An Inspiring Story of T Jayalakshmi And Her Ragi & Rice Flour Tea Cups
Millions of great ideas are floating around us like invisible balloons which some of us can catch and turn into successful businesses. Small or big, every business has a story, motivation, and purpose. And, every business is born serving the consumer and its creator by fulfilling the needs of both parties. After all, that’s why it is created in the first place. Today, we have another successful business story of an entrepreneur who is going to be a motivation for all the people out there especially women who want to create their own wings to fly.
T Jayalakshmi was working as a private teacher in Visakhapatnam, Andra Pradesh. She had yet no idea where the future would eventually take her. Her husband Srinivas Rao was working as an accounts officer in a private company. Everything was going normal until one day the couple found out that Srinivas Rao had a liver-related disease which required surgery. He was now on complete bed rest after going through the surgery. Clearly, he was not able to earn due to his condition.
How The Idea Of a Business Start-Up Came to Her Mind?
At the same time, the pandemic broke which wrapped Srinivas Rao and left the couple more helpless. Moreover, since nobody was there to look after him at home, Jayalakshmi had no option but to leave her job as well. At that time, they had no income and the job was not the right fit for the shoe. It was the time which would bring a happy turning point in the couple’s lives. Jayalakshmi decided to start her business because that was the only place and hope she could knock on the door.
After investing a good amount of search for the perfect business idea, the tea and coffee field attracted her the most. She decided to go with the edible tea cups. Another thorough research went in, and she thought of buying a franchise. To find the perfect franchise, she tried some edible cups from particular companies. However, her satisfaction could not find a way to the top of any of those cup companies.
Why The Start-up Business Instead of Buying a Franchise?
Another thing that crossed her knowledge was that most of the cups in the market carry toxins and other such things which are dangerous for our health. For example, she found many quality issues in one of the Puducherry-based company’s tea cups. Their cups were made up of maida which she didn’t find very friendly from a health perspective. Hence, she was adamant about making sustainable cups which would hold a place for new and unique products in the market.
Most importantly, she wanted to use the raw materials denoting her own state. Thus, keeping the checklist intact of her desire, she started experimenting with different ingredients and formulations. Her next move was to avail a loan for her start-up. The Pradhan Mantra Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises ventured her loan. Jayalakshmi moreover pawned her gold jewellery as well in the bank.
It’s Time for Her Business to Finally Land in the Market
This new entrepreneur even lost around Rs 1 lacs to the initial experimentation to find the right ingredients and formation. But finally, after two months of experimentation, she landed on the right shore. She had now found her perfect ingredients which are ragi and rice flour. Then the next step she dig was to buy the machinery to start her most-awaited manufacturing unit.
At present, her company makes 3,000 to 4,000 cups daily which takes the production 30,000 to 40,000 per month. She is able to earn 7 to 10 lacs per year today. Talking about her ragi and rice flour tea cups: are available in two different sizes (60 ml priced at Rs. 2.5 & 80 ml at Rs. 3.5).
What Makes Her Tea Cups Special From Other Cups in the Business Market?
These health-safe cups moreover come in different flavours such as strawberry, chocolate, cardamom, and vanilla which helps infuse the flavour into tea. Her teacups are highly in demand not just in Andhra Pradesh, but also in other states like Odisha, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, and Tamil Nadu.
I hope you enjoyed the story and that Jayalakshmi ignited a flame of motivation to turn your great ideas into successful business stories tomorrow. And, we’ll be writing about those stories for you as well.
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Author: Simran K Parmar
A post graduate in English Literature, secular humanist, critical thinker, an outspoken atheist, follower of equality and a lover of philosophy. craftedfashion94@gmail.com
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