Welcome To
Udhyami Utthan (UU) Online Shop
Udhyami Utthan (UU) Online Shop is a part of the project titled "Fostering Resilience of Women Led Businesses (including home-based women producers) and Consumers” which falls under the gamut of the Udhyami Utthan campaign.
The UU online shop is a dedicated shop for products related to disaster risk reduction, disaster preparedness, response, and recovery that are produced by women entrepreneurs/producers from both the formal and informal sectors including home-based workers. The products are showcased under the categories shelter, health, wash, education, food, and feel-good products.
We request everyone to join hands in supporting our amazing women entrepreneurs by buying their products and also by providing them feedback. While you enjoy their wonderful products you would also be supporting them in their journey towards resilient entrepreneurship.
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I understand that this is a very competitive world and digital skill is necessary. Being associated with Udhyami Utthan has helped me learn Digital Literacy skills that weren't available when I started.
Geeta runs a tea business. After her graduation, she tried working for a few firms and eventually decided to start her own business. Initially, there weren’t shops that sold varieties of tea in Thamel (a tourist hotspot in Kathmandu). Geeta decided to open a store to sell regular and herbal teas in Thamel targeting tourists which became an instant hit. Her self-motivation helped in running her business for over 11 years now. With the growing popularity of consuming organic products, there is a rise of competitors in the tea business and she is willing to grow her skills to become more competitive and successful.
Grishma is a budding entrepreneur who is carving a path towards her successful entrepreneurial journey. Young and passionate about handcrafted products, Grishma makes handmade candles which have beautiful designs and natural scents that make one feel good. Aiming to promote affordable handcrafted products and create an impact that encourages youths to engage in small-scale businesses, she started her business in December 2020. Grishma happily shares, “One thing I love about my business is that I work in a way that suits my style and tastes, and at the same time I see my product and business providing people a sense of happiness.” Youths like Grishma, taking a plunge into entrepreneurship makes us hopeful towards the future of the nation.
Life is not always fair, but it is up to us to live it with optimism. Maan Kumari Rai has a positive take on her life, she prefers to be happy with things she has achieved than being disappointed over things she failed. She is happy to have a business even if it’s a micro level one as this has helped her take care of her family on her own. She lives in a joint family of 11 members where she is the sole income earner. Maan Kumari has been running her home based tailoring and knitting business for 12 years now. Prior to doing her own business she worked for various garment stores which helped her learn the then current trend, customer preferences and boosted her confidence to run business on her own. Her family takes her as their pillar of strength and are proud of her.
Women grow up learning various life skills at home, especially taught by their mothers. Nisha Malbul decided to sharpen one of her skills, stitching, that she learnt at home As she had a stitching machine at home, she started her home-based business with low investment. After a year with the support of her friends she registered her business. It is now running for 6 years and Nisha is happy to be able to support her family financially. Nisha specializes in stitching hand bags and she has been making a variety of hand bags for both women and men.
Ross Shrestha communicates through sign language and has inspired us to look beyond the physical ability of a person. She believes that everyone needs support while she requires special support that may not be common for everyone. Having an inquisitive nature, she is always hungry to learn new things. Her enrollment at skill development courses such as knitting, stitching and embroidery act as a proof of her hunger for learning. In order to support women like her, she founded her NGO named Kavre Development Association of the Deaf which provides skill based training. Being able to randomly produce various products made her have business prospects. Though her business is unregistered, she has been promoting them through various exhibitions and getting recognition. She knits beautiful woolen caps, socks, headbands, stitches reusable sanitary pads and makes embroidery cards. She feels good as she is being able to contribute financially, though minimal to her family.
There is a saying that “A strong woman knows she has strength enough for the journey, but a woman of strength knows it is in the journey where she will become strong.” Here we have Shanta Shakya who has experienced many ups and downs in her life, which altogether have made her a woman of strength. A sole earner of her family, she lives with her elderly mother. She was always interested in stitching and knitting. After taking a basic skill training on the same, she eventually made it her profession. She is running her business from home, taking pre-orders and knitting as per her customer’s requirement. While she can stitch and knit both, she prefers knitting which is why she has been focusing on it lately. She has been into this business for 20 years now and wishes to continue it as long as she can.
Shanti Nakarmi runs a tailoring business. She didn’t allow her disability to hold her back; instead, she learned to stitch clothes and started her own business. She also trains other women with disabilities in tailoring and specializes in stitching clothes and carry bags. In addition to running a business, she is also an active social worker. She is a member of an organization that works for people with disabilities. With every challenge, Shanti discovered something new in herself and found a new way to lead. Running a tailoring business for 15 years, and simultaneously being involved in social work isn’t easy for a person with a disability. However, Shanti likes breaking such prejudice. With her determination and hard work, she is one of the breadwinners for her family of eleven and a voice for women entrepreneurs with disabilities.
She is someone who enjoys her freedom to try out new ideas and run her own business. Starting a company was a big thing for her and now she feels that she is responsible to ease different challenges residing in society, especially in the health sector. She shares that even though she is living her dream by running her own successful business, she has much more goals to achieve.
I have plans to expand my chocolate business in major cities of Nepal. After association with Udhyami Utthan, I have now understood that e-commerce will give me that opportunity to reach out to untapped markets.
In Nepal, we have profound women producers/ entrepreneurs whose creativeness is just amazing. However, due to lack of preparedness they lag behind when unexpected incidents happen. In simple terms, disaster strikes it hard on them. This project titled ''Fostering Resilience of Women Led Businesses (including home-based women producers) and Consumers'' strives to assist women-led businesses to sustain and come out stronger even during disasters.
We are here to support women by providing trainings, online selling platform, awareness on Disaster Risk Reductions and Management (DRRM), to name a few. All in all, we are here to help them become a resilient business owner. Shout out to Women Empowerment.
Ms. Surakchya Adhikari
Co-founder and COO, Thulo.Com
This project is part of our Udhyami Utthan campaign that envisages a network of all stakeholders engaged in empowering the entrepreneurs (formal and informal businesses) of Nepal.
Disasters like COVID-19 have necessitated the need to build resilient businesses. Hence the project offers a comprehensive package for women-owned/led businesses including home-based producers that involves upscaling entrepreneurship development skills through various training as well as promoting and marketing their products (used specifically on disaster management) on the e-commerce platform – thulo.com.
Join us in addressing this need by purchasing the products and contributing towards fostering and empowering women and their businesses amidst disasters.
Dr. Mona Shrestha Adhikari
CEO, EMERGE
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