Entrepreneur's Handbook
Their Lives Changed with the Silkworm They Coincidentally Met
The couple Müberra and Yaşar Aydoğan went on vacation to Datça 11 years ago. When they returned to Istanbul after this holiday period, they made the decision that would completely change their lives. The couple, who were bankers, left the bank where they were working and settled in Datça. The Aydoğan couple, who conducted research on weaving and silkworm breeding, taught the knowledge they learned to 20 women living in the village, and opened a store selling silk products and created their own brand.
"We are one of those rare people who moved away from the city and adapted to village life and started our own business here. Many people dream of this but cannot make it happen. We did this and set an example for many of our friends. "There is nothing that cannot be done if requested," said the Aydoğan couple, who are very satisfied with their lives and they experience a slight bitterness since they did not make this decision sooner.
Their Lives Changed with the Silkworm
In Turkey, the most popular place among local residents actually a lot of people's holiday Datça district and a population of 20 thousand compared to figures for 2016. Of course, this population increases a lot with the arrival of the summer months. Here, the Aydoğan couple determined Datça, which they chose as their summer vacation spot, as their place of residence and set an example for everyone with their successful initiatives.
As every business and every enterprise has a difficulty, the Aydoğan couple also state that they have had difficulties in the first years.
"We had a lifestyle unique to the city people. We were white collar and we had salaries, insurance, payments and social status. It seemed a little strange to our family and friends that we pushed all these aside and decided to settle in Datça from scratch; because we were on our way to an unknown life in their opinion. In fact, they were not considered unfair. We came to an unknown life, but we were happier than our previous life. When we first arrived, we only had enough money to cover our house rent. "We couldn't even afford to burn it in winter and we were trying to get warm by burning the stove by collecting the bushes around."
Their Lives Changed with the Silkworm They Coincidentally Met
When they first came to Datça, the couple dealing with handicrafts and making their living in this way, they coincidentally met the silkworm afterwards. They learned that silkworm cultivation and weaving was done in the region in the past years. Yaşar Aydoğan explains how he started this research with the following words;
"Silkworm is actually a tradition here. When we learned about this, we decided to do silkworm breeding. Of course, it was necessary to get training beforehand and do this consciously. We applied to universities and got support from teachers, collected the best books we could find in the market, found old masters in many parts of Anatolia and benefited from their experiences, and we brought ourselves to a certain level in silkworm breeding and weaving by blending all of this education process "
With these decisions, the Aydoğan couple embarked on a job they did not know about and completely changed their lives. Of course, they have changed not only their own lives, but also the lives of many people around them. 20 women living in the village of Hızırşah also joined the Aydoğan couple and tried to achieve their own personal success. Yaşar Aydoğan tried to convey the information he learned as a result of his research by giving courses to 20 women in the village for 2 months with the support of Datça District Governorship and İŞKUR.
Do You Miss Istanbul?
The Aydoğan couple, who live in a cute house in a garden and are very satisfied with their lives, gives the following answer to the question "Do you miss Istanbul?"
"We don't miss Istanbul, but we miss our friends and friends very much. When we woke up in Istanbul in the morning, we were wondering whether we should go to work from TEM or from E-5 to go to work. We were thinking whether we should use the metrobus or take the tram. My family migrated from village to city in the 60s, and I migrated from city to village again in the 2000s. Here I have a happy, calm and comfortable life. After settling here, all our friends call and ask "Do you regret it?" Yes, you regret it. But our regret is that we haven't settled in before and that we have suffered the hardship of city life until this age. "
The Aydoğan couple, who reorganized the unused school of the village and turned it into a production workshop, also opened a sales store named Doğa, named after their daughter. Stating that their work and life is extremely good, the couple says that the advantages of living in a small place are quite a lot.
