My name is Ashok Dudhat, the creator of WP Event Manager & WP Food Manager. I currently live in Berlin, Germany but I was born and brought up in Surat, India which is known as the “Diamond City”.
Being a student of Computer Science, I have always been passionate about WordPress and wanted to start up a business on my own.
I had to leave my city to take the first step toward my dream. It was not easy as I not only left the city but also my childhood memories and a loving family behind.
I worked in various companies like CadCam Solutions, Siemens, Cortado, Aideon, and Cubeware in Germany and abroad to gain experience in the tech field.
I accepted all the hardships and challenges that life threw at me and let nothing distract me from my focus.
The Journey Began
I have worked on various projects as a website builder and struggled a lot to survive in Germany before giving shape to my passion for WordPress.
In 2010, I bought the domain ‘GAM Software Solutions’ and Launched the site to become an outsourcing service provider for Software Development.
Spending my initial days in Germany was full of obstacles. My first start-up project was Germany Startup Jobs which was established in 2014.
It is a platform that was built to help job seekers to find and apply to some of the fastest-growing startups in Germany. The inspiration behind Germany Startup Jobs was my own experience in the job market.
For every student, studying overseas brings up many challenges on its way and I was also not an exception. It was the time when I had to keep track of my expenses to achieve my professional targets and that too within a short period.
My struggles had given birth to the idea of Germany Startup jobs and with that, I headed toward my goal. Then I geared up to expand my network in Germany and developed the idea of the Tech Jobs Fair.
Thankfully, we received an amazing response for the Tech Job Fair and we spread our wings with a reverse recruitment platform which is named Hire Tech Talent.
Meanwhile, GAM Software Solutions was continuously growing. I built a team of passionate website designers and developers in Surat.
After trying and failing multiple times in developing a WordPress theme we finally became successful in launching GAM Event Manager which was later rebranded as WP Event Manager.
The Need for WP Event Manager
WP Event Manager – Logo
During the initial days of my career, I learned a lot about the concept of WordPress job listing and from there I framed up the idea of WP Event Manager.
The year 2020 was a challenging year for every business due to the covid outbreak and I closely observed how the event industry suffered during this time as I was into the Tech Job Fair at that time.
So my idea was to help the event industry with WordPress plugins.
WP Event Manager is a WordPress plugin that is designed to make event management easy for everyone who is associated with it. The office is located in the heart of Surat city and we have employees from all over the world.
We have a remote as well as an in-office team who work day and night to take this company to new heights of success.
We have qualified developers, designers, and an amazing support team who are always there to help our customers.
Establishing WP Event Manager itself was a big challenge for all of us as it was started at a time when almost all businesses were suffering due to lockdown, social distancing, long-term illness, and more.
Thankfully, my team and I managed to overcome these obstacles.
Inside WP Event Manager, we have 37 premium add-ons that are introduced to fulfill all the event management requirements including calendar, ticketing, registration, promotion, and more.
After the huge success of WP Event Manager, we entered the food industry with the WP Food Manager.
Nowadays, people prefer to visit a restaurant’s website before choosing between a takeaway service or home delivery. They instantly turn to the competitors in case they find it difficult to navigate.
Keeping this in mind we have created WP Food Manager to help users create a customizable menu that can turn any diner, café, or bar into the go-to business for online food ordering.
Myself with my brilliant team
We have a talented team all over the globe as well as an in-house team who are working behind WP Event Manager. I always try to keep in touch with each of them to listen to their problems, solutions, and their ideas for our growth.
To strengthen this bond and to bridge the gap between them and me, every year I visit India during winter to meet all of them and also invite them to join us.
Here is a glimpse of our annual meet
Team – WP Event Manager
Advice for Business Owners
Honestly, I believe that I am not in a position to advise others but I would want to share the thing that I have learned so far during my journey and that is one should never give up.
If you aim to do something big, you have to face obstacles just like spiders.
Stay in Touch
WordPress and Beyond
WordPress is continuously growing and I strongly believe it has great potential to grow in the future as well.
Along with the regular updates, new and improved feature additions are proof of that. All credit goes to the community and its huge contribution to its growth.
My love for the WordPress community
I have immense respect for the WordPress community. It works as a bridge between people who are associated with the platform.
Starting from a local meetup to creating WordPress-based software, it feels great to be a part of this community.
All I can say about the community is that it has helped me learn a lot about the platform during these years and I will always be thankful to them for their support and useful content.
How I Keep Myself Updated
I read a lot of articles on the internet and I prefer WPTavern, WPWeekly of Davinder, and other WordPress-based portals that keep me updated about recent developments on WordPress.
I Have a Life Other Than the Work
I love spending quality time with my family as I always try to maintain a work-life balance. Besides this, I also like to keep myself healthy with regular gymming and exercise.
I Reward Myself by
I feel great when I can help others. I think having the ability to help others is the biggest reward that I can give to myself.
