When their livelihoods collapsed, they found new business opportunity

Masks, hand hygiene, immunity boosters, sanitisers, social distancing. The Covid-19 outbreak and life in the subsequent lockdown that was announced in March not only changed how people worked and functioned, it also taught them to adapt and find their way out of despair. Even as thousands had trouble restarting their businesses, there were some who turned the biggest crisis they had ever faced into an opportunity to earn their livelihoods and sustain themselves, and at times thrive, during the pandemic.
This housewife used her sewing skills to make and sell masks
When the lockdown hit, Monika’s family was stripped of livelihood overnight as her husband, an auto driver, lost all work.With resources running out and no signs of unlocking, she thought of pitching in so that they could meet their expenses. Monika knew sewing and embroidery well, and with the sudden increased demand for masks in Covid times, she wanted to put her skills to use.
Initially, she was unable to understand how to start work. She approached an NGO in the first week of April last year. “I received my first order to make 200 masks and it boosted my morale. I found the courage to do something new. That month, I earned about Rs 7,000 and received more orders,” Monika recalls.
She joined the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) in May and got an order from an NGO to make 2,000 masks. From July, she also started making sanitisers in line with the guidelines of the AYUSH department in collaboration with NRLM. When the unlocking process started in August, Monica decided to sell both at a canopy near the Farrukhnagar bus stand so that the sales could go up. Soon, she was making up to Rs 15,000.
But Monika’s business was hit as gradually many big players entered the market. Instead of winding it up completely, she decided to make immunity boosters like amla powder and amla candy.
“The year 2020 was unprecedented, and one that taught us to think on our feet while everything changed around us due to the pandemic. Now I am focusing on various food items. Apart from self-employment, I am employing seven women. It makes me feel proud,” she says.
Read about PPE shortage, began selling her own
“Our family was not even getting enough food,” recalls Anupama, who was a housewife. Her husband had been employed with a private loan firm and the lockdown forced him out.
During that time, Anupama came across a news piece about shortage of PPE kits. “I decided to start my business and it turned my life around,” she says. Along with others, she now makes low-cost PPE kits for protection against the novel coronavirus.
Her journey wasn’t easy though. “I was completely unaware of the challenges as preparing PPE kits was an altogether different ball game even though I was well-versed with tailoring skills,” says Anupama, who lives in Sector 12.
“By the last week of April, I made a chain of housewives — from Rajiv Nagar, Anamika Enclave, Shiv Vihar and other colonies — who knew stitching, registered as a proprietorship and approached a person who owned an apparel company in Udyog Vihar with some samples. He ordered a consignment of 2,000 PPE kits. I was surprised and really happy,” she says, adding that the women she employed were also facing a livelihood crisis due to the lockdown.
After this order, Anupama engaged 20 women and prepared five to six kits every day, earning Rs 450-600 a day. While she was getting several orders from three companies, she was unable to deliver the kits to them because of the lockdown. All the kits ended up getting exhausted locally.
Explaining the process, Anupama says, “In the first phase, samples are prepared and sent to the company. They then send those to the health ministry. After meeting the prescribed safety standards and getting a no-objection from the ministry, manufacturing of PPE kits is undertaken on a war footing.”
Her son is also involved now in the process and selling the kits on online platforms, enabling them to earn more than Rs 35,000 a month.
She lost real estate job, now employs five in salad biz
When Neha lost her job during the lockdown — she used to work with a real estate company —she felt she could put her cooking skills to use. She started making ayurvedic home remedy, commonly known as ‘kadha’, with medicinal herbs, including cinnamon, giloy leaves, cloves, cardamom, mulethi (liquorice root), tulsi leaves and black pepper.
“I got my first order from my uncle. He posted a review and motivated others to order as well,” she recalls.
Neha, who is a home science graduate, says she keeps the health and well-being of her customers in mind. The immunity-boosting drink is priced at Rs 25 for a large cup and Rs 15 for a small one.
“The first month, I got only 150 orders inside the Sector 56 society where I live. In July, I received more than 200 orders. After that, I talked to several people from various condominiums. When I conducted a survey on social media, I got the idea to start a salad business as well. The response was encouraging,” she says.
Neha started her business with Rs 1,200 and posted on Facebook where she invited people to order her salads on WhatsApp.
“I use superfoods like berries, onions, garlic, ginger, carrots and pumpkins, which are high in antioxidants. They are essential for building our immune system and contain abundant amounts of vitamin C, B and E that help get rid of infections,” she says.
With the increasing demand, Neha has now employed five people who help her out with chopping deliveries.
Her masks and immunity boosters flew off the shelves
Bindi, a housewife in Farrukhnagar, found out through a friend that a private hospital needed cloth masks for workers amid a shortage of personal protective equipment. She had a sewing machine and some fabric at hand, and soon got to work.
She washed the fabric, stitched masks, washed them again, hung them out to dry and then drove to the hospital. She repeated the entire process, donating the masks as well as 35 hours of her time.
Bindi is now a member of a self-help group in Farrukhnagar and has her own business of masks, sanitisers and herbal drinks to boost immunity. As they are produced locally, she sells them at an affordable price.
“I started in April and sell about 30-50 reusable masks every day on an average. Since the Covid-19 outbreak, while masks and hand sanitisers have been selling like hot cakes, immunity-building ayurvedic food products are also flying off the shelves,” she says.
Bindi wants to continue in the same business and plans to undergo training at the Rural Development and Self Employment Training Institute and learn to make herbal extracts. “I am keen to make hand sanitisers using aloe vera. I’m discussing the plan with local farmers. By growing aloe vera and processing it locally, we can create job opportunities for locals,” she adds.
Their organic food startup took off during lockdown
For two friends who began working on their startup venture from November 2019, the pandemic threw up an opportunity.
Somya Singh and Shikha Singh from Nangli Wazidpur, a village in Noida’s Sector 130, got involved in the agricultural sector with an idea to aggregate organic products from certified farmers in Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Meerut and Baghpat and sell those. But soon after they started out, the lockdown was announced. “It was a major setback. But looking back, we can only say that it was an opportunity,” says Shikha (26).
As people started looking for good quality food products, the fruits, vegetables, cereals, ghee and oil sourced by the duo, saw a great demand. With most markets shut, the friends, both post-graduates, decided to sell the products on e-commerce platforms under the brand Soha Organics.
“Our relatives, friends and acquaintances started posting details of the products on various WhatsApp groups and slowly, we started getting orders. We took online payment and offered no-contact delivery,” says Somya (25), who is originally from Baghpat. The business got a boost in July-August when the organic market in Noida’s Sector 88 resumed operations. In the past six months, the startup has grown by two times, they say.