Kudumbashree - Success Story of Raj Floor Mats

The thought of being independent itself brings in much pride to anyone. It would be a much more valuable gesture, if one would be able to support thy family and help a few others find livelihoods. It is indeed a matter of sheer pride.  There are a few women in Kudumbashree Mission who hadn’t followed the path of succeeded ones, but found their way themselves by realizing their strengths. Hey turned to entrepreneurship by realizing themselves and knowing the market. Smt. Sindhu, hailing from Chungathara Panchayath of Malappuram district of Kerala is one such personality. She is the one who runs Raj Floor Mats, the floor mat manufacturing unit. She had extended job opportunity to 25 people through her individual micro enterprise.

Evolution of Raj Floor Mats

Sindhu turned to entrepreneurship when she had to take the responsibility of the whole family as her husband met with an accident during 2012. Sindhu’s mother, sister who was mentally unstable and her kid were her dependents. So she had decided to become an entrepreneur to take care of the whole family.

Years before, she has had made a visit to Ahmedabad to meet her friend and had seen floor mat making there. It is the memory about the same that brought her to success now. She thought of making floor mats and and selling the same. Later, she consulted with her family and and had their support. She contacted her friend in Ahmedabad to get the needed machineries. Also, she went to Kancheepuram and learned about threads and weaving. She went to Tirupur and learned about the cloth waste from the textile industries which is the main raw material for making floor mats. She also came in deal with a few textile producing companies for getting cloth waste regularly. She started making floor mats in small scale and soon she bought three more machineries within 2 months.

During the launch of Raj Floor Mats in 2012, Rs 5.70 lakhs was the total production cost for setting up the enterprise, out of which, Rs 1.5 lakhs was received from the Technology fund of Kudumbashree Mission. The rest of the fund was arranged by availing bank loans. Sindhu sold her floor mats in different shops and in several trade fairs including the trade fairs of Kudumbashree Mission as well. Her floor mats were a little costly, and so during the initial times, the shopkeepers were reluctant to buy her floor mats. But as their products were of high quality, the shopkeeper changed his mind and they had started getting as many orders.

During 2017, they built a new building and shifted the enterprise to that building. She bought 15 more machineries and apart from floor mat, they started making all sorts of carpets. Now, raj floor mats have been distributing floor mats to 30 shops, and to two companies on regular basis.  RS 2 lakhs to r 2.5 lakhs is the average monthly sales of this unit. Rs 6000 to Rs 10000 is given as monthly salary to 25 people.  By getting inspired from the success of Sindhu, two more units have been started in the district.

Smt. Sindhu can better be considered as an epitome of self-confidence and will power. She did the right thing in the right time with the help, assistance and support of Kudumbashree Mission and that had made all the difference, not only in her life, but also in the life of many people living around her. Sindhu had proved that any woman can be a super woman if she believes in herself and act according to!