It’s been a year since I started Sarva Vedam.
I admit, I haven’t given the business as much time as I should have, however, after year of testing and customer feedback I am more committed than every to the venture.
I have learnt a lot since I first started, the most important lesson was that doing business is not easy! One will never start if one keeps working on perfecting things. I have had a lot of feedback from the people to whom I gave samples, I changed my packaging a few times, and I know there are a lot of things I need to work on but I have a product in hand which people want to buy. The hair wash hasn’t been popular, mostly because it makes the hair dry. However, for people like me, who have scalp psoriasis or other issues with their scalp, it remains a regular use product. The hair oil has had great reviews, and almost all sales have been for the oil.
Therefore, I have decided to focus more on the hair oil at the moment. As sales increase, and as more resources are available, I will start working to improve the hair wash as well. As the first blog post of Sarva Vedam I would also like to take this opportunity to lay out my plans for the business as of August 4, 2020.
Like I have mentioned on the website, Sarva Vedam is a social business. I have decided to dedicate 40% of my profits for research and development of traditional remedies and for the development of communities with whom I’ll be working. At the moment, there’s only one person employed in the business, which is me. I have often used “we” on the website, because even though I’m the only one running the business, I can’t discount the help I received from my father who made the initial investment in the business, drove around with me as I looked for supplies and raw material, and supported me through this. I also have the support of my family, who help me from time to time. And, because my sales are so low, I can’t really afford to spend any money on social activities. I hope to have enough to start such activities in a year.
Because of the social nature of this business, I have decided to make all the finances of this business public. So far, I have been a bad businessman, and have not kept a good track of my expenses. But from now on, since I have decided to make the finances public, I have an added responsibility. There’s a long way to go here, and today marks the beginning of that long journey.
I appreciate the support received from every single person during the past year. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.