Binita started knitting as a hobby while she was in school. She learned it from her mother. She had not imagined that her hobby would one day turn into her profession. Binita has been knitting professionally for 10 years now. She feels that she is yet to tap a larger market to be able to earn a larger income. She feels that she needs more marketing of her product and a better network so that she can grow her business.

Disaster Experience 
Usually, Binita makes woolen items during the summer so that her customers can use the products during the winters. So, this limits her income as she does not have business during the summer. 
When the earthquake hit the country in 2015, Binita remembers she had already worked on the orders so it didn’t have much effect on her income. While the government imposed a lockdown in the country in 2020, Binita was expecting orders from her clients but very few placed orders. She had to cancel a few as it was not possible to get the raw materials. This affected her hugely and there wasn’t much income for her to make. 

While she was looking to learn new skills and expand her business she was excited to be part of the  Udhyami Utthan Campaign and is happy to be associated with Thulo.Com. 

“Fostering Resilience of Women-Led Businesses (including home-based women producers) and Consumers” is a project being implemented by Thulo.Com and Enterprise for Management, Economic Reform, and Gender Equality (EMERGE). The project is supported by United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Tayar Nepal - Improved Disaster Risk Management Project and also contributes to Udhyami Utthan (UU - https://udhyamiutthan.com/about-us/ ), an entrepreneurship empowerment initiative.

Experience as a Project Beneficiary
Binita realized that her business needs more marketing to be able to capture the attention of a larger market. She was happy to learn more about the importance and techniques through the Marketing and Promotion session.

Binita mentioned that “ During the marketing and promotion session she learned about understanding the ideal customer and giving out various offers time and again to boost the sales of the products”. This was a great learning experience for her.

Binita also liked the session on e-commerce skills as this is the need of the hour and the use of online platforms for promoting and selling the products helps in acquiring new customers. Binita feels that promoting online gives visibility to the products and can generate demand for them as well.

The session on banking and insurance has been wonderful. She is now aware that various schemes are available for women entrepreneurs.
 
Future Plan
Binita has plans to reach a larger market so she will look for opportunities for market linkage and networking. She wishes to continue her association with Thulo.Com and with Udhyami Utthan so that she can get opportunities for market linkage.

Binita is a home-based producer.
Visit her Online Shop at  Thulo.com/uu