People always tend to think that an entrepreneur’s or businessman’s life is filled with happiness and leisure. That’s not true at all. I knew the risks and hardship lay ahead of me on my entrepreneurial journey. Still, my heart wanted to achieve something more in life. My goal was to build something that I could call my creation. So, I left my previous job as a diagnostician and started a footwear company.

While my plan was risky from the start, I made some allies in arms. My business partners gave me the courage and confidence to move forward. So, without taking any loan or debt, Diamond Footwear was born. We opened a manufacturing factory and began production with shoes and sandals. At first, we knew we would be in a burnout period due to customer acquisition and high cost. That’s why we were not worried about not making a profit. Slowly our business took off, and we were making good sales. However, the pandemic got in our way.

We all know how the pandemic affected all the businesses in our country. For a while, everything was under complete restrictions. We managed to run our factory for a while but soon had to shut down. Then came the second wave, and again, we were unable to achieve the targets for the quarter. Still, we made a few sales here and there and managed to earn enough to survive. The government helped us a little by subsidizing our manufacturing, but it was not enough.

We were already devastated by the outcome of our business. There was no other way than asking for a loan from the banks. A famous bank in our country decided to help us, but at the last moment, they refused to sanction our loan for some undisclosed reasons. We did not know what else we could do in that situation. Exiting the business without being profitable was not an option either. Despite those circumstances, we risked our savings to keep the business alive. We managed to pull through the most ruthless period of Covid-19.

Now we are looking for ways to recover from the deadly impacts of the pandemic. That’s how we were introduced to LightCastle Partners and B-SkillFUL. Their initiative to educate the SMEs to recover from the effects of Covid-19 through various workshops and programs will definitely help our business as well. We are barely making enough to live, but hopefully, the Almighty will bless us with prosperity and success.