Page 34 - Plastics News January 2022

FEATURE

prompt after-sales services. Soon, all followed Covid-appropriate behaviour, capital or angel funding is not accessible.
happy customers started recommending all sanitisation norms and checked They really depend on debt financing.
us and the networking effect kicked in.” temperature and oxygen levels daily. Another big challenge for these ‘rural
Diversification This benefited me post-Covid a lot,” entrepreneurs’ or ‘grampreneurs’ is
Says Amruta, “Once our first product she stated. the ‘mentoring-barrier’. If we lose one
of adhesive stabilised, I realised that Funding entrepreneur like Amruta for lack of
mentoring or funds, we are losing our
we can’t stay put in the market with Raising capital for business was one ability to create 10 jobs. Hence, we focus
just single product. We were thinking of the toughest parts of Amruta’s on mentoring the entrepreneurs for
of adding new product offerings and entrepreneurial journey. She says, “I two years and helping them with idea
that’s when our customer themselves visited almost all banks to raise funds. validation and further creating a robust
showed us the direction. Some customers Bank officials used to see my tax returns business plan. Mentoring helps these
suggested us to provide with colour of last three years and either reject the same entrepreneurs – rejected earlier
pigments or tape colours along with proposal or asked for heavy security, by banks – receive debt financing, even
adhesives. I had no clue of what it was, collaterals. Finally, I had to sell all my without security or collaterals.” Amruta
but promised them that soon I will jewellery, break all FDs and we had to has also won the ‘Young Entrepreneur
deliver it to them. We did our research sell our farm to raise funds to setup the of the Year 2020’ award on November
and trials and customers were happy manufacturing plant. This entire process 3, 2020 conferred by Youth Business
with it. Soon, that product too became was very painful and disappointing, but International (YBI), UK. She competed
popular with other customers. We are that’s when I decided that one day these with about a thousand entrepreneurs
now getting enquiries from Nashik, Goa, bank officials will come to my company from 46 countries in this contest.
Aurangabad, Bengaluru etc.” Beetofix and offer me loan.” While Amruta
has also added two new products – managed to get the plant ready, she was Future Plans
printing ink on plastic rolls and adhesives in need of more funds. That’s when Amruta has set all her plans for the
for joining wood – to its range. one of their customers asked Amruta future. “I have set a goal of achieving Rs
10 crore turnover this financial year itself.
Covid impact to contact Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust At present I have 25 employees of which
When Covid-19 outbreak started in (BYST), a not-for-profit organisation eight are in direct employment. My vision
Pune, Amruta had to shut her plant for that primarily assists disadvantaged is to create employment for 5,000 people
two months. “It came as a shock for me Indian youth in developing business and reach all shops, retail market besides
personally and was also distracting for my ideas into viable enterprises under the the B2B market. Beestofix products
employees. By then I had three employees guidance of a mentor. BYST helped should be displayed everywhere where
and they were thinking of going back to Amruta with mentoring and creating a our competitors like Fevicol are present.
their village. However, I requested them business plan, which enabled her to get In near future, I also want to contribute
to stay back and promised to look after a short-term loan of Rs.20 lakh from to educating rural youth especially girls
them and their families. I supported them a bank. Lakshmi Venkatesan, founding who can’t afford school and higher
financially and treated them as family. and managing trustee, BYST said, “For education.” – Amruta Mangale, founder,
After the restrictions were relaxed, we majority startups from ‘Bharat’, venture Beestofix.

34 PLASTICS NEWS JANUARY 2022