Life is what happens when you are busy planning for other things.
10 Leaves was not a planned exercise. There was an opportunity to create something worthwhile, and I took the plunge. I don’t even remember very well, on how the name 10 Leaves came out. I think the first name that we settled on was Das Leaves – Das being “the” in German. Don’t ask why. As I said, this was not planned.
Das Leaves had a domain, and a couple of proposals also went out in its name. But it was not meant to be. A few brainstorming sessions later, we arrived at the name 10 Leaves. Why 10 Leaves, why not 8? A question best left to answer you in person!
We have come a long way since then. What started as a one-man company, now has staff working across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and 3 cities in India. No, we are not a 100-person company, far from it, but we sure work like one.
When COVID hit in 2020, we didn’t really know what was in store for us. Working from home – was that even possible? Would clients accept proposals from people who they had not met in person? Would we be able to maintain the momentum?
Short answer. We did. And we grew the business. Not a little, but over 4x. And we did all this from home. And we still do it (majorly) from home.
We learnt a lot along the way. We adapted, we unlearnt what didn’t work, and built on our little successes. We haven’t always been perfect, but one thing on which we have not compromised on. Hard work. As simple as that.
And as I look back at the past six years, I don’t know how they passed this fast. People usually celebrate in multiples of five, we missed the last one because we were busy, heads down and sleeves rolled up, catering to a growing list of happy clients.
The road ahead holds many possibilities. Some challenges that we will try our best to convert into successes, a lot to learn and try out, especially in technology, but most of all, to enjoy life, not slave through it.
As I said before – The past two years has brought about a dramatic change in not just the way we work, but also the way we view life. We have become more sensitive towards things that we took for granted. How we spend our time becomes more important, and towards what end becomes more essential.
And that is the goal really – to enjoy work, to savor life, to make ourselves better every single day…
On 19th April we don’t turn six…we turn another page and start afresh. Welcome to 10 Leaves!