Sitting in her office, Chitra Krishnan is the picture of a successful woman entrepreneur who is handling stock enquiries on the phone, giving orders to her team, jotting down orders or sorting out issues amongst her children through the phone. She juggles everything effortlessly and she has been doing it her entire life. But, it hasn’t been that way always. The lady behind CK’s Treats opens up on her remarkable journey.
She begins, “I started this venture from scratch four years ago and I was never a businesswoman. Initially, people took me for a ride and I used to blindly trust everyone, but today, I am more guarded and I have learnt from experience. The challenges you face are no excuse to sit back and not grab opportunities when they present themselves,” adding to which she says, “You may not be successful at first but you learn. I started this venture to survive, but it is now an extension of me. I had no one to guide me and no concrete plan but gradually things fell into place and people offered help and advice.” Her perception of life and business has changed. She adds, “Tomorrow if this business fails, I will let go and move forward; cribbing is not an option.”
The pretty lady also went through a personal setback that proved to be the impetus that propelled her to start her venture. A Brahmin who got married to a Christian at the age of 18, against the wishes of her family, she took the decision to walk out of her marriage after 22 years taking her three children with her and nothing else. She set up the eatery four years ago in a small way that has now grown into CK’s Treats. Chitra now handles catering orders for up to 500 people and supplies to bakeries, hotels and individuals. She also has regular customers who walk-in, and all this without any marketing gimmicks or any prior business experience.
Chitra, who admits that she had stage fear years back, is also a much sought after public speaker now. She talks on various subjects to a wide spectrum of professionals about women empowerment, entrepreneurship and her story has also been taken by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) as a case study. Chitra has also gone back to her passion of dancing after 22 years and is part of the Nritha Aswadhaka Sadasa that encourages women to return back to dance.
She has also hosted a cookery show on a TV Channel and is finding time for another one of her passions — painting. She is a strong believer of living life at the moment and she quips, “The freedom of thought to be able to take decisions without fear is always irreplacable. Most importantly, it is the journey that matters and not the destination!”
