“Kehte hain agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho … to poori kainath use tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai” #GoodLuck

So I got a Facebook notification from Asha on 2^nd Feb. She had tagged me in a post encouraging me to share my Bloody Good Luck story.

I was on the 7^th day of my Start up career and Luck, well it only sounded like a term I knew long long ago. With no clients in hand and unsure about how the future is going to be, I was pretty much in a ‘Ignore Asha’ mode.

Day 7 and some of those rose-tinted aspirations were already being put to test.

Whatever few leads we were getting, we were not able to convert them. In one instance, it went as far as a face to face meeting with the client, taking his brief, and he agreeing to the quote we provided. But when we sent him the invoice for advance payment, he was ‘traveling’. And till date, he is still traveling.

Neither of us (my husband, who is my co-founder and I) had ever been into the business development or sales side of things so this was something we were unaccustomed too. It was frustrating when after all that enthusiasm we had shown, nothing was working out.

Parents always love their kids, irrespective of how old or young you are. So both my parents and my in-laws were in their counselling best. ‘Give it some time.’ ‘You have just started, it’s ok.’ ‘Don’t be so impatient. Success will come.’ ‘We are there for you.’

But I needed actual proof. Not for anybody but for myself.          

To further add fuel to the fire, Asha sent me a reminder message on Facebook.

What good luck story am I supposed to share when I have an empty bank account staring at me! I felt like blocking Asha 😛

But NO, this was not how it was supposed to be.

So in a typical bloody good luck way, or rather in a Shah Rukh Khan way (Aside: I am a BIG fan of his), something happened:

“itni shiddat se maine tumhe paane ki koshish ki hai ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milane ki shajish ki hai”

I got two new leads from the least expected sources. I approached them little hoping that they would convert. And guess what, both of them are not only my clients today but are my first two retainer accounts.

As to the source of these leads….well, the first one is a Rodinhooder herself who approached me after reading my article on starting up. The second one approached me through LinkedIn, after reading the same article which I had republished there.

For almost 5 years now I have been an advocator of powerful storytelling, today I have an actual proof of it!

Thank you Alok for creating this amazing platform where small fishes like me find a voice and can tell their stories and thank you Asha for being this amazing virtual world friend who encouraged me to find my good luck story, soon enough!

But this, my friend is just the beginning. Hope to share more interesting stories in the days to come…kyunki picture abhi baaki hai mere dost 🙂

You can find me on twitter @Shilpi1412

P.S: Our startup, Lemonade in Summer, is a Design, Content & Communications Agency based out of Bangalore. We are looking for work. So in case you have any design or communication needs, please mail me at shilpichoudhury@outlook.com

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You can also WIN Ashwin Sanghi’s book ’13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck’
by posting your #goodluck story on trhs!

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 And I got my autographed “13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck” Yeppieeeeeeeee!!