Invest Just Rs 500 & Help a Homemaker In Need Start Her Own Business

“I have a business idea,” Afreen Banu (24) shares. The idea is to rear goats and poultry outside her home in Semri Bazar, Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh. With her mother being bedridden and requiring round-the-clock care, Afreen has had to stay by her side. If she had to count how often she has stepped outside the home in the last few years, her fingers would suffice. 

This is why, when ideating a business, she zeroed in on goat rearing. This, she says, will enable her to be at her mother’s beck and call, while also letting her earn some money.  “I want to be independent,” she reasons. 

This desire for financial freedom is harboured by 67.2 percent women in India — the percentage of women who fall outside the labour force in India. Most of their dreams have been humbled into inaction by a lack of funds. 

So, here’s our attempt to revive their ideas, by assuring them financial help. By donating to this cause, you can help 10 women start their businesses. You can be the investor they need.   

1.Shakti Kumari

A foot disability means Shakti Kumari (35) cannot move around much. Her husband and she live in a one-room rented home in Nirala Nagar, Khojanpur, Ayodhya. While the money he earns through odd jobs suffices to pay the rent, Shakti finds it inadequate to match the rising prices of groceries. 

Keeping in mind her constraints, she came upon the idea of a home kitchen. “That way I won’t have to walk a lot, and I can put my cooking skills to good use.” Shakti wants to make pickles and papads (fried Indian snacks). “These are items I have been making for years. Now I plan to earn through them.” She plans to use the investment amount to purchase a machine to cut the mangoes for the pickle and the chips.  

2.Pooja Yadav 

“Everyone loves the food I make,” Pooja Yadav (29), a resident of Mathia Mehdauna, Barun Bazar, Ayodhya, says at the outset. “Whenever a neighbour is celebrating their birthday and having a party, I cook and send.” The appreciation her samosas and pakodas (fried savoury Indian snacks) draw is compelling her to formalise the venture and expand delivery across Faizabad. Pooja eventually wants to empower more women like her who wish to earn. “Once I expand my business, I want to employ women who need the money. I want to be able to help them.” 

3. Komal Kumari 

Komal proudly flaunts the bag she has stitched. She dreams of someday owning a centre near her home in Budhanpur, Ayodhya where she will retail these bags. Elaborating on this idea, Komal says the plan is to sew bags using waste cloth material, that would otherwise go into landfills. Like her, there are several young girls in her village who are ambitious but unable to pursue their dreams. “Once I can start the centre and we begin sewing, I want to train these girls so that they can earn some money too,” she says. 

4. Hina Kausar 

Hina is a young mother brimming with ideas and ambitions. But after having children, she let these dreams take a backseat. “I rarely leave the home; so thinking about pursuing a job isn’t something I have considered.” In recent years, Hina has become cognisant of her financial dependency on her husband. “I have to think twice before spending money on myself. After all, it isn’t my money.” But now, she feels it’s time to dream. And to pursue those dreams. 

Explaining her pitch, she says, she wants to run a sewing business. “My children are young, and so, I can’t think of doing anything that involves working outside the home. But stitching is something I can do while I look after them. I can create an identity for myself.”

Adding that she is tired of sitting idle, she says, a sewing machine would change her life. You can ensure Hina gets the wherewithal to start her business, by donating. 

5. Suman Kumari 

Ayodhya sees an influx of tourists. They relish the aachars (pickles), local chips, kachari papads (sun dried crunchy snacks) and even take back bottles of vinegar with them. Suman Kumari wishes to start a business where she will retail these items, which she prepares in her home. 

To start, she requires a mango cutting machine, a chips making machine, vessels, a mixer grinder and groceries. And your donation can help her. 

6. Rabab Anjum 

For years, Rabab Anjum has been a doting wife and daughter-in-law. She loved sketching and designing but put these dreams on the backburner as her family needed her. One day, Rabab, who could no longer ignore the creative itch, took out her notebook and started sketching. Now, she wants to bring these designs to life. And all she needs is a sewing machine. 

“I want to stitch lehengas (traditional Indian outfits) for the women in Ayodhya. I have always loved to design. But earning money for myself is not my only goal. I have young children and want them to have a good education. If my earnings can help, why not?” 

7. Arju 

“If you look around you, you’ll see there is so much cloth that goes to waste after an outfit is stitched. My idea is to collect these clothes and make jholas and potlis (fashionable bags). See, I made one,” Arju proudly shows. She explains how she has decked the bag by adding lace, beads and different patches of coloured cloth. “I want to turn this idea into a business.” 

Arju (26), a resident of Dhara Road, Ayodhya, Faizabad, is keen to become financially independent before she gets married. And she wants other girls in her area to follow suit. The bags will serve more purposes than giving the girls a new lease of freedom. They will also limit the use of polythene. 

8. Afreen Banu 

Her mother’s fall around two decades ago — the injury took a toll on her back and mental health — left her bedridden. Afreen (24) had to become her caregiver overnight. This put a damper on her studies and the potential dreams. She adds, “No one is ready to marry me because of my family’s financial condition. Our home was damaged a few years ago and we do not have the money to repair it, or move into a new place. We are living on rent. My father’s earnings are not enough.” 

This is why she wants to earn. “I will use the money to sponsor my mother’s medicines and to buy food for the family.” 

9. Naim Akhtar 

Naim’s husband passed away a few years ago, leaving her with the responsibility of the home and two children. It was out of dire need for money that Naim decided to oblige when a relative or neighbour would ask her to alter an outfit, or stitch a garment. But then the sewing machine she was using gave way. While the orders would pay her Rs 250 a piece, even that has now stopped. 

Now Naim wants to start a tailoring business, in order to earn for the family’s upkeep. “I want to make women’s lehengas and gararas (traditional Indian outfits).” Naim needs a new sewing machine and your donation will make this possible. 

10. Humaira Khatoon

The resident of Ayodhya, Faizabad wishes to start a business where she stitches salwar kameez (traditional Indian attire) for women, potli bags and hand-stitched fans. Humaira is a widower and needs the money for the home’s upkeep. Her children are young, and she wants them to have a good education. Elaborating on her pitch, Humaira says she wants to purchase a sewing machine and cloth so that she can begin taking orders for alterations, outfit making, etc ,that will help her earn.