I have four small businesses that increase my income

Three years ago, B. Tsetsegdelger, a resident of Bulgan, Bulgan province, and her husband and children, a family member, ran a small business selling firewood.

   At the time, she was interested in growing vegetables because of her family's desire to eat healthy and safe food and increase their income. In line with this goal, a project called GER Initiative waslaunched in Bulgan aimag to support ger area residents, businesses and employment and improve their livelihoods.

   After some research and asking around, she visited the GER Initiative and attended a regular agricultural training organized by the project to learn how to grow potatoes and vegetables. After that, the project provided loan brokerage services and she obtained financing, built a 4x3 greenhouse, brought and laid 3-4 cm of soil from the river bank to a very rocky area of her land, planted cucumbers and tomatoes, and had managed to harvest about 100 kg of vegetables for the first time, which inspired her even more. After successfully repaying her first loan, she took out another loan in November to increase her working capital and buy about a dozen young livestock.

   She also consulted with the project's business consultants on her original firewood business, and now her regular customers come to her backyard to buy firewood, and the number of visitors has increased. It's been three years since she started growing vegetables, and she has built two more greenhouses in her small yard and has increased the variety of vegetables she grows by paprikas, coriander, and fruit trees, which have all been fruitful. Tsetsegdelger never gave up trying to find various business ideas to increase her income for the benefit of her family and children, and she had another business idea.

   There is no one today who does not use plastic bags. However, plastic bags do not absorb into the soil for many years and have a negative impact on the environment. Plastic bags and rubbish are strewn all around us in the streets and squares. Therefore, she decided to use cotton bags instead of plastic bags, and decided to sew cotton and sack bags to sell. To run this business, she needed money to buy a sewing machine and materials. To this end, she again approached the GER Initiative project and presented her situation. The project has supported this and provided a loan from XacBank, making the business a success. In addition, the project has connected the sewn bags to grocery stores and supplied them to all grocery stores in Bulgan soum.

In addition, she has planted 50 indoor flowers of 15 varieties. She bought two types of flower seedlings through the project's connection service, and at the beginning of the school year she sells one for 1,500 MNT.

   In August 2008, she again utilized the project’s loan service and borrowed MNT 500,000 from XacBank for a two-year loan to buy 10 chickens. 

Now she gets 4-5 eggs a day from her chickens, prepares firewood with her husband and children, her husband sews the bags, and Tsetsegdelger does all the sales herself.

   “Now I run 4-5 small businesses. But I started to need a bigger workspace. So I'm going to turn my house into a two-story house, plant flowers on the top floor, sew nets, and run my business, ” she said.

   She added, “I am very happy to learn so much from the business consultants of the GER Initiative and to have a great team. My husband was unemployed for a while, he couldn't find a job, and now he is busy and optimistic. Our household income is also increasing and stabilizing. In general, a person can only move forward little by little if he or she is determined and struggles to live. ”