1 year, 4 outlets, 365 sleepless nights, 3 term sheets and a shit load of fun. That's how I would define the last 12 months we spent in Dohful. 

 

Hi, my name is Arushi, I'm one of the founders of Dohful and I write these on-again, off-again Sunday Letters to you as a way of keeping you apprised about what's going on in Dohful. 

 

This particular edition of the Sunday Letter is long overdue. Partly due to the aforementioned sleepless nights, but also partly because so much has happened in the last few months that I didn't know where to start. 

But we gotta do what we gotta do. So let's try. 

 

As many of you might know, about a year back, on 20th Aug 2023 we started Dohful's first ever cookies & coffee store inside the Hauz Khas Metro Station. The plan was simple - to serve the best soft baked cookies on earth, accompanied by mind blowing specialty coffee. 

 

We dreamed about making India fall in love with cookies & coffee.

 

I still remember the first day the store opened up, we used to look at each & every passing customers with nervousness and hope. I knew the cookies were good, but I still really really wanted everyone to like them.

 

And like you all did!

 

What started as a “cute lil cookie place” at Hauz Khas Metro Station turned into a rage, a phenomenon when more & more people started flocking the store. 

 

So many people told us that they actually came inside the metro station just to buy cookies!

 

And even before I could have the time to comprehend all of this, we started working on our second outlet at Noida Electronic City. 

 

And while all of this was going on, we were also working on raising funds for Dohful, meeting all sorts of people, telling them about what we were doing, our vision for soft baked cookies in India and whatnot. 

And I have to say, I have made more friends in this journey of trying to raise funds than I ever have in my entrepreneurial journey. 

 

Everyone talks about how entrepreneurship is a lonely path, and while that is technically true, I found some incredible founders who went above & beyond to help me & Dohful. 

 

If you want me to talk more about this, in detail, do hit the reply button and ask your question. I might answer it straight up or I might write I whole Sunday Letter about it - lets see!

 

Anyhoo, even after all the support system & the guidance, by mid-April, I was sort of getting bummed out. The funding pitches weren't really adding up to anything, our 3rd outlet was soon to be opened at DLF CyberPark Gurgaon and I was super nervous about it.

Some events in life are so grand that you have a before and after versions wrt to those events. Like marriage. Before marriage vs after marriage. Different versions of your life. 

 

 

 

After the CyberPark store opened, we realised what great meant. 

 

From Day 1 itself, we were doing atleast double the volume we were doing at our other stores. It was another level of exhilaration, tiredness, sleep deprivation and energy surge all at the same time.

 

And I'm so thankful and grateful that we got to see this kind of love so early in the game.

As I sit here, reminiscing the not-so-old days when we used to come back home by midnight and be on the road at 7 am again next morning, I can't help but think about this - you can only connect the dots in past.

 

Telling you this story today, I'm connecting so many dots of what happened, how and why it might have happened that way. 

 

Anyway I digress. Needless to say we were all super tired and burnt out. 

 

But not tired or burnt out enough to not scout more locations. Where all did we go? 

 

Lets see - we visited the whole Vishwavidyalaya, Kamla Nagar etc area, we also went to check out NFC, Dwarka, and Gurgaon we were always checking out whenever we got a chance.

 

But the one place we definitely wanted to open was - another outlet in South Delhi. Because coming inside the metro station just to buy cookies is definitely a hassle for all you guys.

So finally after a lot of searching & finding, we opened Dohful's 4th Cookies & Coffee store in Saket District Center, at a stone's throw distance from Select City walk. 

 

And to wrap up our year nice & good, we inaugurated this one on 20th Aug 2024. Exactly one year after the opening of our first cookies & coffee outlet, where all this story began! 

 

To be honest, I don't know if 4 outlets in a year is good or bad or slow or fast. I just know that we set out to serve amazing cookies & coffee to you guys, and when we see that smile on your face as you take the first bite of our cookies or the first sip of our cold coffee…well, that makes all the sleepless nights totally worth it! 

 

If you are still here, reading about my year at Dohful, well I appreciate you more than I can ever express. Thank you for reading, but more importantly thank you for being a part of this journey. We couldn't have done any of it without you. 

 

 

Bye for now, see you next time!