From Savings to Success: Gangaben’s SHG Journey
August 19, 2023
Gangaben, scaled up her mehndi cone business with a ₹50,000 loan from her SHG support, helped her grow her work and financial independence.
Gangaben, 73, from Sitara Chowk, Bhuj, has been making mehndi cones for over 25 years. She initially learned the skill from a family acquaintance in Mumbai and began producing cones on a small scale. After joining the Sitara Mahila Bachat Mandal, she started saving regularly and gained the confidence to expand her business.
A few years ago, Ganga took a loan of ₹50,000 from her SHG to scale up production. With support from her daughter-in-law, who found a cone-making machine online, Gangaben invested in the machine and bought raw materials at wholesale rates. This helped her increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve profit margins.
She now takes loans regularly from her SHG before festive seasons like Ramadan to meet increased demand. Gangaben is satisfied with the steady growth of her business and values the role her SHG has played in enabling her financial independence and business expansion.