Making lapsi candies for her family and friends was something she rejoiced. People encouraged her to start her own lapsi candy business. While she was hesitant initially, Devaka decided to take a plunge into entrepreneurship. Although she started Champak Pau Udhyog on a small scale catering to people she knew personally, her business started to flourish and is now catering to the masses.  Champak Pau Udhyog has a variety of lapsi candies and nepali sweet, sour spicy pau and other snack items. Devaka shares that she feels nostalgic when she looks back at the time when she started. Her joy gets to the next level when people share their love for her lapsi candies.  Devaka lives in a family of 8 members and is one of the breadwinners. 

Disaster Experience 
Business was doing well for Devaka. She was encouraged to expand her business when, unfortunately, a pandemic hit the world. Devaka is a very positive person but with the pandemic she felt very nervous about her business. As sales dropped tremendously and with uncertainty of the pandemic getting over she was doubtful if things will get better. Her plans for expanding her factory came to a halt with the pandemic looming around. Eventually after two years,the situation got better and when Devaka was looking to enhance her business knowledge and expand her business, she got an opportunity to be associated with the Udhyami Utthan campaign. She is happy with the overall learning experience and her online business experience.

“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
The project as a whole has given Devaka knowledge on preparedness that any business should practice for any kind of disaster that may directly or indirectly affect the business. Devaka shares, “Honestly, I came to know about Business Continuity Management (BCM) and Business Continuity Plan (BCP) only after attending sessions during this project. For a business to continue in the long run and to make entrepreneurs well-prepared for the uncertain future like disasters, knowledge on Business Continuity Management and having a BCP is a must”.

Devaka added, “In today's era, leveraging  e-commerce platforms for business is a need. This project has taught about the scope and benefits of using e-commerce platforms and social media for better business reach and sales. She now understands that the use of influential marketing, audience interaction in social media posts through quizzes and other giveaway ideas helps people learn more about our products and inspire willingness to buy them as well. I already have my business's Facebook and Instagram account, and I am now planning to design a website as well”. 

The banking and insurance webinar has helped her learn about the different schemes they offered. Devaka has decided to apply for a subsidized loan scheme for women entrepreneurs from Rastriya Banijya Bank. She is also willing to do insurance for her business and if funds are enough, wants to provide insurance to her employees as well.

Future Plan
Devaka is also looking to learn more about insurance policies for her kind of business so as to choose the right one. She is willing to continue her online shop at Thulo.Com. She shared, “While promoting the products online I came to know that today’s generation are attracted toward online shopping  as I get a lot of inquiries regarding the products, thus to convert enthusiastic customers into my loyal customers I want to continue selling my products on e-commerce platforms.” As she has been getting a lot of orders, she is extremely happy to have been associated with UU Online Shop at Thulo.Com.  

Devaka Shrestha is the owner of Champak Pau Udhyog in Changunarayan, Bhaktapur.
Visit her Online Shop at Thulo.com/uu
https://thulo.com/index.php?dispatch=companies.products&company_id=517