How Catch Themes Grew from Nepal Meetup to Global E-commerce Hub

Introduction

In Kathmandu, a software engineer named Sakin Shrestha saw an opportunity. Back in 2007, few around him had heard of WordPress or imagined it could power large projects. By 2012, he had built Catch Themes, a marketplace that sells premium WordPress themes to customers around the world. He combined a focus on open source tools with hands-on events to spark interest and build an audience. This case study examines the strategies and steps he took to turn a simple idea into a sustainable e-commerce platform.

Background: From HR to WordPress

After earning an MBA abroad, Sakin returned to Nepal and took a role as an HR manager at a leading tech company. He grew frustrated with their custom site and spent nights rebuilding it on WordPress. Colleagues insisted it would fail. That challenge drove him to master the platform, and in 2007 he delivered a clean, efficient site that outperformed the old one. It was the spark that led him to focus on WordPress full time.

Building a Dedicated WordPress Studio

In 2010, Sakin left his corporate job to establish Catch Internet, offering design and development services solely on WordPress. He took on clients through WordPress VIP programs, which taught him rigorous coding and performance standards. In 2011, he launched the first local meetup in Kathmandu. The following year, alongside two partners, he organized WordCamp Nepal with 130 attendees. That event marked the start of a vibrant local scene and generated leads for his studio.

Adopting WooCommerce for Theme Sales

By 2012, Sakin added WooCommerce to catchthemes.com and began offering custom and ready-made themes. He chose WooCommerce for its intuitive interface, robust documentation, and active developer community. To secure predictable income, he integrated WooCommerce Subscriptions by Prospress for recurring theme club memberships. This innovation ensured steady cash flow and freed time for new feature development.

Community Impact

Beyond product sales, Sakin focused on building connections. He gave out custom t-shirts, Wapuu pins, and stickers at meetups. He led sessions at regional and international WordCamps, which grew from zero local events to gatherings with 300+ participants. The online community now hosts over 5,000 members, and at least 10 new WordPress businesses emerge in Nepal each year. These ventures often rely on themes and guidance from Catch Themes.

Challenges and Solutions

A major hurdle was locating the right plugin for advanced needs. To help customers, Sakin published a curated list of vetted extensions with practical notes. Another pain point was updating to major WooCommerce versions. He introduced a staging site workflow that runs automated tests before any live push. This cut downtime and kept churn under 5%.

Product Development and Iteration

Each theme is optimized for the block editor and mobile performance. After every core or plugin upgrade, the team runs a suite of compatibility checks. They also track server load metrics and have reduced resource consumption by 30% since rolling out performance updates in WooCommerce 3.1. Customer reports and error logs guide each patch release.

Key Results

Today, Catch Themes serves customers in over 50 countries and maintains six figures in yearly revenue. The site hosts four active theme collections with dozens of extensions. Conversion rates on theme demos average 7%, and subscription renewals hold at 65%. The recurring model accounts for 40% of monthly income, providing a stable runway for innovation.

Future Outlook

Sakin plans to explore lighter digital-only offerings and keep an eye on hosted WooCommerce on WordPress.com. He aims to roll out new subscription tiers and invite international developers into a marketplace for niche plugins. The goal is to lower the barrier for small teams who want to start selling online without handling infrastructure.

Lessons Learned

Sakin’s story shows the value of focusing on a single platform and growing a related community. Prioritizing simple, reliable tools allowed him to iterate quickly and avoid custom code pitfalls. Hosting meetups and sharing free resources created evangelists who spread the word organically. This model can work anywhere with low upfront costs and a clear plan.

Conclusion

Catch Themes demonstrates that small-market founders can gain global reach by combining open-source software with hands-on outreach. By turning meetups into sales channels and testing every update, Sakin built a robust e-commerce model that scales and adapts. Entrepreneurs worldwide can apply these tactics to launch products with confidence.