My personal journey of Dhanak so far.....

If I look back, the last few months ( May to August ) look like a jumbled up ball of yarn. A jumbled up ball of yarn that created something amazing, ‘Dhanak’. The first few months of starting an eco-entrepreneurship were super busy, challenging and very fun. 

Printing visiting cards, product photography, graphic designing, customer relationship, courier packing, product pricing, car driving, social media marketing, accounts, printing, raw material procuring and the list just goes on, I had not imagined I would have to do all these things. I just thought it was about making and selling but oh! It's much more.

What was great that even though I was alone, the sole proprietor, I had the support of my parents, family, and friends. The continuous feedback, advice, and help they gave me helped me learn and overcome all the challenges.

The biggest challenge I faced was myself. I held the high expectation of perfection from myself and of course couldn't fulfill it. I thought that I can't make any mistakes, I need to be able to do everything right, I need to make each and every customer happy, my products need to be perfect and I need to achieve a lot. These thoughts blocked me from facing the reality. 

The reality of mistakes, Some couriers arrived torn to the customer but only because of that I have now learned to parcel well. The reality that mistakes are the only path to success.

The reality that I am human and can do only so much, I have let go of some tasks from my todo list, maybe someone else can do it for me or maybe I can do it later. 

The reality that I need to accept and love my products and more importantly myself, Not every customer will like them, some will and some will not but can I take each feedback and embrace it rather than feeling inadequate about myself. 

The reality that every business has it good days and bad days, good sales and bad sales.

Slowly the ball of yarn has untangled and I am feeling like still water in a lake. Many things have got streamlined and I have got the basic hang of running Dhanak. This has given space for me to breathe. Dhanak now is flowing at the gentle pace of a river. At the moment I am not in a hurry to expand, to increase business but just go with the flow. I want to also bring balance in my own personal life, so along with Dhanak have started my side interest of Art. 

What has been so beautiful is that every day has been a learning, a blessing, and a journey and will continue to be. Dhanak is where what I am passionate about, what skills I have, the world needs and earning money comes to one common point. In japanese, it's called ‘Ikigai’.