Navalben’s illiteracy is not a disappointment for her. Even her age never restricted her from becoming a businesswoman. She made something happen that most educated people get intimidated by. She started her business by selling milk to local villages and now she earns crores in a year.
Gujarat: Thinking of becoming an independent business owner seems impossible when you are 60 years old. Most people lack the motivation to start anything new thinking that they have already spent a major part of their life and there’s nothing left for them.
Navalben from Gujarat is above this age-old thinking. She grew up in a village where no importance was given to girls’ education. She could never receive a formal education, but her knowledge about worldly matters is incomparable.
Business during Covid
Navalben started her own business at the age of 64 during the pandemic. Everyone’s business was being shut down, but Navalben had an interesting idea that changed her life.
She has four sons and all of them are educated and working professionals. Her kids used to help her when they were young, but everyone has now moved to the city for their work purposes. Navalben’s day starts early in the morning by milking the cows. She loves her animals and takes utmost care of them.
In 2020, Navalben had a great idea and decided that she would start selling the milk she obtains from her cows and buffaloes. She had been selling the milk to her fellow villagers earlier, but the selling of milk on a commercial level was new and painstaking.
Navalben was aware of the hard work it would involve but she was resolute in her idea. She initially had 10 animals when she started her business. She started at a small level and took the help of her sons to expand her business to other places like villages and cities.
Gradually, she came to be known as the old lady who sells good milk. As the business started growing firm roots, the number of animals increased and now she owns more than 200 buffaloes and 100 cows.
Selling milk to other big companies
Under two years of her business, Navalben started selling her good quality milk to Asia’s biggest Banas Dairy. She had never imagined that her little idea would ever make it possible for her to reach this level. It all started on a whim, but her hard work made the magic happen.
She deposits a thousand litres of milk to Banas Dairy and earns around 9 lakhs for the same amount. She was also felicitated by the company for being the largest producer of milk in the dairy.
Employment to 30 more people
Just hearing about Navalben’s whole-day activities might tire out any other person but she loves her work so much, that staying active like a 20-year-old at the age of 64 is a child’s play for her. Her day starts at 4 am and ends late in the night but she never gets exhausted from doing what she loves.
She even cultivates fodder for her animals herself on her 5 acres of land. She has also provided 30 more men and women with employment, making their life easier.
In August 2020, Amul Dairy released a list of 10 women entrepreneurs from rural areas who earned significant amounts of money through their work. Navalben stood at the first position with an earning of Rs. 87,95,900 by selling more than 22 thousand litres of milk that year. She successfully made more than one crore by the end of the same year. Following that year, Navalben was awarded with an entrepreneurship award by the Chief Minister in Gandhinagar.
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