready to hand over production?
Outsourcing is not a sign of success on its own — it is a tool for a specific problem: demand you can prove, that your own time cannot meet. Hand it over too early and you pay for capacity you do not use. Too late and you lose orders and burn out.
A few honest signs that you are ready:
- You regularly have more orders than you can make on time.
- You have at least one product that sells steadily, not just occasionally.
- You know exactly what a finished piece should look like — well enough to explain it to someone else.
- Your price leaves room to pay a maker fairly and still make a profit.
- You would rather spend your time on design, quality and selling than on repetitive making.
🔑 The key point
Outsource the work you can describe precisely. Keep the parts that make your product special until you can teach them.
2. Do the maths before you look
Before speaking to anyone, work out what you can afford to pay per piece. Start from your selling price, subtract materials, packaging, delivery you absorb, commission and your own profit — what is left is the maximum a maker can cost you. If that number is lower than a fair rate for skilled work, the product needs repricing before it can be outsourced.
It also helps to know your own time. If a piece takes you three hours, a karigar will usually be faster at the parts they specialise in, but not magically so. How to Price Your Handmade Products shows how to put a fair value on labour, whoever does it.
3. Where to find skilled karigars and makers
The best makers are rarely advertised. Most good karigars are found through people who have already worked with them.
Start close to your materials. The shops where you buy fabric, beads or thread deal with makers every day and often know who is skilled, reliable and looking for work. Tailoring and embroidery workshops in your city may take outside orders when they have spare capacity. Other small sellers in a different category — who do not compete with you — can be generous with recommendations.
Family and neighbourhood networks matter too: many skilled artisans, including women working from home, take on piece-work through word of mouth. Community groups and local social media groups for your city are another route, as are craft-focused NGOs and training programmes in some areas, which can connect you with trained artisans.
- Ask your material suppliers who they recommend.
- Visit workshops that already do the type of work you need.
- Ask non-competing sellers who make for them.
- Use family, neighbourhood and community networks.
- Look for home-based artisans who take piece-work.
- Check local craft groups and artisan programmes where they exist.
💡 Worth knowing
Ask to see real finished pieces a maker has produced for someone else, not only photos. Turn them inside out — the reverse of embroidery or stitching shows the real skill.
4. Write a clear specification
Most problems with makers start with instructions that seemed obvious to you and were not obvious to them. A short written specification removes the guesswork, and it becomes the standard you both check against.
It does not need to be complicated. A page with photos and measurements is enough for most products.
| Include | Example |
|---|---|
| Reference sample | A finished piece or clear photos from front, back and inside |
| Measurements | Every size with exact dimensions and allowed tolerance |
| Materials | Which fabric, thread, beads or fittings — and who supplies them |
| Finishing | Seam type, hem width, edge finishing, how loose threads are handled |
| Quantity and deadline | How many pieces, by what date |
| What counts as a fault | Uneven stitching, wrong colour, measurements outside tolerance |
5. Always start with a paid trial
Never begin with a full order. Give a new maker a small, paid trial — a few pieces made to your specification, with your materials if possible. Pay for it fairly, even if the result is not usable. A trial is how you learn, and paying for it shows you are serious and respectful.
Judge the trial on three things: the quality against your sample, whether the pieces came back on the date promised, and how easy the maker was to communicate with. A slightly slower maker who communicates well is often a better long-term partner than a fast one who disappears when there is a problem.
Quality
Matches your sample
Check inside and outside
Timing
Delivered when promised
The most telling test
Communication
Tells you about problems early
Worth more than speed
6. Agree pay fairly and clearly
Unclear payment is the most common reason relationships with makers break down. Agree the rate before work starts and write it down.
Piece rates — a fixed amount per finished item — are common and easy to understand, and they reward efficiency. Make sure the rate accounts for complexity: a heavily embroidered piece should not be paid like a plain one. For longer or ongoing work, agree how often you will pay, and keep to it without being chased.
Pay fairly. Skilled craft work is valuable, and a maker who feels underpaid will eventually prioritise better-paying customers — usually during your busiest season. Paying on time and at a fair rate is the cheapest way to keep a good karigar.
⚠️ Careful here
If you give materials or an advance, record exactly what was handed over — quantities, colours and amounts — and ask the maker to confirm by message. It protects both of you.
7. Put the arrangement in writing
A simple written agreement — even a confirmed WhatsApp message for small orders — prevents most disputes. For ongoing work, a short document signed by both of you is better.
Keep it in plain language that both of you understand. Its purpose is not to catch anyone out; it is to make sure you agree on the same thing.
- What will be made, referencing your specification and sample.
- Quantity, deadline and where pieces will be delivered.
- The rate, when payment happens and any advance.
- Who supplies materials, and what happens to leftover material.
- How faulty pieces are handled — reworked, replaced or deducted.
- That your designs are not to be copied or sold to others.
8. Keep quality consistent once it is out of your hands
Quality slips gradually, not suddenly. The first batch from a new maker is often their most careful; the tenth can drift if nobody is checking.
Check every piece when it comes back, before it reaches a buyer — against your sample, in daylight, including the inside. Give feedback immediately and specifically, with photos, and point out what was done well as well as what needs fixing. Keep your approved reference sample safe and physical, so there is never an argument about what "right" looks like.
Your buyer never meets your karigar. Every piece they receive is still your name.
9. Protect your designs and your relationships
Sharing a design with an outside maker always carries some risk of it being copied. Reduce it sensibly: work with people who come recommended, agree clearly that your designs are for you only, and consider splitting stages — for example, having embroidery done in one place and final stitching in another — for your most distinctive products.
The strongest protection, though, is a good relationship. A maker who is paid fairly, respected and given steady work has every reason to keep your designs to themselves and to keep working with you.
10. Build a small, dependable production network
Once a maker proves reliable, give them steady, predictable work — it is the best way to secure their time before busy seasons. Share your plans for Eid and wedding season well in advance so they can keep capacity for you.
Just as with suppliers, avoid depending on one person. Train and trial a second maker for your most important products, so an illness, a family event or a busy season does not stop your shop. The free Business Planning & Scaling guide covers building the systems — and the written routines — that make handing over work possible.
📌 Before any big order
Confirm materials are ready, the deadline allows for a quality check and rework, and your maker has actually confirmed the capacity — not just said "ho jayega".
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Frequently asked
How do I find a good karigar in Pakistan?
Most good karigars are found through recommendations. Ask the shops where you buy materials, visit workshops that already do similar work, ask non-competing sellers, and use family, neighbourhood and community networks. Always look at real finished pieces, inside and out.
Should I pay a karigar per piece or per day?
Piece rates are common and easy to understand, and they reward efficiency. Make sure the rate reflects the complexity of each design, agree it before work starts, write it down and pay on the agreed schedule.
How do I test a new maker?
Give a small paid trial of a few pieces made to your written specification. Judge the result on quality against your sample, whether it arrived on the promised date, and how well the maker communicated — especially about problems.
What should an agreement with a karigar include?
What will be made and to which specification, quantity, deadline, rate and payment timing, who supplies materials and what happens to leftovers, how faulty pieces are handled, and that your designs are not to be copied or sold to others.
How do I stop a maker copying my designs?
Work with recommended people, agree clearly that designs are for you only, consider splitting production stages for your most distinctive products, and build a fair, steady relationship — makers who are well treated have every reason to protect your work.
When is the right time to outsource production?
When you regularly have more proven orders than you can make on time, your price leaves room to pay a maker fairly, and you can describe the product precisely enough for someone else to make it consistently.