A “spill my heart out” post after a very long time.
My state of mind or life pattern can be easily predicted from my blogging pattern. When things get too busy, when there is physical or mental stress, when situations are out of hand, blogging takes a back seat. No creative ideas come. I really admire the bloggers who manage to strike a balance between blogging and life, no matter whats going on around them. I sure have to few things to learn from them.
The store completed a 100 days during the last week of March. I think in these three months I have seen so much action on every front that I am longing for a holiday already.
Here is a post on the pre launch circus. The puja was organized on 14th December and the place was officially open for public on the 18th. Friends and family poured in everyday to congratulate and show their support. Within a few days the initial frenzy died down and things slowed down a bit, that’s when I started the decorathon and it went well for a few weeks.
Finding employees: I was very clear from the beginning that people employed at IK are not going to mainstream job seekers. I was introduced to RAPID (Rehabilitative Assistance for People In Distress) by a friend and I started interacting with them on a regular basis. (Ik’s association with RAPID is going to much more than just finding employees.) The women supported by RAPID are those who do not have anyone to turn to and they seek financial security. I needed an office assistant/store manager who could be trained to take care of the day to day activities of the store.
What I did not anticipate was that, when you are willing to help someone, it is equally important for that the person you are helping, willing to take your help. My first trainee was a young girl, just out of her teens. She was the eldest of the family and needed a job desperately to support her 4 member family. While briefing her about he duties, I mentioned that she will have to clean the store in case the housekeeping lady does not turn up. My philosophy “If I can do it, so can you”. She found it below her dignity and refused. I was left wondering, “whats wrong with these people, she is willing to let her family starve and rot in poverty but does not want to wash the bathroom once in a month?”
Moving on, the real trouble hit in the second and third month when there were a series of problems with the old place. The power, water, plumbing, pretty much everything needed attention. The wiring needed to be re done, the old electric meter replaced with the new one, the leakages fixes, the water tanks drained and cleaned, the motor repaired, the list went on and on… No one warned me these things would happen, how do you expect me to keep my cool. There were days when I felt suicidal :p serious!!!
The good part was, we did all our firsts
We got a birthday return gifts order, a wedding return gifts order, a room makeover order and a lot more. We conducted our first event, an 8 day exhibit of painted pottery.
Day in and day out we get to meet crafters, decorators, craft lovers or just some lovely people at the IK store. All the trouble and hard work seems like it was worth it when we see the smiles on the people shopping at IK.
We have received emails, phone calls and personal messages asking us to restart the Decorathon, and we are going to do just that. Its going to rain Ideas soon
A big “Thank You” and a “Tight Hug” to everyone who were a part of this journey with us. I am not saying that its easy, but with all of you, its definitely “Worth it”
Much Love
Preethi Prabhu