Prashant Khadka

August 25: Some people are more successful in the work they are forced to do than the work they want to do. Neeti Joshi, who was aiming to become an interior decorator since her childhood, is one such character. Joshi, who was unable to fulfill her aim of becoming an interior decorator, has made an identity as a successful woman entrepreneur in her professional journey of 25 years.

Joshi, who had the idea that she should do something by herself rather than study and seek a job, wanted to create an image through the profession of interior decoration. Unfortunately, her ambition to become an interior decorator was dealt a huge blow when her father suddenly passed away after she completed her SLC examination.  

At that time, the course of  interior decoration was not available in Nepal, so she had to go to India to study that subject. But with the death of her father, the door to go to India for studies was closed. Her main objective remained incomplete. She started studying management at Shankardev Campus in Kathmandu, against her wish to study interior decoration.

Joshi’s father Ramanand Joshi, popularly known as RN Joshi, was a well-known artist of that time. He used to do painting-related business under the name Park Gallery in Kathmandu. He used to frame his paintings. He encouraged Joshi to enter the field of interior decoration from an early age. After RN's demise, people started coming to buy the business he ran. However, the family did not want to sell the art gallery. Instead, she decided to turn it into a museum in memory of her father and move on. After that, Joshi and her sister started a new business of framing in an artistic way and named it Frame World. Joshi was 23 years old at that time.

Joshi claims to have started the business of making and selling tailor-made frames as per the demand of the customers for the first time in Kathmandu with an investment of around Rs 300,000. The price of tailor-made goods is three times higher than that of ready-made goods.

Although the family accepted the business run by an inexperienced young woman, the society could not accept it easily. There were those who were jealous about how she could do such a thing at such a young age.

“But, I dared to do it. I had complete faith that I could do something,” she said. Although she did not want to get a job, she has the experience of going to interviews in many places to boost her confidence.

At that time, it was a challenge for a young woman to start a business. Moreover, since it was a luxury goods business, the number of customers was very limited. Only high-class families and five-star hotels were attracted to it. She said that due to this, it was very difficult to run the business in the initial stage.

Gradually, her father's clients also started coming looking for Joshi. Orders for goods started coming from five-star hotels like Hyatt, Soaltee, Shangri-La and offices of various organizations. "There was no looking back after that," said Joshi.

For the last three years, she has been doing the business of handicraft items along with framing work in order to promote the products of the new generation of women handicraft entrepreneurs. She is doing business under the name Dhuku Store in the north side of the Royal Palace. Her shop has goods ranging from Rs 500 to 50,000.

Joshi, who has been doing business for 25 years, once had four outlets in Kathmandu. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, two of them had to be closed. As the business is going well now, she plans to gradually expand the outlet. She has given employment to about a dozen people. At one time, she only had 20 percent of Nepali customers, but now 80 percent of her customers are Nepalis.