Shanti learned tailoring soon after completing grade 10. For almost 15 years she worked for others and when she delivered her first baby she decided to quit working for others and get advanced training in tailoring. While getting the training, a plastic-free community campaign had started in her locality which led her to stitch cloth bags (Tote bags) for grocery purposes which she was able to sell in huge quantities. This gave her the needed encouragement to continue with her tailoring business.

Disaster Experience 
Shanti can only think of Covid 19 as the biggest disaster that affected her business to a large extent. 
When Shanti had finally found her purpose in the tailoring business, the pandemic loomed over. She had invested in raw materials and was hoping to get orders from her clients, but with the nationwide lockdown, all the orders got canceled. This caused her a huge financial crisis. The past two years were a difficult phase for Shanti and she is still struggling to get back into her business. 
When she got the opportunity of having her products promoted on the Udhyami Utthan (UU) Online Shop at Thulo.Com along with getting training on ‘Building Resilient Businesses’ she thought this could be a great learning 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
Shanti shares that none had imagined that this kind of disaster could happen in our life. Not a single person is left out, everyone is affected in one way or another. Shanti now has realized that one has to be prepared for any situation. Therefore, she liked the session on Business Continuity Management where she got to learn about managing the disaster risk and preparing a plan to be able to smoothly run her business. 
Shanti continued, “ It was great to learn about researching the market to offer the products as per the customer segment we are targeting.” Also, the use of social media for marketing the product is a requirement these days, and getting first-hand knowledge through the online session was a good learning experience.

Interacting with private banks and learning about the loan schemes has guided her about the schemes provided by various banks and choosing the right one. 

Future Plan
Shanti mentions that she has the skill and plans to utilize it for generating income. She plans to have her store one day. She wishes to continue her association with Udhyami Utthan and Thulo.Com even after the completion of the project as she has enjoyed the association and wants to keep up with the learning experience.

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