Sangeeta Pandey quit from her first job as it prevented her from taking care of her daughter. She thought of opening a business and was supported by her husband. An investment of Rs 1500 was made in the beginning and today her business has a value of Rs 3 crore.
Gorakhpur: A ship can sail in the violent of seas when the captain is determined and confident about their skills. Sangeeta Pandey is one such sailor who refused to accept defeat in the face of adversities. She started off with making fancy boxes with an investment Rs 1500. She earned Rs 650 from her first order and today the turnover of her company stands at Rs 3 crore.
Who is Sangeeta?
Sangeeta Pandey comes from a humble background. She was not married into a rich household. Her father was an army officer, and her mother is a homemaker. Her husband is a head constable in the police department. As a young girl, she had aspired to become an independent woman but due to her early marriage, she had to give up on a lot of her dreams.
Sangeeta’s daughter was nine months old when she gave an interview in Child Services and made it through. But when she started her work and brought her daughter along with her, her colleagues made objections about it. The next day, she left her young daughter at home under someone else’s care and left for work. In the evening, she returned back home with a terrible feeling of regret. This incident made her quit from her job.
Support from husband
One day, Sangeeta noticed beautiful sweets boxes stacked on top of each other at a shop. An idea occurred in her mind that prompted her to make these boxes herself. She came back home and narrated her experiences to her husband and expressed her desire to open her own business. The husband was in her favour but asked her questions about the marketing and logistics of the business since they did not have any past experience of handling a business. Sangeeta urged him to just give her his support and believed that the magic would happen on its own.
Laying the foundation
The very next day, Sangeeta hopped on her Ranger bicycle and visited the local markets of Gorakhpur. She bought raw materials worth Rs 1500. She shares that that was the day of Teej festival, and she was on a fast. The same day, after returning home, she made 100 beautiful boxes. After that she needed to sell those boxes at the shops. She stacked them in a large bag and prepared herself for the worst while visiting several shops.
Not a single shopkeeper bought her boxes citing that they were really expensive. She did not give up and made the visits daily and explained to the shop owners about the specialty of her boxes. She told them how much time she invests in making them and the designs she choses to make them appealing. This ordeal continued for a month until she received her very first order from Bhagat Paneer shop located in Padri Bazaar, Gorakhpur. Sangeeta made Rs 650 from the sales.
International orders
After her first consignment, Sangeeta received many orders. Initially, it was difficult to make profits from the sales, as she faced shortage of money to complete the orders. She put her gold jewellery up for mortgage and took a loan. The loans helped her increase the supplies. Withing a few weeks, Sangeeta’s business picked up pace and the need to hire more workers was felt.
Just a few months later, Sangeeta started receiving international orders. Currently, she is operating her business in 16 districts of Uttar Pradesh. Her company is called ‘Siddhivinayak Packagers’, and hundreds of people are employed at the company. She receives regular orders from China.
Sangeeta feels grateful and shares that the joy she received from her very first order is incomparable. At present, the annual turnover of Sangeeta’s company is Rs 3 crore.
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