Case Studies

Ms. Anita, Khanapur, Belgaum – Kannada classes

To succeed, do the best you can, wherever you are and with whatever you have! Case study of Ms. Anita from Khanapur, Belgaum – Kannada classes "Choose the job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life." - Confucius. Khanapur, being near the borders of Maharashtra, has locals from mixed origins.Most of them speak Marathi but the official language followed is Kannada. Children from the Marathi background face a lot of problems as they do not speak the local language. This is when Anita thought that teaching Kannada to these children is a necessity and stepped into the role of a teacher. Coming from a Marathi family herself and her husband being a Marathi lecturer, she is well versed in both the languages. This served as the motivating factor to start her Kannada home tutorial. After taking up the AWAKE EDP training in the year 2013, she got her tutorial registered and obtained license for it as well. While taking classes and spreading news about her tutorial though word of mouth, she desired to take it up on a larger scale. For this purpose, she sent a request to the Kannada Abhivrudhi Pradhikara in Bangalore to help her with her cause. In response, the Government had granted her permission to take classes for three months to a certain number of students and also provided her with a stipend of Rs.15,000 for the same period. She has completed the course successfully and is currently waiting for permission to start another batch. With the stipend and small amounts given by the parents as her only income, she aims at providing better financial support to her husband. Starting the tutorials in her house, she now has an entire room renovated for this purpose. She uses a small room on her terrace and has invested Rs.50,000 to get the walls painted in an didactic manner in the year 2010. She maintains the room well and keeps renovating it from time to time to suit the needs of the kids. With a service motto at heart, Anita has been teaching Kannada to children in the locality for the past ten years.  

Ms. Chandrakala, Tumkur – Food product

Enthusiasm: a little thing that can make a big difference!
Case study of Ms. Chandrakala, from Tumkur – Food product

"Enthusiasm releases the drive to carry you over obstacles and adds significance to all you do." – Norman Vincent Peale Equipped with 11 years of experience in the food processing industry, Chandrakala aims high to provide employment to more than 20 women in her business.Chandrakala started her professional journey in the year 2001 when she joined the Stri Shakti Swasahaya Sangha and got trained in making papads and pickles on an industrial level. She started with a small investment of Rs. 500 along with other items and ingredients available in her house to take part in the Jilla Utsav (fair) in the year 2003 where her products sold well. She says, "This exhibition has given me the much needed encouragement and motivated me to do something better in the business." With this cheering response on her first step, she wanted to improvise herself in the professional field and thus, started making business on a larger scale. Her publicity gimmick to market her products better were through exhibitions and word of mouth, the latter being one of the oldest forms of advertisements. Chandrika TumkurShe attended the AWAKE EDP in the year 2012 as she wanted to be trained further in marketing. The main highlight of her learning was packaging and labeling. "We used to staple the pickle packets but now we use a heat packing machine which is more hygienic," confesses Chandrakala. Keeping the basic concern of her product's consumers in mind, she took more care about cleanliness and hygiene by implementing the use gloves to handle all food items.

While she has a flourishing business to aid her in her financial needs, it has also given bread and butter to other women in the locality. As she started the food processing at home, she did not take any help from outside. But as she took orders and wanted to make papads and pickles at a larger scale, she started to hire the local ladies to make them for her. She paid them on piece work basis and now has ten women employed under her. They all get a steady income based on their time availability and the work they take up. With just one type of pickle and papad sold in her initial days, she has now expanded into making three varieties of pickles and three different varieties of papads, all of which have high demand in the market. The nearby hostels, paying guest houses, and party halls are her main target for sales and marketing when she is not attending any exhibitions. She proudly says, "I also process these foods on order basis and there was one order which sent my products to the United States as well."

Ask her about her expansion plans and she is thrilled to say, "Before my training at AWAKE, I used to earn a monthly income of Rs. 5,000 to 10,000, but now I earn more than Rs. 25,000 in a month. With these profits I purchased a heat packing machine and now I want to purchase a papad making machine which I saw during the field visit. For this purpose, I have also applied for a loan of Rs. 3 Lakh out of which I will get a subsidy of Rs.1,25,000 and have to pay an interest of 14 percent. The project report and proposal under the name of M/s Lakshmi Enterprises are ready and the loan should be repaid within the next three years." She also has an aim of increasing her earning to Rs.1 Lakh a month and also to provide employment to twenty women for their livelihood.

Ms. Hema, from Dharwad – Garments and tailoring

A small first step is what every dream needs!!!
Case Study of Ms. Hema, from Dharwad – Garments and tailoring

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." - Martin Luther King, Jr. Ms. Hema, a home-maker from Dharwad, always nurtured the dream of running her own business, but was neither sure of what business to start, nor had any knowledge related to running a business. Her husband worked for a private firm and her children attended the primary school. During this phase, AWAKE's EDP was an eye-opener for Hema.

Hema Dharwad-GarmentsHema got to know about AWAKE from the coordinator of BDSSS organization.Speaking to Mr. Sadashiva, Training coordinator, AWAKE, Hema expressed her interest in starting her own venture. Soon, she was informed about the Ni-MSME sponsored EDP by AWAKE, scheduled from 22 Aug, 2013 to 04 Sept, 2013, in Dharwad. Hema enrolled herself for the training and completed it successfully. Starting as a novice, Hema had learnt the nuances of starting a business, how to prepare project reports, registration, license formalities, book keeping, marketing skills etc. She also learnt about various schemes available for women entrepreneurs and about government departments which support women entrepreneurs. By the time she completed her EDP course, she had made a firm decision to start her own garment industry. Hema obtained a SSI license from DIC and applied for a loan under the Udyogini scheme formulated by the Women and Child Development department of Government of Karnataka. A loan of Rs. 1 Lakh was sanctioned to her. She utilized the money to set up her own unit in her house. She markets sarees, design blouses and also stitches clothes on order. She has created employment in her area and has one full time employee. She earns a handsome amount of Rs. 8000/- per month. She is currently looking for new premises and is in talks with the local panchayat body to hire a portion of the premises being constructed by them adjacent to her present facility.

Ms. Putalibai from Gulbarga – Food products

Overcoming challenges provides meaning to life!!!
Case study of Ms. Putalibai from Gulbarga – Food products

"I don't have dis-ability, I have a different-ability." Robert M. Hensel She is a very enthusiastic, multifaceted and hard-working lady. She has studied up to SSLC, is a skilled tailor and has learnt to use computers. She has a talent in accounting and has experience working with a charted accountant even though she did not hold a formal degree. She utilized the opportunity to improve her knowledge in accountancy and learnt Tally. This on-the- job learner even landed up in the post of accounting assistant in an electronic company. Her networking skills helped her to bond with people and keep learning. Putalabai Gulbarga Food ProductsAll these blessings of her life came with many obstacles for Ms. Putalibai, a native of Gulbarga. A physically disabled Putalibai was born in a poor family, lost both her parents at a very young age and grew up in the care of relatives who took her in. But none of these factors could thwart her zest for life. She nurtured the vision of starting her own food industry. She also wanted to support other women to setup their business and help them to become financially independent.

Putalibai came to know about Ni-MSME sponsored Entrepreneurship Skill Development Programme being conducted by AWAKE at Gulbarga through a local news-paper and got enrolled for the programme. During the course of the programme, she was able to bring in the clarity on the nature of business she wanted to start. She decided to start flour manufacturing business. She learnt about business planning, maintaining product quality, packaging, labeling, branding and many other aspects which would help her in setting up her business in a professional way. She also got information related to the various financial and other supports provided by government departments and the hand-holding provided by AWAKE. Putalibai invested Rs. 25,000/- to set up a flour manufacturing unit. She procures various cereals like jowar, rice etc., powders them and packs the flour. She then supplies it to various local outlets. For people who do not prefer to buy packed flour, she provides service of powdering the cereals they bring. Putalibai wants to increase her production from the current monthly 50 kgs and expand her business. She is applying for PMEGP loan.

Putalibai is also planning to start a pre-primary school. She wants to invest about Rs. 1.5 lakhs. Her experience working with a trust has motivated her to open the school. A marketing survey revealed that there were no English schools in that rural area, so she wanted to open a school for the poor people so that they could learn English. She plans to speak to a MP of her area to get his support for the school. Her future goal is to employ 20 people in need of financial

Ms. Uma Devi from Davanagere - Food Products

The beginning of a new journey!!!
Case study of Ms. Uma Devi from Davanagere - Food Products

"Allow yourself to be a beginner. No one starts off being excellent."– Wendy Flynn

Ms. Uma Devi grew up in a well to do family from Nayakanahatti in Chitradurga district. A keen learner, as a student, her focus was to study well and score good marks; she completed her graduation with flying colors. Married off, Uma moved to her in-laws place - Harapanhalli, a town which is approximately 50 KMs from Davanagere. As a home maker, she happily took care of her children and aged in-laws. When her children grew up and moved away from home to study in college, she felt the need to find some activity to utilize her free time. Uma Devi Davanagere food productsThe interview of Ms. Lakshmi Gopinath on television, a member of AWAKE from Shimoga, caught attention of Uma. Contacting Lakshmi Gopinath, she came to know about the Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) being conducted at Davanagere. Though she had to travel 50 KMs daily to attend the course, her supportive husband and in-laws encouraged her to attend the course. Thrilled by the opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship, Uma Devi ensured that she made the most of the training by being on time for the classes, active participation and putting into practice what was taught.Soon after completing EDP, Uma Devi invested around Rs. 50,000/- and started 'Vachana Food Products' in her own premises, obtaining the required licenses. Her product range includes masala papads, mango pickles, jamoon powder and sambar powder. She maintains high quality of her products without using any preservatives under the brand name 'mane' which means 'home made' in Kannada; her products are in demand for their quality and unique taste. Her husband helps her in marketing activities, distributing the products to stores in Davanagere, Harihara and Dharwad. She has one full time employee and hires more people while producing seasonal products like pickles. Unable to handle the demand with the current facility, Uma Devi plans to buy a papad making machine and expand her product line to include more variety of papads, jowar rotis and other food products that can be manufactured using the machine. She also plans to set up a store to showcase and sell her products. A strong believer of 'Learning is a lifelong process', Uma Devi enjoys the journey from being a beginner to an established entrepreneur, earning around Rs. 15,000/- per month, simultaneously taking care of her family responsibilities. A recipient of 'Appreciation Award' conferred by AWAKE in recognition of her growth and success, Uma Devi encourages and supports other women in their business endeavors.