Breaking the Stereotypes

Vinita Kole from Pangao village in Barshi  breaking the stereotypical thinking of people around developed her business idea producing  healthy options of beverages for everyone to enjoy

Women in villages doesn’t suffer only because of lack of money or access to education .one of the major obstacle in their growth is also the mindset of the society around which believes  that women are less capable when it comes to business sense or decision making .Continuously exposed to such thinking in house make them believe that its true .So if any women tries to break this stereotypes she is bound to face opposition ,but some women stand rock solid and  pee-sue  their chosen path till they get success and emerge as change maker and motivating women nearby to take charge of their own lives.VinitaKolhe of Pangao village of Barshi block is a real example of this. EarlierVinitatai was occupied with her household but constantly thinking to do something more fruitfull to make her own mark and get some financial freedom as well.She started making ice candy  at her home. she use to make it fresh and sell so obviously getting a good response since it is liked by kids and adults as well . Eatables like ice creams ice candies need special storage that increases   transportation cost so are available in limited quantities specially in shops in villages since they bring it from nearby cities. Since Vinita tai was making it fresh and transportation cost was saved she could sell it at a very reasonable price which was appreciated by customers.

The Turning Point:Though she was doing good she was not keeping much records and profit loss analysis and bulk manufacturing possibilities since she was unaware about the standard business practices.

Then through CRP of Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP) she came to know about the different programs which help women like her to take their business and ahead.

She had training of WELI (Women Entrepreneurship and Leadership Initiative)by SSPand that changed everything.She got through knowledge about how to handle an Enterprise How to  record maintain records and analyze them.She also learned about the value addition process in her products during training

 Overall development.This helped Vinitatai access her small enterprise she realized that if she can make multiple products in similar categories like ice-cream ,lassi it will give her more consumers and depending upon season bulk manufacturing can give her better profits. She decided to take financial help and procured a loan from CEF. Through her daily observation she could make out customers liking and their choices of taste. She decided to open an Ice-cream shop .She opened one and introduced different products like lassii, candies and ice-creams. Since there was no other shop in the vicinity Vinitatai got a very good response.   The training program has helped her a lot .Now she maintains proper records accesses them to find total profit also she figure out profit earned by each products as well. She could break the stereotype thinking succeeding through dedication and determination.