A group of women from one of the smallest minority communities have made their mark in the world of entrepreneurship in the city. In the past five to ten years, Anglo-Indian women, who started small to medium-scale ventures, have started reaping profit of up to ₹10 lakh per annum.
From starting primary schools to running party paraphernalia shops and training young professionals for the corporate job market, the Anglo-Indian women, who constitute about 50% of the 16,000 to 20,000-strong population of Anglo-Indians in Telangana, are doing it all.
While some have started ventures with smaller capital like starting a tea stall, there are others who make ₹1 lakh a month. Michelle started her business of selling cakes and chocolates from her home bake house named Dolce Vita Chocolle in September 2017.
In the following December alone, she made a profit of ₹1 lakh. Michelle, whose husband died when she was 30 years of age, said the shop gave her a penchant for life. “We are planning to expand further this year as the profits have gone up,” she said.
Another woman entrepreneur of the community, Sheryl Maginn Curran, who started Party ‘n’ All, a gift shop that also sells decoration and arts and crafts material, said she invested ₹1 lakh on her venture in 2017. In one year, her turnover was ₹2 lakh.
“I am venturing out into event management for children’s birthday celebrations now,” she said.
Speaking to The Hindu on the eve of International Women’s Day, 59-year-old Sunita Shanti, also known as June Fowler, said she started a tea stall at Nadergul to help out her grandchildren who are dependent on her.
Ms. Fowler, who recently enrolled for a distance education course at Dr.B.R. Ambedkar Open University, said, “Many construction labourers have become our customers within a short period of time”.
Corporate world
Most women who invested in new ventures have 10 to 20 years of experience in the corporate world. “I had reached a stagnation point in the corporate house that I worked in. I badly wanted to do something different,” said Auriel Earl, who started Lenora School at Old Bowenpally. The school has enrolled 80 students for the academic year 2018-19. Another entrepreneur Christina Raj co-founded a training-cum-finishing school in 2017. An employee who worked with Gen-Pact, she said she has trained over 10,000 people to tackle work pressure in the corporate world.
Christian Finance Corporation director Victor said the Anglo-Indian community can also avail government funding to start new ventures. The women in the community, however, have started businesses using their personal income.
