It's so strange how this works. Just yesterday I'd mentioned how I'm so far from achieving the task of enabling 45 micro energy enterprises over the year, and how we'd done only 5 so far.
I was so focused on the numbers........ what went wrong, what are the learnings, let's re-strategize, and all of that, that until we prepared the first half year report for the project, I'd completely failed to see the 5 done, as 5 different people, with 5 different lives, 5 different impacts. Let me share the experience.
First a little on the project itself, as it's always possible that you can find me an entrepreneur too, Bihar, Orissa or Karnataka :)
The project is targeted at identifying, encouraging and enabling under-served micro energy entrepreneurs.
By micro, we're talking as small as Rs.10,000 to Rs.5,00,000. Energy because that's our area of expertise. Our role is not just financial support, (which goes as a soft loan: 0% to 5%, no security, repayments matched to cash flows), but also support on ideation, market survey, supply linkage, operational support and mentorship. We'd like to be with them for 2 to 3 years atleast. While we don't have the bandwidth to be directly involved, I'd want them to know that we're just a phone call away for anything they might need.
Remember, the goal is to encourage entrepreneurship in a segment which has minimal support.
A snapshot of 2 of the cases:
Solar Sewing Machine at Sirsi, Karnataka
Geeta Hedge at Sirsi
Geeta, lives in a village in Sirsi, Karnataka, and has one manually run sewing machine. She felt that if she had a motorized machine she could cater to the tailoring requirements of the nearby 5 to 6 villages which had a combined population of 1000, who currently travel a long distance to the nearest town to get their clothes stitched. But due to highly erratic power supply a motorized solution didn't work.
And that's where the solar powered sewing machine came in. Solarizing her machine cost Rs.22,000. The loan from us was Rs.17,000 at 2% pa interest, monthly instalment of Rs.600 for a 3 year period. We want them to bring in some part of the cost....yes, skin in the game is very important. Enables not just commitment, but more importantly, ownership and pride of achievement.
It's been a month and shes earned Rs. 8000/- in the month.
Solar Refrigerator, Bailhongal, Karnataka
Basavaraj Yammi with his Solar Powered Fridge
Basavaraj is a small tea stall owner in Bailhongal, selling coffee, tea and small confectionary items to around 75 customers a day and earning around Rs.4000 pm. While the area is connected to the grid, there is no electricity connection available for petty shops, and he uses solar for lighting in his shop.
The fridge was a first for SELCO as well. The project cost Rs.1,10,000, and as it was a pilot the funding was done by way of half grant and half loan. Loan was Rs.40,000/- at 2% for 3 years. He now sells aerated drinks and curd as well, and in the three months since, his business has gone up by 40%.
That's the kind of opportunity we want to enable.
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