COFFEE TALK: WHY COFFEE TALKS?

When I started creating blogs on the teachings of Ganotherapy, I realized that there are three types of necessary blogs. First is the lecture blog, next is the general discussion blog, the last one is the story blog about concerning topics. Of course, I cannot add storytelling or jokes in the lecture blogs, affecting the students' revision time. And so, I decided to come up with a new series called ‘Coffee Talks,’ which you can watch over a cup of DXN coffee. It covers some interesting stories about my experiences, DXN, Ganotherapy, etc. I'll keep these blogs short and straightforward for these are not technical talks.

I think it will be best to start the first blog of Coffee Talks with the story of DXN. We began very small and simple, we also encountered many problems, and then slowly, we expanded our business to become a world-class company.

After I discovered Ganoderma from the forests of Malaysia, I decided to cultivate it myself. I tried to search for someone who could guide me and coach me on the methods of cultivation of Ganoderma. After several failed attempts, I realized that no one would teach me how to spawn from the wild species in the forest. After a few failures in getting technical assistance for making tissue culture of Ganoderma, I decided to learn it myself. I went to different book stores and fetched whatever books I could on the cultivation of mushrooms. I started my research with tissue culture and spawned making.

The first thing that I learned was making sterile boxes, in which we can put in our hands with gloves and clean sleeves to work in a sterile environment for tissue culture. I designed a box and asked my carpenter friend to make it for me. Many trials failed due to the contaminated mold or failed mycelium. But I never stopped, I would make regular modifications, and then I would start another test. Once, I had to go out of the station on some MADA work for a couple of days. For that time being, I had to leave my trials to themselves. I was worried that this trial would fail too. I would contact my wife every day to ask about the progress in my tests. For two days, there was absolutely nothing! But on the third day, my wife observed the growth of some mycelium from some of the cuttings. It was not the same with all the cuttings, but I was glad that some showed positive results. DXN's Ganoderma farm of DXN is very different from all other farms of such kind. What makes it so is our indigenous techniques, techniques like vertical farming and ecological farming.

Eventually, many imitators started to imitate our methods, but they had minimal success. It was because of the subtle mistakes that they made. The first mistake they made was buying the spawn from China, where the temperature is less than that in Malaysia. The second mistake was in their formulation of the spawn culture, which resulted in the poor growth of Ganoderma.

Through this story, I’m trying to tell you that sometimes we face limitations and obstacles in life, but we can go far, very far, when we overcome them. I met the same problem for developing the computer program for “one world one market.” Many IT engineers said that creating something as big as this is not practically possible. But in DXN, we never take NO for an answer. With this success in computer systems, DXN can go worldwide seamlessly, while other companies have to struggle to establish the procedure for every new country.

At the initial stages of developing DXN, I didn’t have substantial financial support. The salary that I would earn at MADA would hardly suffice my family's needs. There was no way I could put up a company with the current financial situation. Then I started thinking of other alternatives; at that time, the market was very excited about magneto therapy. It was drinking the magnetized water. Taking inspiration from this, I designed a magnetic question, which could help in relieving back pain. It proved to be a profitable business, but it didn't have repeated sales. I had to think of some products for which the customers would have to come over and over again. And so I thought of producing bee products and honey.

I joined a company that sells honey, bee pollen, and Royal Jelly, etcetera. In the initial stages, the business was profitable, but then I found that its quality fluctuates. Customers were complaining. I reported the same to the company, but the only thing I got in return was realizing that it is not acceptable to get the products from others. I had to make it myself to maintain the content quality. You might ask, why not sell the Ganoderma then? At that time, Ganoderma was still under experiment. I was working on different species of Ganoderma to understand the climatic requirements of each one them. During this time, I learned to endure the hardships and cultivate my patients, accumulate the money bit by bit, adjust my strategies again, and face failure. The one thing that my journey has taught me is that failure is the mother of success. From selling magnetic cushions, I learn that a growing business requires repeated sales. From honey products, I realized that you should not rely on others for the quality. When you fail once you learn once, your strategies improve to the next level.

The entire process of accumulating funds took me ten years. I joined MADA on the first August 1984 and resigned on the 31st of July 1994. By this time, I had 70,000 in my bank account. I meticulous accounting and realized that this is the perfect time for me to start my dream company.