In conversation with Hello Mumbai News Reporter Ashmita Chhabria Mrs. Shalini while sharing her experience, said when her son was born she realized what problem a mother goes through when it comes to her child’s health. To get good and organic food is a major problem faced by all the mothers. Food is the foundation of health. She further states, “As base of the building needs to be strong enough to build a building, likewise, the food should be good enough to build good health of children.” If children are served chemicalized food it affects their health.
She added that she was stunned to find out that there weren’t too many healthy options that she could offer her child. “I was especially looking for millet-based food, which is actually a super-food.
Even pediatricians recommend that you include it in your baby’s diet. But far from finding baby food with healthy ingredients, most of what was available was full of preservatives,” she says.
This was the time when she questioned herself that what was she doing in her professional life? She was not happily working.
Now she was a mother of a new born and welcomed motherhood in her life. That’s when she got an idea of starting a business and relieving tension of organic food from other mother’s life too. This is how “Early Foods” started.
In the year 2015, at the start she only had an amount of Rs.1 Lakh. At her own house, she started this business. They maintained good quality and with time, business expanded.
Initially, they served only five products. While some consumers liked, some didn’t.
As per feedback they made the required changes. At the start it was a small company with few machineries and dues to be paid. The first three years tenure was tough. The business soon progressed; at the start they had only 100 orders per month and now they receive 1000 orders per day.
When she was quizzed how the lockdown had affected her business, she replied, “When lockdown started we faced a lot of cancellation of orders. In the first month of lockdown, sales had fallen down. We had only 20 % of sales. We faced a huge loss. This was the time when courier services weren’t active. Our services come under essential services category and hence lockdown didn’t affect much. At this time people are more careful towards their health.”
She gives credit of her success to her mother & husband. Their staffs are full of women and mothers too. Hence, they know what a child’s health means to a mother. Shalini’s mother is quite friendly with her staff and also manages the whole company. She is the one who looks after production process and maintenance of the good quality they serve.
Her advice to new start-ups is, “It is fine to start slow. Do not take too much pressure. You can balance work life as well as family life together. Taking one step in a day is fine. You should not get stressed with competition. Go slow.”
- News Report By Ashmita Chhabria
- Proofread By Anisha Nandan