Maya KC
Threads of Empowerment: Building a Dhaka Legacy in Badigad
Maya KC believes that any work that serves a purpose for social reform and development has greater significance than any other work. With that very belief , she has been running a Dhaka manufacturing business called Badigad Dhaka Udhyog for the past seven years.Previously she worked as a social reformer in BYC(Bhimpokhara Youth Club) for ten years and later she wanted to create an enterprise in which she could generate employment opportunities herself.
She started the business with an investment of Rs. 5 lakh, which initially provided jobs to six women from Badigad Rural Municipality. Today, the enterprise has grown and now supports employment for 15-20 women.They produce a variety of Dhaka items like shawls, saris, topis, khada, and coats. Since Dhaka is more expensive than other fabrics they find it challenging to tackle this problem in the market. KC aims to promote it as a signature Nepali fabric at national and international level in the near future.
Their sales mostly happen around Badigad and nearby municipalities, and many buyers purchase Dhaka items as gifts for relatives going abroad. Baglung Koseli Ghar is also one of their regular clients. The business received support from Badigad Rural Municipality during its early days, and Gandaki Province Government also contributed Rs.1.5 lakh to help buy machines.
Maya holds great aspiration for her enterprise.In the next five years, she wants to promote Badigad as the hub of Dhaka products and expand her reach nationally and internationally through online platforms and collaborations.However, she has been facing two major challenges in her journey. Firstly, the employees she trains do not continue working for a longer period of time and it has become a tedious work to train a new set of employees repeatedly. One of the reasons for this could be the attraction towards foreign employment for the youth. Secondly, the lack of resources as well as strategy for marketing to take their product’s reach outside of Badigad which halts Maya from achieving her goals.
Her effort and work has received recognition from people in her rural municipality. Now, she has also been selected in the Growth Entrepreneurship and Employment Promotion(GEEP) program’s outstanding 20 entrepreneurs. Through this program she has been able to take a step ahead by having a better understanding of how to run her business effectively. The SMS campaign facilitated by GEEP has helped her tackle one of the major challenges of her venture, the reach and marketing of her product. SMS and social media exposure helped in boosting the visibility as well as sales of her product. The social media view reached 1 lakh because of the campaign and the demand of their products have started to rise since then. Maya has found a new spark of hope to achieve her dream of taking her Dhaka enterprise to greater heights.
Maya KC has tirelessly dedicated herself to uplifting her community, empowering women and youth by bringing them along with her in this journey.