In the current shadow of the COVID19 pandemic, it is rare to hear someone say that her business has not been affected by the lockdowns, transport disruptions and broken supply chains. So, we were all ears when Gazala Parvin told us her story during a review call.

Wife of a migrant contract labourer, Gazala lives with her three children at her parents’ house. Her parents were farmers and had some land. But Gazala had the drive to start a business. Her first business was a tailoring shop, where she stitched ladies’ apparel. Her income increased and became steady when she got some job work from garment manufacturers. The manufacturers also supplied the cloth, so Gazala did not need much working capital. Gazala had to employ some workers.

Then the pandemic ravaged the economy. But Gazala was quick on her feet. She began training local girls in tailoring, creating an income stream that helped offset the losses in her main business. This also localised part of her income and protected her from the supply-chain disruptions in the garments business caused by the lockdowns.

She did not stop there. She also set up a grocery or kirana. The government-imposed lockdowns from the end-March 2020 to arrest the spread of the COVID19 pandemic exempted kirana shops so the income was protected.

In my last blog, I had touched upon the need for business planning to counter the abrupt negative blows to the business environment. One of the measures I mentioned was diversification to spread the risk.

Gazala, who dropped out of school after Class 10, has no business management diploma nor is it likely that she has read any textbook on risk management. But it was her quick thinking and never-lose attitude that led her to diversify.

This is the reason why I love sharing the stories of our customers. There are many learnings that we take away from these discussions with our borrowers. The most factor is a sense of purpose. Our women entrepreneurs are always looking for avenues to make it a better tomorrow for their families and themselves.

It is a matter of great pride for me to be able to contribute to their success stories.