Story of Kalpana, Becoming an Entrepreneur

Kalpana

This is the story of Kalpana Sachin Khude. Kalpana is 25 years old, she lives in the village of Lonand (Satara District, India) with her family, which includes her husband, two children and her in-laws. Work has been tough to come by in Lonand and Mr. Khude was the sole provider of the family for a very long time. He worked for 4 days of the week on a farm as a wage worker. Due to the poor economic conditions in Lonand, there wasn’t much work to be found for Kalpana.
Whenever Kalpana got a chance she discussed her hopes with her friends, it was due to once such conversation that her friend informed a Mann Deshi employee about Kalpana’s aspirations to work. As a result, Kalpana enrolled in Mann Deshi’s digital literacy program instantly where she got advice on the feasibility of businesses she could run with limited capital. Thanks to this advice, she started her ladoo and salted peanuts business. Initially, she invested a small amount, approximately INR 500. Kalpana quickly turned a profit and upon discussing it with her husband, he decided that he would dedicate the days of the week where he didn’t work to help his wife run her venture.
Soon after, Kalpana took a loan from Mann Deshi for INR 3000 to expand her business. She has found the work extremely rewarding and believes that she has learned important lessons for her business from Mann Deshi’s financial literacy course.