Every Single Day

Hello there,

We meet again and we will keep meeting so that we can know each other a little better 😀

Thank you everyone for such a fantastic response to the last newsletter. It means the world to me to read and respond to every one of you and address the good and bad feedback. I really appreciate it.

In the last week, I have spoken to 3 of our customers who reached out after reading the last newsletter. 

It’s 2024 and I hope this year started for you on a beautiful note. But if the first week wasn’t great, please don’t stress. We are only 7 days into the new year and there are still about 360 days to go. 

In 2018, around the same time (first/second week of January), my former boss and I were having a conversation about our respective goals for that year, and he said even if we grow 1% every single day, over the year, we will become 37 times better. If you read this statement word by word, you will realize how powerful it is. 37 times  = 3700% growth, that is insane!

All of the things mentioned above aren’t something new or something that hasn’t been said before. 

This brings me to what I want to share today - Everyone wants to grow in life and their respective careers and growing 1% every single day might sound simple though is very tough. 

In my perspective, growth is very strongly interlinked with how motivated you are to grow. And believe me, it is tough to be motivated all the time. 

So, the real question is if a person wants to grow in a certain timeframe, one has to figure out what will motivate him / her. What are the different ways of keeping oneself motivated?

I’ll be sharing a few things that I have been doing over the last 28 months of building Perfora and these activities have been a source of motivation. Some of these activities are a result of your work and some you have to constantly do.

Customer Love: One of the purest forms of motivation is when people who are customers of your brand find value in your brand products or someone who is inspired by your journey. On a bad day, scrolling through those messages or reflecting on those conversations acts as a big source of motivation for you to keep building and keep moving forward. Last year, one of the most cherished moments for me was when a kid walked upto me and expressed his love for our brand and products. Not many people know, but that night when I met this young boy, I cried because I felt motivated to do a lot more. You can read the story about this beautiful meeting here.

Peer to Peer: I’m a small-town guy who is a big-time introvert but one thing that I actively try to do is speak to different sets of people to learn from their journey and experiences. Apart from learning, one important reason is to take inspiration from these folks which also motivates me to do better. Over the last month or so, I have spoken to founders of brands like Rapidbox, Pilgrim, Cleevo, Kastoor, Alanna, Bummer, Necesera, NA, etc. etc., and believe me, when I get to learn about their journey and struggles, there is a flow of energy in my brain and I want to do a lot more. This also helps in a bit of problem-solving where I end up discussing what are the challenges we are facing at Perfora and how would they solve it. 

People who have made it: There are a few people who have been very successful in life and I feel it is important to get some understanding of what their journey was. This is important because these people have accomplished so much and sometimes, the possibility of a big outcome is also a big motivator. Unfortunately, most people don’t have access to these highly accomplished people and hence you tune into their interviews & podcasts. We dream that Perfora should be a household name and preferred oral care brand for millions of Indian consumers. If this happens, we are confident that we will be able to improve oral health of millions of consumers.

I’m listing down some of the conversations that have motivated me, if you would like to listen to these stories, please click on the link - 

Vita Coco: This is a very inspiring story of how Michael Kirban built the largest Coconut Water brand in the world while fighting a rival brand named Zico when both brands were launched around the same time. Check out the episode here.

Phool: Ankit has done some really groundbreaking work when it comes to reducing flower waste in India and created incense sticks (agarbatti) with used temple flowers. He talks about how he figured out this problem, early struggles and a lot more. One of my favorite stories, click here to listen.

Chobani: One of my life’s dreams is to meet this guy named Hamdi Ulukaya who is also the founder of a Greek Yogurt brand called Chobani. I first discovered about greek yogurt when Tushar started consuming a lot of it and I started searching for some brands. Hamdi’s journey, before starting Chobani gives me goosebumps, and needless to say, the way he has built Chobani is super inspiring. This is a 90 minutes episode but worth it. Click here.

Downtime: As I mentioned in the last newsletter, it is practically impossible for anyone to work more than 12-14 hours a day at a stretch. This implies that a few hours in a day you will spend either meeting someone or indulging in a hobby of yours. For someone like me, I prefer meeting my close friends so that I can unwind. Over the last few years, I have realized that at least some part of your friends group should have people who inspire and motivate you. I’m very fortunate that some of my closest friends are building brands like Conscious Chemist (Science-backed skincare), That Sassy Thing (Sexual wellness), What’s up wellness (Science-backed gummies), Felix (Bespoke furniture), Boldfit (Sports nutrition & accessories) and every time, I meet some of these friends, I come back super motivated. My conversations with them are around brand building, new products, operational challenges, growth, etc. If you haven’t tried the products of the above-mentioned brands, I would highly recommend you check them out. 

As I conclude this newsletter, I am feeling quite motivated because I wanted to share this with our community for some time now and I’m glad I have been able to do it.

I hope this letter also motivates you and you are able to grow 37x or more. 

Last but not least, if you haven’t tried our Purple Color Corrector Serum, I think you are missing out on experiencing a revolutionary product. This product works on the color corrector theory meaning when the purple color is applied on the yellow color, the yellow color starts fading. This is how you can reduce yellow teeth stains and make your teeth whiter. If you don’t believe me, please read this customer review. 

Love,
Jatan