In the Bangalore suburb of Whitefield, where I live, I am on the edge of Bangalore’s urban city limits, and will often take this proximity to the countryside as an opportunity to escape the city hustle & bustle. Shortly before the Diwali festival I made one of these quick escapes, and fortuitously met a woman that has reinforced the importance of the work that Pollinate Group does.
This woman, called Aadhirai, was a brass and copper wares merchant. She makes an 80 km round trip every day by foot and bus to sell her wares in the city. Her family is reliant on the income she earns, as her husband lost his work due to COVID.
I asked Aadhirai whether I could have her phone number, so I could find her at the markets and purchase more products from her. Promptly, she produced an old button phone and asked me to input my number, as she did not know how to do this, and did not know her own number to give to me.
It struck me that this woman who showed great entrepreneurial spirit, and had the right attitude but not the right skills to succeed.
At Pollinate Group, we ensure that women like Aadhirai, who have untapped potential, receive the support and resources required to help them increase their incomes, skills, and confidence as micro-business owners.
Whilst we champion the entrepreneurial spirit in India and Nepal, for women like Aadhirai, they do this work for survival, not for the accolades.
Pollinate’s empowerment model leaves no one behind and nurtures women into confident entrepreneurs who distribute durable solar lanterns and other essential household products at affordable prices, on accessible interest-free repayment plans.
Our network of entrepreneurs transition from surviving to thriving, and they become leaders of change in their communities. They are determined to create a better future for themselves and their children.
The year of COVID has been difficult for our entrepreneurs in particular. Many have migrated back to their native rural villages, and those that remain have lost income and face risk of infection.
To ensure that our entrepreneurs swiftly recover from the COVID crisis, we are introducing new systems aided by technology into our distribution network that will lead to increased skills, profit and impact in our network. Central to our technology-led recovery plan is a business tool that so many of us take for granted; a basic smart phone. We have launched our “Bridge the gap, bring her online” campaign to raise funds to equip our entrepreneurs with the necessary tools and knowledge to successfully adopt new technologies to the benefit of their businesses.
However, over 70% of our entrepreneurs do not have access to a smartphone, and among those that do have access, 96% must rely on a family member to operate the phone.
In 2021, Pollinate will launch an ambitious digital empowerment and training program to:
- Provide smartphones to women entrepreneurs;
- Provide digital literacy workshops to our entire network of women entrepreneurs;
- Provide digital payments and banking workshops & financial literacy training across our entire network; and
- Distribute digital business kits to our network.
As our entrepreneurs build their skills and confidence they will be able to access remote training, easily order stock and manage their customer’s repayments. They will also be able to receive digital payments, and with our support, be able to access these funds easily.
Entrepreneurial women are deserving and in need of all of the support we can give. Pollinate Group is uniquely placed to close the digital gap that our entrepreneurs experience and facilitate opportunities for them to increase their incomes and impact in 2021.
Sujatha Ramani, Pollinate Group CEO
