We know this is the era of budding young entrepreneurs- the cliché “generation of today, future of tomorrow”, the energetic, innovative, persistent youths with the zeal to conquer the world. But my recent encounter has opened my mind to a possibility that we’ve all failed to realize a whole another segment of aspiring entrepreneurs that we’ve all been ignoring. The ‘retirees’, the above ‘40s’, the unnoticed.
Mrs. Hom Kumari Rijal was standing beside a small table with a combination of things you’d only see at a farmer’s market: homemade paneer, chocolates, popcorn, and accessories. “I was an ambitious woman before marriage and it is difficult for ambitious people to stay idle”, Mrs. Rijal replied when asked why she got involved in a business at this age. She is a retired school teacher, beautician, tailor and the list goes on. She quit her work to tend to her sick husband and now does business in her free time. Thirty seconds into the conversation and you can feel the joyful vibe she radiates from within. Calling her only a businesswoman would be an understatement as she is involved in so many other works. She is involved in teaching small children and women empowerment training as far as her finances allow her to. She also provides skill development training in beauty, tailoring, knitting, painting, making handicrafts and makes them herself as well. In addition to that, she also tries to find and provide a market for the products she makes. She goes to places like farmer’s markets in Le Sherpa and Yellow house to showcase her products.
Of all the things she sells, her homemade chocolates immediately grabbed out attention. When asked about the chocolates, she sounded almost disappointed because of the lack of market and consumers’ disregard for Nepalese chocolates. She pointed out that she wants to give training on chocolate making to the women of rural areas but it is very expensive and there’s not enough market to sustain the cost. “We prefer foreign goods, consider Nepali products to be of inferior quality and don’t even give them a second glance,” she said. Ms. Rijal mentioned that if the consumers were more accepting of Nepali products, it would be much helpful to the economy. It would contribute to women employment, improvement in their standards of living, and would end up helping the economy. We don’t really lack resources, it’s the willingness that is lacking in case of Nepal. Despite the current situation, Ms. Rijal is hopeful about “Made in Nepal” products because of the involvement of youths she has been seeing these days. She wants to see the environment where youths can help the retirees with their ventures and hopefully work together.
Often times, entrepreneurs and their products go unnoticed because of them not getting a proper platform to showcase what they have. If these entrepreneurs are provided with the impetus and platform to showcase what they have, they can certainly thrive and move forward in their entrepreneurial journey. The story of Ms.Hom Kumari Rijal depicts that with places like farmer’s market, the food startups are provided a heads-on to move on and on.