Painful Journey Of Successful Women Entrepreneurs From Small Indian Villages

The unconventional saying “Try and try until you succeed” fits well within the walls of an entrepreneur. Success has always been pleasant and sweet, for the bitter and hampering way it has. An entrepreneur never gets an easy route; it’s often the tough road that makes him a real good business leader. Here are few success stories of small entrepreneurs who fought a battle to prove their existence, undergoing severe tortures, hardships and pain making them realize the importance of entrepreneurship and how it helped them in their life as reported by smeworld.org.

Poverty killed my education
Dhanalakshmi hails from Porur, Central Madras. Her family consists of her parents and two brothers. One of her brother was attacked by polio when he was a kid and still needs medical supervision. Her father retired from a private company but his income was never sufficient to run a family.

Although Dhanalakshmi was very much interested to study, she could not complete her education and had to stop with 12th standard.

Dhanalakshmi then took up the responsibility and moved forward smartly. She availed loan from an institution and set up a small STD booth centre which was helping her gradually with its minimal margin as revenue. She waited patiently and saved some money and again loaned out some money from which she purchased a photocopy machine. Today she runs this centre with utmost pride and confidence. Her entrepreneurial courage has made her stand on her own feet by also supporting her family with immense care and love.

Committing suicide was the only option
Thulasi is a 30 year old married woman who has faced a lot of problems in her life before becoming a successful entrepreneur. She was married to a man who was apparently a drunkard, who used to beat her up for no reasons. He used to give her just  50 weekly to run the family which was never sufficient. His torture and violence gradually increased and Thulasi decided to kill herself. She tried to commit suicide by burning herself but was rescued by her neighbors. She borrowed money from lenders and the interest was very high that she could not afford.

With the help of the neighbors she decided to approach for loan and was successful with this. She received some money from a bank and with the skill training classes in her area she learnt how to make soap and detergent powders. She manufactures these products at home and sells it to the nearby areas which fetches her enough income to run the family at ease without even depending on her husband. She has gained a lot self confidence and courage from her entrepreneurial venture.

I lost it all when my husband remarried

Rakkammaal, has no children yet her life was very challenging. This 55 year old woman silently wept because it was difficult for her to even have a meal properly. The only source of income for the family was fishing which her husband did with his small net. It was not really sufficient to run a family with the small catch because there were other people in the same business with a strong hand. She lived in a thatched hut and the house just had a small mud pot and few aluminum vessels. Problems lost its control when her husband got married to another woman. She was the only woman and had to take care of herself.

Rakkammaal was all depressed and lost faith in herself. With the help of her peers she decided to forget about the past and start a new life altogether.  She became a member of an organization which funded her with enough money to start her own fish stall. Out of the profits she not only paid the loans but also saved money for future capital requirements. She lives a happy life today with a decent business and as an entrepreneur she says “I was totally depressed and shocked when my husband married again. I thought I have nothing left in this world” She also thanks the financial forum by saying “I will do my best to pursue its real objectives, -one poor woman should help another poor woman."

From 15 to 150 a day
Nalla Nagmani is proud today, as she has got her daughter married, replaced a leaking roof and also applied for an electricity connection. She had a very painful life with lots of problems in it. She was married at the age of 12 and has 4 children whom she has to feed every day. Her husband was a coolie worker and often spent all his earnings drinking and for other pleasures. He never gave her any money and the family starved very often.

Her entrepreneurial ideas helped her a lot as she decided to do a small business, all by herself. She and her children started breaking cashew nuts initially and also made ropes during non seasons. She borrowed 200 and invested that money in buying a basket and a log, to break cashew nuts. She earned 15 every day. Nagmani ha bigger plans and borrowed 400 and bought coconut husks worth 100, she and her children made ropes out of it and sold the rope for 350 each. Thus she made a profit of 150 every month and slowly expanded the same business.

I wanted my kids to be literates
Paapathi belonged to a very poor family and the entire family including her mother worked as coolies. Her father died and it was impossible for her to go to school. She got married at the age of 14 but that life was also a disaster. Her husband never looked after her and the family and this came along with her poverty.  She had to do something to support the family, her kids and also her in-laws.

Her friend advised her telling “You cannot save your family by this manual work. Being a daily coolie, one day you can earn something where as the other day you may not." She decided to loan out some money with her friends help and started selling vegetables and fruits in the market. She was happy with the way the business took her and saved some money. With all her savings she slowly set up a petty shop with a small loan of 1000. She is now the owner of this vegetable store at her home and also runs a small tea shop inside it. Though she was an illiterate she managed to fight and survive taking care of two families. She is still working hard to ensure that her kids are literates, doing good in and for the society.

Source : http://www.siliconindia.com/news/startups/Painful-Journey-Of-Successful-Women-Entrepreneurs-From-Small-Indian-Villages--nid-121276-cid-100.html