I have completed my studies with both honors and a master’s degree. Like most other people, I wanted to get a good job after finishing my studies. But unfortunately, I had to stay unemployed for some time due to the lack of job opportunities. Somewhere around that time of my unemployment, one day my father had a stroke and he died. We were not able to save him. Suddenly my whole life shifted in a new direction. My priorities changed overnight. I had a younger sister who I needed to take care of. I no longer had the option to wait for a job. Instead, I had to create a job for myself and for the sake of my family. So, I decided to start my own business.

With this, my journey towards entrepreneurship started. I had a pond of my own. So, I decided to start cultivating fish there. The biggest hurdle was to start a business without prior knowledge about it. I had to figure out a lot of things through trial and error. But I was determined and never gave up. Now I have a successful fisheries business which I have been running for the past 3 years. I trade different kinds of fish on my farm. Rui, katal, Mriguel, and the Japanese silver carp are all available on my fish farm. Rui draws in the most amount of revenue for me followed by the Japanese silver carp.

By the grace of the Almighty, I never had to face any criticism or listen to harsh words from anyone for my choice of profession. Instead, my family and friends were really supportive of me from the beginning. Now that I am able to have a successful business, my faith in me has increased a lot.  

The beginning of my journey was not easy. But there were some people who helped me along the way. I was a part of the RDRS, Puthia Branch. There I found different kinds of support which helped me grow my fisheries. I also got to know about LightCastle Partners from them. At LightCastle Partners’ training sessions, I got to learn about various business concepts that were not known to me before. All these have helped me to keep the course of my business steady.

I had to face various challenges due to the Covid-19 situation. Due to the lockdown, there were restrictions on traveling. This cost me a huge amount of loss since I could not transport my fish to the city market. A lot of the fish got spoiled in front of my eyes. Besides, the food supply was not adequate. The price of everything increased, As a result, I had to bear a lot of financial burdens. To combat this situation, I stopped growing my fingerlings into large fishes, because I was unable to transport them to the city market. So, I kept them small and sold them to the people within the village who had larger ponds. In that way, I could save my fish from rotting and also maintain the profitability of my business.   

Currently, I am looking for an investment of 2-3 lacs to expand my business. WIth the money derived from the loan, I will buy another pond to increase my fish production. But one of the challenges for me is the high interest rate. It is very difficult for a small business owner like me to pay off such high interest rates. If I can avail a loan with a low interest rate, then I’ll be able to utilize it in my business and also repay them back. I have been preparing all the documents needed to avail myself of a loan for my business. I am hoping that I will be able to draw a positive outcome for myself.