Itanagar: Women and food have been forever associated and giving a new definition to it are the women entrepreneurs of Arunachal Pradesh.
The northeastern state, being one of the greatest ambassadors for women empowerment, has witnessed an immense upsurge in the number of women entrepreneurs, especially in the Itanagar Capital Region, and one among the most successful ventures is that of a coffee shop.
Cafés have always been a part of our daily lives, yet the current scenario has changed it for the better. It is almost a trend now if one may say so.
The cafés in the twin capital are mostly female owned and of course quite successful. As we enjoy our coffee and snacks, lets also try to find out the story of how a couple of our favorite hangout joints started their journey.
Deja Brew
‘Deja Brew‘ is a coffee shop located at Papunalah and co-owned by Kobyum Zirdo.
Zirdo along with her partner started Deja Brew in 2021 with an idea to create a space where people can have a cozy time with their friends and family.
“I have always loved visiting cafés with my friends. Though I am not an avid coffee drinker, I love spending time in coffee shops. Also I always wanted to create a space where my friends, family and people can visit and chill and there was nothing better than having one’s own café,” she said.
Zirdo had initially planned to start the venture with some other friend of hers but later she found out that Namrata Khaling (the co-owner of Deja Brew) was also interested in the endeavor.
“We thought why not turn our school friendship into a business partnership,” Zirdo said.
While speaking on the perception of women entrepreneurs in our society, Zirdo while sharing her experience of being in the business so far said that the society does not have gender wise parameters.
“In Itanagar especially, most of the cafés I know personally are run by females so there is a lot of encouragement at present. Also if you start a business and provide quality service then people will come to you irrespective of you being a male or female. Moreover, it also has to do a lot with your determination and hard work,” she said.
Zirdo also shared that the most important aspect for a woman entrepreneur is to be aware of her financial resources.
“First of all you have to be mentally ready as every day is not the same. And also you should be aware of the government schemes. I see a lot of women willing to do something but are not financially sound. So I would advise people to avail the facilities of government schemes,” she added.
Oven Yumms
Tumi Riba, owner of Itanagar-based coffee shop ‘Oven Yumms’ said that she decided to open a café with an idea of promoting her home bakery business.
I wanted to increase my customer reach, hence I decided to go ahead with a café where people would be able to sit, enjoy their food and have a good time, Tumi said.
Sharing the hurdles faced during the initial phase of her journey, Tumi said the greatest hitch she faced as an entrepreneur was managing finance and procuring raw materials.
Moreover, being inexperienced in the baking industry also added to her struggles.
“The major difficulty that I faced was I had no experience in commercial baking. It all started with trial and error and I gradually started developing interest in the food and beverage business,” she said.
Tumi said to run a café or any other business establishment a lot of things come into play, money and experience wise. Another major setback is the process of procuring raw materials in Arunachal as the state still lacks in that front.
She further encouraged the women entrepreneurs to find their specific field of talent and pursue it wholeheartedly.
“Today most of the people tend to follow trends and try things just for the sake of it but you should know what you are good at and do it properly otherwise it’s of no use. Currently there is a lot of scope for startups so find out what you are good at, be patient and work dedicatedly towards it,” Tumi said.
Govt scheme benefit
It may be mentioned here that both Zirdo and Tumi are also beneficiaries of the Chief Minister’s Paryatan Vikas Yojana (CMPVY), a major flagship programme of the Arunachal Pradesh government.
Hundreds of unemployed youths of the state have availed the scheme so far that provides a subsidy up to Rs 5 lakh to open restaurants, run tour operator agencies, establish hotels, homestays, etc.
Zirdo and Tumi have thanked state tourism deputy director Bengia Manna Sonam for her support in helping them avail the scheme.
(With inputs from Yaram Thadang)
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