Help Women in India Start Small Businesses

A Trickle Up success story…

Before Jogendra Prasad and his wife received their Trickle Up grant, they leased and farmed their own land and found financially unsteady work as agricultural laborers. But with funds and training from Trickle Up they were able to open their own restaurant. They rented space near a transportation hub for $4.50, built a structure for $34, and bought a table and chairs. Jogendra’s wife taught him to cook, and he prepares the chicken and fried fish on order. From the beginning, the restaurant was a success.

Many of the customers are rickshaw and bus drivers whom the Prasads allow to eat on credit. Though the Prasads are illiterate, they have no trouble managing these accounts themselves - without losing any money. The two now make between $34 and $55 per month, and – having attended Trickle Up training sessions on how best to invest their profits – have recently purchased more tables and chairs for the restaurant so that they can accommodate more diners. The couple can now afford to send their son and daughter, who previously attended government institutions, to private school. And they are putting about $2.25 per month into savings.

The couple plans to use the next installment of their Trickle Up grant to buy utensils and more tables and chairs. “We are even considering taking out a loan – which we have never done before – to expand our business,” says Jogendra.

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Trickle Up collaborates with grassroots organizations working in India’s poorest states, providing seed capital grants and training to individuals to help them start businesses.

With a field office in Kolkata, Trickle Up helped start or expand 1,834 businesses in 2006 (18,531 since 1979) in India alone. 97% of these entrepreneurs reported that their Trickle Up business became their main source of income. Our partner agencies are currently working to identify 2,500 more of the poorest individuals in the region.