I've been in the flower business for four years. We live in a joint family as my husband had to retire from his job four years ago. After that he tried his hand at various businesses but was unsuccessful. Something had to be done as we were facing severe financial problems. So I approached First Women Bank Ltd and took a loan of 5,000/- to do my flower-making more professionally. I've been running a stall for artificial flowers in a weekly bazaar since then.

I'm the only breadwinner in a family of four dependents. But it's no longer a serious issue now. Things have improved, and after paying off the loan in time, I took a second loan of Rs 10,000/-. Things went so well that after I repaid that, I took a third loan of Rs 25,000. These have helped to greatly improve and expand my business. There's a lot of variety in my products now and I get a lot of customers. There's been a 33 per cent increase in my income, and the return on total investment has risen by 20%. I've started saving money to buy a separate house for myself and my family.