Currently...

Marketing marketing marketing!

Online and offline marketing are the current focus. We undertake a lot of online marketing initiatives on Facebook, Google, etc. Offline, we showcase products at fashion shows, product showcases and support various charities.

On a daily basis this involves analysis of the online traffic data. We also get a chance to try out and test some creative and fun marketing ideas! 

There is a lot of networking involved since this is an industry that I have no experience or connection in, but it's great to meet so many interesting people!

Before I escaped...

I worked in M&A for 3 years, before which I worked in finance and consulting for a few years. The experience was interesting and I met some even more interesting people.

Eventually I decided that I needed a break from it all. 2010 seemed like one of the best years to take a risk and finally pursue an opportunity that I believe has a lot of potential.

My moment of truth...

I have always been curious to try out a business idea - I come from a family business background, so this was very natural to me.

There were a lot of situations when I had thought to myself, "this is it, I am going to quit and do something on my own". But for Strand of Silk, there were a series of things that led me to my decision:

• The opportunity kept looking more attractive each time I evaluated 
• It seemed like a need that the market had
• I had had enough of working 20 hour days for someone else
• Some of the people I worked with drove me completely insane with their attitude, approach and work ethic

A culmination of this led to the realisation that I wanted to quit and start Strand of Silk!

Planning for it...

The industry was completely different so from a practical perspective, it was a huge challenge to understand things in the industry and at the same time do the right things.

It took quite a lot of effort to educate myself about the industry - I took a practical view on this and just tried to meet more people in the industry. I messed up some meetings, but I learnt!

I really believe in the opportunity and decided to self-fund the company.

The worst and best bits...

A positive has been the high of being able to control my own destiny, in terms of the direction it takes, and the ability to have such a large influence in shaping the same.

There have been a lot of negatives as well; understanding an industry that I do not have a background in, and at the same time learning to manage a business, has been quite a learning curve!

Best advice...

The best advice I received was from a friend who said... "Why don't you go ahead and try to do what you believe in? What is the worst that can happen... you might not get your old job back, but I am sure you will manage to get a job".

I wish more time had been spent in building up a motivated team - the team has been the toughest things to build up. It is surprising what you find out about people based on the work they do!

Useful resources and information...

I do a lot of research online from various resources.

Speaking to people in the industry has really helped. Just reach out to people - some of them are quite helpful!