You cannot create something truly significant unless you are happy while doing it. This mother-daughter duo knows how to balance family and work.
In a candid conversation with Life Beyond Numbers, this mother-daughter duo from Jodhpur shares how building something from the scratch makes their ordinary lives extraordinary and why is it necessary to keep happiness on your priority list.
The best thing you can offer your family is time. 55-year-old Madhu Singhvi says, “It is essential to balance family and work. I and my daughter loved the little DIY projects we did at home and whoever saw them absolutely loved it. It was so much fun to do something like this from the comfort of your home that we never wanted to let it go.”
This inspired both of them to turn their creative ideas into a full-time business with Baar Baar Dekho in January 2015.
While Madhu is a homemaker, her daughter Dipti Singhvi (29) is a self-taught illustrator, who worked as a Media Communications Specialist but left her job in 2014 to assist her entrepreneur mother.
“A woman is so much more than taking care of her children and cooking food for her family. We should encourage them to live for themselves and do things that they love. While we crib about not having enough time, I think moms know the art of managing time very well and they do a great job while balancing family and work,” says Dipti.
Bonding through work also enriches the mother-daughter relationship, feels Madhu. “In the beginning when we started working on products, both of us had zero knowledge about the materials needed to create them. We had to figure out everything from the scratch when we started working together,” says Madhu.
From cushion covers, blankets, curtains to photo frames and other décor pieces, their home is filled with fascinating pieces of stuff. Dipti says, “Nowadays people depend a lot on the internet when it comes to creating something beautiful. As a result, most of the time they end up making better versions of stuff that are created by someone else.”
Mirror, Mirror? For them, making the mirror is the most exhilarating of all. “While customizing wall mirrors we try to experiment with anything and everything to give them an elegant yet quirky look. We believe mirrors reflect people’s attitude towards life. The idea was to make mirrors that people would love to see, and we couldn’t get a better name than ‘Baar Baar Dekho’ for this,” she recalls.
Not just her younger daughter, but her husband and elder daughter also participate whole-heartedly when it comes to creating something new. “When we organize exhibitions, all of us work together and becomes all the more fun. When you are working with your family and have their support, nothing else matters. Our relatives also support us and are also a constant source of motivation,” says Madhu.
On asking Dipti if she second-guessed her choices, she says, “I had doubts in the beginning, but I am completely confident and happy about what I do now. It gives me immense pleasure to work with my family and spend time with them. This is something I can do every day, all the time for the rest of my life.”
Being an entrepreneur is never a cake walk. “Be it conceptualizing the idea, finishing the product, maintaining the quality or finding vendors- everything is time-consuming and demands patience. We hope for the best and prepare ourselves for the worst. With time we learn what is best for us and this is something that inspires us to move forward, always,” she says.
If you browse through their website, or on Instagram, you will come across endless options to choose from. From notebooks, badges, mugs, pop holders to cushion covers, you name it and they will deliver it at your doorstep!
“A lot of our products are inspired by our own journey and life. For instance, our floating frames have quotes that we wrote to motivate ourselves- they’re one of the bestsellers at the store,” concludes Dipti.
Unlike most entrepreneurs, they don’t calculate profit margins. All they want is reach out to more people with their beautiful products and spread happiness!