The company I mentioned is Shree Mahaeela Griha Udyog Lijjat. Surprisingly, this empire was not built by MBA graduates or highly qualified people, but was started as a small in-home venture by seven women in Mumbai.
Today, they are the perfect examples of women’s empowerment, not only in India but at global levels as well. How did they create such an advanced business with no formal education?To know the answer, we need to know how it was started and how it plans to grow.Back in the 1950s, when India was a newly independent nation, the economic opportunities, especially for women, were very low. Also, the literacy rate among women was just 8%. but the income of the male members was not enough to run the entire family.This is when seven women started making papads and selling them to the local shopkeeper. The taste and quality of these papads were excellent. amazing that nearby shops also demanded the product.They started employing more women who wanted to work at home. The core value of Lijjat Pahad was women’s empowerment. They even called their employees Lijjat Ben (partners of the business).This is a strategy that businesses like Starbucks use, but it was discovered way back in the 1960s by the Lijit management.They obtained product standardization; quality checks were conducted through surprise visits to the women’s homes, as this was their workplace. The profits as well as losses were distributed by the branch members themselves.With big dreams and the idea of Sarvodaya, Lijjat Papad made their business successful.
