It Started With Eyewear
In December 2022, I co-founded my first brand — Mount2Access — while holding down a full-time corporate job. We sold eyewear and prescription sunglasses online. The office was comfortable. The salary was guaranteed. The view from my office window was beautiful.
But the brand was invisible.
Sales trickled in only from people we already knew. No strangers. No organic growth. No traction. We had a brand in name only. My co-founder and I eventually parted ways. I paused everything — no sales, no promotions, no activity — for nearly a year. Just thinking.
One Question Changed Everything
During that pause, one question kept coming back: what do people buy every single day, regardless of necessity?
Eyewear has a problem — people only buy glasses when they need to. Power change. Frame damage. Season change. It’s a necessity purchase, not an everyday one. I needed something different. Something people reach for daily. Something personal.
I started visiting markets. Talking to people. Observing buying patterns. Then one day — the answer came. Fragrance.
Not perfume. Not deodorant. Attar.
I Went Looking For The Real Thing
I didn’t want to resell. I wanted to create.
I travelled to Uttar Pradesh, Kannauj — the fragrance capital of India — and to Delhi and Mumbai. I met traditional attar makers who had been blending fragrances for generations. I sat with them, learned from them, understood the process — what ingredients matter, how the blending works, what makes an attar last on skin. It took me months to observe how attar ingredients are working without chemicals.
I brought two chemical engineer friends into the process. Together we spent two months developing our first blended attars. We tested. We refined. We tested again.
Our commitment from day one: no alcohol, no synthetic chemicals, no animal products. Only botanical ingredients and natural flower essences. Pure, skin-safe, and long-lasting.
Job or Brand. I Chose Brand.
When Mount2Access was running, I was managing both — a corporate job by day, a brand by night. At some point I realised that was a half-measure. I was giving half to the job and half to the brand. Neither was getting everything.
I had to choose.
The job was safe. Guaranteed salary. Fixed hours. Social status. I was working in a high-rise office with a view of the city — a comfortable life by any standard.
I left it anyway.
No guaranteed income. A few savings. No family support — my own family wanted me to stay employed, comparing me to relatives who had “safe” careers. I had sleepless nights wondering whether a single rupee would come in.
To survive, I started freelancing. To build, I poured everything into the brand.
Word of Mouth Does What Advertising Can't
I tested our first attar batch with 50 people. Got 50 positive reviews.
That was the signal I needed.
I registered for MSME certification and started selling offline — at Dum Dum station and Shyambazar. No Instagram ads. No influencer budget. Just product quality and word of mouth.
Today, The Drip Secrets generates ₹50,000 in monthly revenue. We have two active offline selling spots in Kolkata. Customers who discovered us at a street stall have become loyal repeat buyers. Strangers are now regulars.
This is not the destination. This is just the start.
The Vision
The plan is to divide Kolkata into zones — each zone with a dedicated TDS field representative. Not just for selling but for same-day local delivery. If you order online and a TDS rep in your zone has the product, it reaches you the same day. A distribution model built for the city, by someone who grew up in it.
We also plan to build a student employment programme — part-time roles designed specifically for college students who want real business experience while earning.
And the product range will grow — gift sets for weddings, corporate occasions, date nights, and couples. Because fragrance isn’t just personal. It’s the best gift you can give someone.