Start-up experience: Passion - Make us go forward!.
What do you think when you compare a dusty restaurant with messy paintings to a restaurant with shiny dishes and utensils, and the staff constantly scrubs the windows or the table legs? Is it just a lack of money to invest? Not true, because even with little money, you can still keep everything clean and tidy, right?.
The answer lies in the difference in the enthusiasm of the manager with the work he does. One side moves out every day just to make money, guests with grimaces will only laugh at best – that's all; On the other hand, they are important with the face they show to their customers, or in other words, their passion and self-esteem at work. It's not too hard to imagine the outcome that often happens: one side of the revenue dwindles and then dies completely without anyone knowing, while the other side keeps progressing slowly, even if sometimes as slow as a turtle.
It's one of the examples where people can make a difference from living their passions. However, passionate people are often rare because the path will never be easy and need people to live and die for it. Most of the time you will be 'tired of flowers' before you can stand and thrive while others are calm and safe. Imagine that there are times when pressure will surround you from all sides, from yourself in the moment you are alone, to family, friends… The eyes are fixed on you with worry, pity, resentment, even the pleasure of seeing others in trouble. Don't be too afraid to follow your heart, because you only live once! Ask yourself, those onlookers with a triumphant look in their eyes when they see you in trouble – what more do they have than you but cowardice? You may fail, but at least you have had invaluable experiences that no one else has. You dare to commit to your desires, and take responsibility for them. That's the important thing, the difference between dare to do and dare to do but want to do but dare not. And remember, don't give up easily, because giving up while still passionate is a failure in itself - and you - and no one else will fully feel the bitter taste. If you survive, you will be a happy and brilliant flower… (That's also why developed countries can go so far! To be honest, they are much luckier than starters in Vietnam, because I people are taught, encouraged to listen to their passions, they choose what they want and hold themselves accountable and often receive support, sharing, respect - even when they stumble).
When ekoko started with natural cosmetics, the concept of handmade cosmetics was very new to the market, just like when you told someone about organic vegetables 8-10 years ago. Strange, no idea to most people. It is difficult to tell all the hardships in bringing a new cosmetic line to market for a small company, from the paperwork to building trust with customers. It's not uncommon to see 'give up' in front of the solid 'wall' of some domestic customers who only believe in hand-carried goods or big cosmetic brands. But with a few tries, guests are completely amazed at the new experience and enthusiastically recommend it to loved ones. Little by little, the name ekoko became familiar in the world of natural cosmetics. In contrast to domestic customers, foreign customers are quite familiar with handmade cosmetics, especially soap. They are very happy that they can now buy these products in Vietnam and especially love ekoko's colorless soap bars, for many reasons: Very fragrant, long-lasting, not mushy, non-slip; different from home made soaps made from coconut oil that are very soft, mushy and shriveled away… Gradually, customers who had been loyal to big names for a long time started to become customers of ekoko ; or even middle aged aunts and uncles, or people with sensitive skin just seem to say no to cosmetics!
From the founders' own experiences when using natural products for the first time, ekoko has only one wish, that every person in their life has the opportunity to try - even once - to understand the wonder of nature. the magic that nature can bring to people in taking care of their body and beautifying themselves in a natural way – the simplest; to make daily bathing easy and enjoyable. And more importantly, bring safe cosmetics to everyone, to reduce the fate of suffering from diseases from toxic chemicals. This road is still very long, and difficulties always appear (which Ad often jokes is like an obstacle in racing games). ☺ ). Each time, take a deep breath, tell yourself GO FOR IT and continue to work hard for nearly 12 hours a day! Not giving up easily - Because that's our dream!
PS. What about you, do you have any wishes that you have not had the opportunity to fulfill, please share with ekoko?