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Helping Women Scale up Their Businesses

... Project Swavalambane

Women owned enterprises not just stand as symbols of empowerment but also address
several unique social and cultural issues pertaining to women. Financially independent
women are the strongest determinants of a progressive nation. EDII has presently been
implementing the Swavalambane project, which is an initiative by NSRCEL, the business
incubator at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), and Sanjeevini –
Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Promotion Society (KSRLPS), supported by the National
Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). The objective of the project is to empower and build the
skills and capacities of 150 rural women entrepreneurs with businesses in non-farm / non-
agri activities in Karnataka, so that their businesses scale up. The project is being
implemented in 26 districts of Karnataka State.

Participants of the Bootcamp organized at The Organisation for the Development of People
(ODP) Mysore.

The businesses being addressed for growth include manufacturing/trading of agarbatti,
bamboo products, food and food products, gems and jewellery, handicraft,
handloom/power loom products, health and hygiene products, disposable plates,
wooden products as well as tailoring and several other areas. In the last two months, the
project witnessed 3-days of boot camps organised in Kalaburgi and Mysore covering
Kalaburgi, Belagavi, Mysuru & Bengaluru divisions, focussed on sensitizing rural women
towards the evolving dynamics of entrepreneurship and the new ways that could help
them enhance their business prospects. A total of 101 women founders attended from
two camps which covered essential topics of taxation, GST compliance, digital payments,
marketing strategies, and retail channels. Beneficiary screenings were conducted in view
of beneficial government schemes, thus ensuring adequate support from partner
organizations such as Selco, Nano Media and Haqdarshak. The trainees were encouraged
to maintain proper cash records and bills for effective financial management and
transparency. Meetings between buyers and sellers and mentoring sessions were also
organised for enhanced clarity and benefit of the participants.

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