Unnati, a new initiative encouraging entrepreneurship in children! The initiative launched on March 20 and our children had already decided on their products and were selling it to the villagers of Lasundra as an experiment and also preparing for a pitch for their businesses.
The children went through an investment round on March 20 where they presented their ideas to prospective investors. The children had to answer questions on not only profit and losses but detailed breakdown of cost like labor, indirect costs like using water from the Hostel, paying rent to the hostel for utensils and transportation, considering environment impact of using a choolah, not using newspaper due to lead in the ink, viability of the business etc.
It was a reality check for our children to be exposed to the outside world and understanding the pressures of running a business and expectations that external parties have when investing in their businesses.
Currently our children are selling the following products every evening in the nearby villages –
Panipuri
Jhal Muri
Papdi no Lot
Ghugni
Wood fired chips
Gola
Handmade natural Soap
Hand weaved mats from waste cloth
