It was December 2011 and I was on a trip to a South Indian city. While on a stroll, I just picked up a few strands of beads out of fancy from a stall. A friend of mine who is a designer offered to design necklaces for me. Having  sketched many intricate designs which I had kept under wraps, I decided to try my hands at beading. The web, my friends and my intuition   helped me to take baby steps into the world of designing and creating my own designs in the physical world. I also learnt a few lessons during my journey.

I had started this as a hobby.  Social networking sites were helpful in spreading the word around and there started a demand for my designs. I remember just traveling 500 Kilometers every month to get my supply of beading materials . Beading energized me .  I got totally involved into a world of creating some unique stuff. I got appreciation and I also learnt how virtual world can do wonders for one.

My work is a single woman enterprise and all works  A-Z is taken care of by me alone. Spending time in the world of colors is rejuvenating and the  hobby of mine has started yielding returns. I operate from home and it is entirely an online business..

I have been stressing to students during my training period as “Nothing is impossible if one is focused , and willing to walk that extra mile and is committed”. I  just put that into practice.

My customers are more like my friends. Though I  haven’t met  many ,I feel the pulse of the customer and they are happy with what they receive.

 I have learnt lot of business related techniques. I took months studying a lot before I spread my wings across the border and I went international.

I also came across some not so good experiences . When there was a spurt in online business  in India, more players started coming into business they turned to me for guidance and I happily complied.  But they felt I am withholding some secrets which I am not willing to share and they expressed their unpleasantness. There is no short cuts to success and many fail to understand. .

Plagiarism was another malady I had to face. Designs which were painstakingly  created were stolen and lifted by a few to display on their pages.  This was the price I was paying for going solely online as there were no other avenues in front of me. It was a tough period to deal with people with no ethics. I never paid to boost my fan following. I  feel have I have a decent fan following and I am satisfied and happy with what I am doing . I think that is what one looks at the end of the day. Not exactly  seeing how much the cash counters tick  though that is also important.

I am going to apportion some of my time for training students which had taken a back seat. I think that would be  something good I will doing for the younger generation.

I am also going to devote some time to write my thoughts so that I remain connected with my blogging world and friends.

Last few months were hectic but there is really a pleasure in writing blogs. Hoping to see you all soon I shall starting my blog hopping soon :))

Some of my collections are here.http://www.indianroots.in/brands/a-d/chitra-manohar

Facebook page-https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chitras-Jewel-Art/173975342647201

See you!!

Chitra