Laxmi has been in the tailoring business for 16 years now. She completed her 10th grade and started working in a tailoring shop. Something she opted for earning pocket money turned into her full-time profession. She later completed her high school studies, worked in a tailoring shop for three years, and got ready to start her own tailoring business, independently. She started stitching dresses and clothes from her home in the beginning and then rented out a store. Looking, back she feels she has come a long way; she not only stitches clothes but also provides training on tailoring. 

Disaster Experience 
Laxmi shared her disaster experience with a heavy heart. In 2015, a massive earthquake damaged her house as well as her store. She along with her family lived in a temporary shelter for almost 7 months. Laxmi and her family faced a huge financial and emotional crisis. While living in the shelter she thought what else could be worse than this. Her family with all their savings and added loan rebuilt a house and slowly with time she again rented out a new store to start her tailoring business. While she was focusing on getting her life and business back together, in 2019 pandemic loomed over the world. The fear of spreading the virus led to her closing her store again and her business was affected almost for a year. Having faced the two major disasters in life may have demotivated many but Laxmi is strong-willed.  Determined to take her business to the next level and to continue learning new skills, he is happy to have her products being promoted on the Udhyami Utthan (UU) Online Shop at Thulo.Com along with getting training on ‘Building Resilient Businesses’.

“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
Laxmi shared that though she could not further her education she wants to keep herself updated and therefore she almost never misses out on opportunities where she can enhance her skills. Being a project beneficiary has given her a chance to be aware of disaster risk reduction management including learning about managing an online shop. 

According to her, it was a complete training package while she also feels an in-person refresher training in the near future would be helpful to keep up with the things she has learned. 
Laxmi shared, “I feel that Business Continuity Management (BCM) is an essential training module that every business person requires. Every now and then we face different disasters and it is important to be aware and have a plan to run a resilient business. Being prepared before the disaster and being aware of what to do post-disaster helps mitigate many risks.”
Living in a world where technology is taking over and demanding us to be ready with enhanced digital skills, Laxmi realized that being able to learn how online business works was an added bonus. Learning about the use of social media and various ways of promoting products through them was something Laxmi enjoyed.

Getting to interact with banks and insurance companies while also learning about their various services and schemes was a good experience according to Laxmi. 

Future Plan
Currently, Laxmi’s time is split between her kids and business. She plans to invest more and expand her business in a few years once her kids grow up. She will share her learning on disaster risk reduction management with other women producers who are in her circle in order to transfer the knowledge on running a resilient business. She would like to continue her association with Udhyami Utthan as she doesn’t want to miss out on more learning opportunities that this association may provide.

Laxmi is a home-based producer based in Byasi, Bhaktapur.
Visit her Online Shop at Thulo.com/uu