Raipur, Oct 15: Hemprabha Sharma belongs to a small village called Birgaon situated in the Raipur district of Chhattisgarh. Her story of determination and success from being a homemaker to a successful entrepreneur is admirable. Hemaprabha’s husband is an Ayurvedic doctor, who runs a small clinic in their village and the only bread earner in the family. However, the meagre income generated from the clinic was not enough to suffice the growing needs of the family of four. The deteriorating financial condition of the family was also affecting the education of her two children. Determined to improve the financial condition of her family, Hemaprabha decided to work and support her family. However, their village Birgaon had limited employment opportunities, and entrepreneurship was the only viable option.
With her husband being a doctor, she thought about starting a small pharmacy close to his clinic. This way, it would be easier to attract customers, and it would also complement her husband’s work. But lack of adequate capital funds proved to be a hindrance towards her dreams. She was starting to lose hope when one day she came across a loan officer of Centrum Microcredit.
After due financial and business planning with assistance from the company, she availed her first loan of Rs. 15,000 to start the pharmacy store. Eventually, the business started expanding, and the financial condition of the family improved. As she predicted, this supported her husband’s clinic as well. Six years have passed, and with every round of additional finance, she purchased more supplies to expand her product range. Today, Hemprabha’s business has enabled her to put her sons in a reputed Pharmacy College, and they will soon join her to grow the pharmacy store.
