The client (name kept hidden) lives with her husband and a toddler in a semi-urban locality of the Chandkheda area in Ahmedabad, Gujarat (India). She is a self-employed beautician, who often works from her home and sometimes even goes to a client’s location on demand owing to special occasions such as marriage, social functions, etc. Even before her marriage she was well-versed with the skills required to be a proficient beautician. After marriage she could not continue with her passion owing to the increased household and childcare responsibilities. However, a few years back, she came to know of the group loans given by Prayas. She decided to take up a loan for buying the materials and small machines such as hair straightener and curler, massage machine, etc., and then continued with her passion for full-time.
Before taking the loan, she had a monthly income of around Rs. 5,000-7,000 which has now increased to Rs. 10,000-12,000. She was not able to take bigger orders during ‘marriage’ season owing to a material shortage. Now, she earns Rs. 5,000-10,000 extra above her regular income during the ‘marriage’ season. She even went on and began a small trading business of electronic items and other consumer goods such as watches, spray, purse, etc. in a fifty percent partnership with her friend. She even earns an income of Rs. 3000-4000 monthly from this trade activity. With the increased profits, she could purchase a refrigerator and television. She even joyously said, “I have achieved financial independence. I do not ask my husband to buy me anything that I want. I just go [in the market] and buy whatever I want.”
She has even inspired her sister-in-law to take up the beautician work. To encourage her, she often passes a few orders to her when she is not able to fulfil them herself due to certain reasons. This way her customers also remain satisfied. Moreover, her confidence has increased so much that she herself identified two groups of women and encouraged them to take up loans from Prayas. She even encouraged her husband to take up GTPL service business (TV-channel services) as a result of which their household income has increased. He was previously a driver and had quite a low income. On asking about how much she wants to educate her son, she said “I want my son to complete graduation and post-graduation. I want to send him to Dubai (at her brother’s home) for higher studies and settle there”. Going further, she even wants to scale-up her current business.
The blog is authored by Bansari Buha.