rural – 1 Bridge

A SAMSUNG fridge is unloaded in Maladakal, a village in Devadurga Taluk, Raichur District . Devamma, receives her latest purchase with a big smile, “We used to store our extra vegetables in the next house as they have a fridge!. We saved this year to purchase this new fridge”. Maladakal is a village around 30 kms away from Raichur town

The facilitator of this purchase is our 29-year-old 1Bridge Advisor (1BA ) Naziya said, “I am so happy that I helped them make the purchase. I am part of their celebration!”

Naziya Begum is a housewife and has completed her PUC. She is now the epicentre of digital connectivity for Maladakal, “The village has hugely benefit from me, we don’t go to the ATM anymore as I am helping everyone to do online transactions”, she said.

At first she was worried. Worried that her financial contribution to the household will take away from job as a mother and a homemaker. “I cannot put work before the needs of my family – my children need me, but being a 1BA gives me freedom to do things on my time..”.

Being a 1BA allows her to have flexibility of her working hours and a portable office, her smartphone!

In Naziya’s case, she is one of the few women who have their own businesses in the village. She has won the approval of the entire village by using her training to put her village on the steeplechase as the rest of digital India!

Our passion to create economic opportunities in remote parts of India was also fuelled by the need for a resolution to migrate for poorly paying jobs. Migration can be physically & mentally taxing, especially for people who are so closely knit into one large family called a village. When we extend this opportunity to women, we now realize the sheer impact of it in the society. They’re seen with respect; individuals who contribute not only to the wellbeing of the family, but also contribute to financial stability.

“People come to me for solutions. They need something but not travel for it – they want to recharge, I provide them the comfort of these services from their villages itself. We have many tasks in a day, to take care of the village, our crops, and families and run the community. I take one task off from a person’s to-do list, a small task with big effort, and that is the best part of my day” says Naziya with a big smile!

We dream of a Naziya in every village of our country!

A story of a village, an entrepreneurial tailor and how he strives for more – by grabbing opportunities with both hands!

It doesn’t always take a business school to teach business sense!

This is the story of Mahadeva, a 34-year-old man who started his own shop at the age of 18 and since has turned it into a hub for diverse services.

A small tailoring shop in Muttanahalli serves over 70 customers each day, from different villages .. What is he offering that makes him the sole service provider to a long-lasting and faithful customer base for over two decades? Muttanahalli is located in the south of Karnataka in Mandya District and like the rest of the state is rich in culture and flora. Moreover, it is a part of a small cluster of villages between two major cities, Bangalore and Mysore.

Mahadeva did not see any examples of educated youths from his village, who were employed and aiding their family.

Mahadeva was born and brought up here. His uncle introduced him to the art of tailoring; he was taken to meet customers, practice on waste cloth and was more than happy to assist. In his free time, during holidays and such, he perfected the finer details of stitching and local embroidery. At 18, his family persuaded him to leave his education and take up tailoring full time. He was torn about the decision,but Mahadeva did not see any examples of educated youths from his village, who were employed and supporting their family. So he decided that his future lay in his hands, and tailoring would get him to an early start.

Business was rough at the beginning, there wasn’t enough investment or assistance. With help of his mother, he completed the first few orders from his home in the village. He derived inspiration from the Internet and presented new design suggestions to his customers and slowly built a name for quality work. Mahadeva’s effort, skill and people skills, set the business on an upward path. He applied his enterprise and marketing skills to reach customers. Along with a promise of quality and on-time delivery, he printed visiting cards.

While renting a shop, he looked for a strategic location; a place accessible to villages around, so people can visit him conveniently. On their way in and out of the highway, they place and pick up their orders. Within the first year he received his biggest order yet- clothes for an entire family for their daughter’s wedding including the bride’s apparel. His long- standing relationships aided by the quality of his work travel by word of mouth now, after being in the business for almost two decades.

The integration of digital services has also opened doors to a new customer base; villagers are now able to place online orders for personal and household items.

Mahadeva is a successful entrepreneur, but his ambition is to grow and serve his community. His entrepreneurial spirit attracted us to him – and he is now a 1Bridge Advisor providing a range of assisted digital services at his shop.

The integration of digital services has also opened doors to a new customer base; villagers are now able to place online orders for personal and household items. Since people who visit his shop have to travel no further to fulfill their online services needs, his village has become a go-to hub for other villages around the area. Mahadeva has used this opportunity to fuse his two businesses and help each other build. His go-getter spirit and grounded personality are perfect for his line of work. He is patient with his customers while identifying and placing orders on the 1Bridge catalogue. Since his existing costumers trust him, he places orders for items such as watches, TV’s etc. He does recharges for mobile and DTH for his existing customers.

As a last-mile new commerce network , we interact with young men and women, whose stories are inspire us each time. They are people with few opportunities and have no option other than to chose a less travelled path, however; what makes them successful is their customer centricity and resilience. They are truly the Abundance Ambassadors for their villages!

Tag: rural

Answering the aspirations of rural India through Women Entrepreneurs!

Creating Opportunities for those who can grab it!