Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bijal Fotedar. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Bijal, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
As most business owners would know, we have to deal with a lot of disappointments, failures and unknowns especially during the early years. Having the capability to keep going requires intrinsic and extrinsic systems to work together. I primarily attribute my resilience to a strong belief that nothing that is worth doing is going to be easy but if I put my mind to it, I can achieve what I want. It might require more efforts than I had accounted for, and if I don’t do it right I will fail and that is okay. I have learnt to ask myself what can I learn from this failure? What is it that I can do better so I am not in the same situation again? That is not to say I don’t feel discouraged when I am met with a setback. But I have been fortunate to be around a few people who can listen to me, help me figure out solutions and help me get back on track. I am also grateful for my family for how they support me as I navigate the uncertainties and demands of my business.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I run a laser engraving studio that makes custom signs and decor for events and businesses. We work with event planners and business owners to create products that align with their vision. We invest time in designing our products and then create it as opposed to having a predefined catalog to create a truly custom made design/product. We cater to people who want something that was specially created for them and want to be involved in the design process. We also create custom assets ranging for high quality favors to table top decor that would add that special touch to events. We are on a quest to become a one shop stop for businesses to create outstanding custom goods for their events or marketing efforts.
What sets us apart is our consultative approach to creating customized solutions. Our client might have crystal clear idea of what they want or a vague concept that want to implement. We work intimately with them through our design phase to create digital mockups that make them feel confident about their custom build and enable them to visualize the final product. We act like an extension to our client’s team and support them in a holistic manner.
I personally love making signs and aim to create artwork that will serve a purpose. We strive to create designs that are unique, beautiful and functional.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three qualities I think that have helped me the most are –
Willingness to learn/change – I think this one is the most obvious one. But for me it was more so – I started engraving and laser cutting as a hobby. I taught myself how to laser engrave, starting with a simple hobby machine advancing to an industrial engraving machine, that worked very differently and was intimidating to operate. But that was only the starting of my learning journey. I had to teach myself how to run a business and I am still learning. I had to also learn a bit of accounting, CRM, taxes, marketing, strategies, pricing and everything that I would need to be able to sustain this business. Also learning to adapt to the market needs, willingness to accept the feedback you get and change course when required – whether you like it or not.
Saying No – This one is tricky. As a person who is aggressively trying to grow her business while also taking care of her family and kids, saying no meant different things at different times. Sometimes it meant missing social events. Sometimes it meant keeping an unfinished project for next morning and play with my kids. Sometimes it also meant understanding personal limitation and not take on more than what I can chew. Sometimes it meant identifying whether I wanted to continue working with a certain client or not in the future.
Delegating – This one makes all the difference – getting the right people onboard to do things that you might spend a lot of time on and not do as well as they can – freeing up your time and energy to focus on things you need to do. And sometimes, it can be delegating the things you like doing but are not going to be beneficial to you or your business. Understanding that my hobby has turned to business, and it has an entirely different purpose to serve helped me with that transition in mindset.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
As a custom goods maker, I struggle with being efficient and streamlining my processes especially given the wide range of products I provide. Because every request looks different, there are so many variables that I have to work with in the design and development process. The changes often include the design approach, the materials, the technology, tools, techniques and machines required to achieve the right results. This introduces delays and inefficiencies in my project lifecycle, often coupled with a lot of troubleshooting. As a business, having robust processes are important for its success and growth. Currently I am assessing and organizing my offerings to see how I can bring in operational efficiencies. My focus remains providing excellent service and products, not losing the creative aspect of my business while not burning myself out as my business grows.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.laserluxestudios.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/laserluxestudios
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089071520420
Image Credits
Headshot by Precious Love Photo
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