Nitu Kumari leads the path for rural women entrepreneurs in Nalanda on using the online marketplace
Nitu Kumari came a long way to become a successful technology supported entrepreneur woman. With four daughters and a son and her husband’s job as a driver in a school, it was difficult to run the family, the study of their children in private school which was far away.
In Feb 2020, Nitu participated in the entrepreneurship training facilitated by Swayam Shikshan Prayog – SSP from which she got trained on business plan, marketing, product selection, customer behavior etc. She thought she could do something to support her family as they were living with her husband’s meager income from a job as a driver in a school. She opened a grocery and cosmetic store called Nitu Shringar & Kirana Store in March 2020 with a capital of INR 20,000 which she took as a loan from Self Help Group.
At this time, COVID pandemic spread across the villages and a lock-down was declared. Her husband’s job was lost. But her grocery store business continued at her home and the sales increased. In this crisis, this small shop became the only support for this family. From this business, Nitu got a good identity in her village as she got training on entrepreneurship and trained many other women on the same. She promotes eco-friendly and clean energy products such as solar lights and lanterns, sanitary pads, organic fertilizers and LED bulbs. She is very active as a Sakhi Task Force member to support people to overcome the COVID crisis.
Grooming and training by SSP and Gaavkhoj, Nitu learned how to promote business online. She has launched her online business after creating a web-page and sharing its link with all her customers in her neighborhood and promoting the business through WhatsApp groups as well. The new venture helped her in increasing the sales and earning more income and outreach of new customers.
Link of her Web-Page –
https://www.gaavkhoj.com/shops/near-me/26005/nitu-shringar-evam-kirana-storeNow, she earns an average income of INR 5000 and supports her children’s education. She is active in online business promotion, creating web pages and training other women to become tech savvy and utilize the digital space for business.
Having her own web page and business, her status has increased a lot in the society and her shop is seen as different and innovative from other shops in her village. Nitu’s voice is now recognized and known in her family and communities and her role in decision making has increased as that was not the case earlier.
“If I didn’t attend the training on entrepreneurship, it was not possible for me to become a business woman. Neither I could open a shop, nor would I have got good and excellent products directly from the company, neither my family income increased, nor my reputation increased.”
Swayam Shikshan Prayog
29th September, 2021