Nirmala has been involved in agriculture for more than 20 years. She eventually realized that she could get into the agri business and has been doing so for 7 years now. She grows various agri products which tend to be seasonal while lapsi (Hog plum) candies once made can last longer, that is why most of her income comes from lapsi candies business. She is confident that if she gets proper market linkage her business will definitely get to the next level. She also actively volunteers in community development work and encourages women to use their skills to generate income. Nirmala lives in a joint family of twenty-one members. 

Disaster Experience 
According to Nirmala, though experiencing the earthquake in 2015 was a very scary one, it didn’t have much effect on her business. However, the landslide which occurred next year affected her business severely. All the agro crops were damaged and huge rainfall along with hailstorms destroyed the hog plum (lapsi) fruits as well which led to having no lapsi candies during the year. Nirmala’s main source of income was from the candies and that year there were no lapsi fruits to make the candies. 

Again when the pandemic hit the world and restrictions by the government were incorporated she was unable to process the lapsi fruit pulp and she could not preserve the pulp at all which led to her discarding the pulps. This caused her huge loss and her business hasn’t recovered yet. 
Nirmala was looking for an opportunity to restore her business and get more market linkage in order to survive in the long run. Therefore, she was happy to be part of Udhyami Utthan and get 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
Nirmala mentions it was a great learning experience after being a project beneficiary. The training module started with Business Continuity Management where she learnt about major disasters affecting the country and preparing a Business Continuity Plan (BCP). She mentioned working on the BCP was rigorous and still she feels she needs to work more on it. However Nirmala thinks that whatever plan she has developed if she successfully implements it then her business will definitely grow. 
She shares that the module she has liked the most is Business Development Management as it covered the overall topics of developing a business along with the mindfulness session which is equally essential for every individual to be able to lessen the stress.

Nirmala was happy to learn about Digital Literacy and the technique of using a digital platform to do business online. She continued “ Marketing is very important for every business. Knowing the ideal customer during the session on marketing and promotion has made me understand the importance of understanding and identifying our customers which will help us offer them with right products”.  Nirmala realizes the importance of the use of technology in business and especially with the growing trend of using social media, digital marketing plays a great role in getting the products in the eyes of customers. Therefore, she has taken this particular training module seriously and wants to learn more about it. 

Nirmala shares that banks and insurance companies shared various schemes for businesses run by an individual. She shares that there are women doing business in groups and if banks could come up with a loan scheme for group lending for businesses run by a group of women then it would be great. 

Future Plan
Nirmala plans to revive her business through rigorous marketing and networking. She wishes to implement the BCP that she has developed and run a planned and proper business. She wishes to continue her association with Thulo.Com and Udhyami Utthan as she wants to market her products through e-commerce.

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