Syed Jesarat

Nava Shah was always passionate about cooking and creating new recipes. However, it was only after her marriage and the birth of two children that she decided to turn her passion into a full-fledged business.

After completing her MBA from the University of Kashmir in 2015, Nava started teaching in a local school. Though she was doing it with full dedication, but her interests lay in the kitchen where she would be always experimenting.

In February 2021, she said goodbye to her teaching job and started making pickles and jams under the brand name ‘Jamklejars’. With her experiments and new recipes, she was able to attract regular clients quite early on. Presently she has two more people helping her to run the affairs. They distribute items via JhelumCart, both logistics and packaging are managed by a team of three.

After the jars have been cleaned and sterilised, they are filled with content in the most hygienic manner possible before being packaged. ‘Jamkle’s’ store is located inside the house itself. Nava explains, “We have a cloud kitchen, and we administer everything from there.”

Customers can choose from a wide variety of homemade jams and pickles. Due to their natural preservation and fermentation, pickles come in a wider range of flavours, including mutton pickles, chicken pickles, date pickles, garlic pickles and other veg pickles.

Nava just recently began making jams this year. Her jams and pickles are produced with fresh ingredients and contain no preservatives. Strawberry, mulberry, quince, and other fruits are among the jam varieties. She also sells organic honey in addition to jam and pickles. Fresh produce from the local market is utilised as the primary ingredient in jams and pickles. Her pickles and jams range from Rs 200 to Rs 650 and come in several jar sizes.

She has thousands of followers on Facebook and Instagram, where she sells a substantial number of products under the handle ‘Jamklejars‘. Additionally, she draws clients from outside the state. Most orders are placed online through social media platforms: Instagram and WhatsApp. They provide delivery services all over India.

“I receive orders from Kerala, Odisha, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and other states in addition to J&K, I already have a huge customer base within the state,” says Nava.

Although Nava had the idea for the business before, she never actually carried it out. A very ambitious businesswoman from Nowshera, Srinagar, Nava has supplies readily available and doesn’t keep customers waiting for purchases.

“At first, I tried making it multiple times until I mastered it. It took me three months to get into pickle perfection, and once I was sure in my ability to make them, only then I started selling,” she says.

Nowadays, online media gives many businesses a platform and has made it easier for small firms to reach their target markets and get noticed.  Due to the online boost, “Jamklejars” has also made progress.

“I believe that 90% of the business setup was made possible through online platforms. Additionally, I’ve visited exhibitions and engaged with visitors there, who purchased and tasted the ‘Jamklejars’ products,” she says.

Being an entrepreneur is never easy, especially for a married woman, yet Nava succeeded in achieving her ambition.

She says, “I’m grateful to have great people in my life. My in-laws, especially my husband, have supported me through the journey,”

The venture’s goal was met pretty quickly, at the very first stage. The amount of money made exceeds the expectations of owner Nava. In the future, the home-based business will be seen in the retail sector as well for its easy accessibility to consumers.

“We are considering launching a website as well, but not right now. For the time being, we are just concentrating on the retail sector because it is convenient for clients to make purchases there.”

Nava encourages potential entrepreneurs to create innovative ventures without reluctance.

“Setting goals and making baby steps toward them are always beneficial,” she says.

“Once we have faith in our aspirations, we can achieve them. Business is the finest choice one can have because jobs are neither possible nor available in the current environment,” she adds.

Launching a small business from home is a labour-intensive procedure. Nava encourages people to support and purchase local items, especially from women business owners who run their businesses from home because they have a lot to balance between family and business.

On the online platforms, Nova gets get feedback. One of the comments on an Instagram post states: “Jamkle genuinely has pickles of the unique recipe, I rarely have come across such great jams and pickles in Kashmir.” Another comment reads:  ” I Liked the pickle very much, it was wonderful in taste”.

Syed Jesarat

Over the past few years, not only eating out but ordering food home from a restaurant has become a recreational activity in Kashmir, particularly as COVID19 restricted people’s movement. However, Kashmir doesn’t have too many platforms guiding us on where and what to eat. Saalas: Food and grocery app aims to fill that gap and connect people to authentic food places.

Salaas is an application that delivers things to your doorstep by making a few clicks on your phone. Salaas is the story of a business that expresses the desire, dedication, and service of a person toward his society.

“It is just an initiative through which I can serve the people of my town and my aim is to digitalize Kashmir by bringing some tech solutions,” said 33-year-old, Farooq Ahmad Seeru founder of Saalas. The app is presently operational in Sopore town, but Farooq wants to expand its footprint across Kashmir.

 How it works

The app is available in the Google play store for all Android phones and the App Store for ios phone users, download it, enter your location, explore all the grocery shops and restaurants in your town, check their menus, and ratings, and order right from the app and pay from your wallet. You can order from any restaurant available in the town.

“We built every feature of the app keeping in mind the location. We also analysed the pros and cons and how to go with our brand in the market through research and we have tie-ups with almost all the local restaurants and the grocery shops of Sopore town. It’s still in its initial stage. the response as of now is good and we are expecting more in the coming future as we are planning to expand it in other towns and districts,” said Farooq.

“It was initially difficult because nobody supported the idea due to prevailing conditions in the valley and secondly it was difficult to organise the unorganized food delivery concept.”

 What one can get through Saalas app?

Saalas app is presently operational in north Kashmir with delivery feet consisting of eight deliverymen delivering everything from fresh fruits to vegetables, rice to dals, spices to seasonings to any packaged products, and many more with a minimum amount of 199.

“Every day in the morning time, we have orders piling up mostly on vegetables and other grocery items and in the latter part of the day, we get orders for junk food and other items. We have kept a minimum checkout of Rs 199. We have also the option of picking and choosing different things,” said Farooq

Farooq is a software engineer by profession presently working as head of data (artificial intelligence and machine learning) for Hyke.ai in Dubai. Hyke is a state–of–the–art technology powered by analytics AI, Machine learning, and predictive analytics, completed by a robust supply chain that balances efficiency and speed.

He also has experience working as a data scientist with Rakuten Japan. Rakuten is Japanese electronic commerce and online retailing company based in Tokyo, it business to many e-commerce platforms and is one of the largest e-commerce sites in the world.

“I have the experience of working in various countries like England, Japan, Thailand, and Dubai but, the feeling and satisfaction you get when you have the startup at a place where you have spent your childhood and among your own people is always special. And with that startup people are getting livelihood is even more special,” said Farooq.

Farooq, the youngest among four siblings, born in apple town Sopore to a family of farmers, has proved that with hardwork and proper goals in life anyone can be successful in life and considers his elder brother also a computer graduate as an inspiration.

“My brother is my inspirational it’s because of him I came into this profession,” he said.

 Customer-friendly app

Saalas is turning out to be one of the best online food and grocery apps through its poised approach. The professionalism of the people associated with Saalas has won the hearts of people.

“Saalas app has come as a sigh of relief for me because being the elder child in the family of five and a cricket enthusiast. Every time my parents used to call bring this and that sometimes in the middle of a cricket match. I have been regularly using it for the past many months and literally, it has brought inner peace in me,” said Sajad Reshi from Sopore

“Lot of food and grocery apps were e-launched before saalas but, could not survive due is various reasons.  Saalas has laid its mark; the people associated with Saalas are professional in terms of app management and the services it provides. Saalas is a good app people should take benefit from it. We are benefiting a lot from it. It has come very much handy for us as restaurant owners. I hope they really grow more and I am one of the big supporters,” said Jibran Khan owner of Zero Miles, one of the premier restaurants of apple town Sopore.

In the coming months, Farooq Seeru owner of Saalas app is planning to start another startup on the name of Kashmir Rides to help daily commuters book taxi and bus seats online.

“Kashmir Rides is our upcoming project. We are working on it; through Kashmir Rides, one can book any taxi or a seat on the bus from Baramulla to Srinagar. If a person from any place like Sangrama has to travel Srinagar he can book the seat in sumo that seat will be kept reserved for him till the stop,” said Farooq.

“We are hopeful with Saalas and Kashmir Rides; we will continue to provide the best and most affordable service to the public all over Kashmir,” he concluded.

MALIK NISAR

The first-of-its-kind festival on Ecological Entrepreneurship, ‘Kashmir Festival for Ecological Entrepreneurship’ was held at Sagg Eco Village in Kashmir’s Ganderbal district during the weekend.

The event was organized by Sagg Eco Village and Mool Sustainability Research and Training Centre, in collaboration with Next Mile Co., a Mumbai-based sustainable business consulting firm.

The Kashmir Festival brought together a diverse set of panel members and participants with varied interests in farming, ecological sustainability and sustainable agri-businesses.

“This was the first edition of the Kashmir festival, and we are grateful and overwhelmed by the excellent response. The event will go a long way by sowing the seeds of ecological entrepreneurship in Kashmir and beyond. The work to organise the next edition of the festival has already begun” 

Fayaz Ahmad Dar, Founder, Sagg Eco Village

The event proceedings began with introductions, followed by an ecological tour of the Sagg Eco Village Campus followed by a panel discussion.

The entrepreneurship festival brought together a set of diverse panel members- Abdul Rashid Chadinoo (Managing Partner, Aarafh Foods & Spices), Insha Mir (Founder, EcoKash), Tawfeeq Yousuf (Founder, Bee Tech Kashmir), Dr Maleeha Gul (Dept. of Management Studies, University of Kashmir), Zitin Munshi (Founder, Next Mile Co.) with participating moderator Fayaz Ahmad Dar, Founder, Sagg Eco Village.

The panel discussion started with moderator Fayaz Ahmad Dar inviting the panellists for opening remarks to share some highlights on their entrepreneurial journey after which each of the panellists also shared their top learning advice for the audience.

“Research and mapping is important for building a holistic enterprise in Kashmir and we should also identify the opportunities for creating markets within J&k and outside,” said Abdul Rashid Chadinoo Managing Partner, Aarafh Foods and Spices

Zitin Munshi spoke about her journey for sustainability among small businesses and making it possible through her venture, she also talked about her work with youth in Botswana and Africa that inspired her to work towards business sustainability at the core of the entrepreneurial model.

“There is a need to look for long–term growth of a business, which is the essence of building any successful business,” she said

Insha Mir spoke about two main points that made her enterprise; handicrafts have been invaded by machine craft and there was a lot of negative environmental impact which needed to be addressed in some way. Therefore the focus of EcoKash is to channelise the artisans and do work in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly fashion.

Tawfeeq Yousuf spoke about the entrepreneurial journey in space sustainable beekeeping. He talked about the importance of bringing in new ideas in business and giving consumers the right knowledge about the usage of sustainable products such as raw honey.

Dr Maleeha Gul on the occasion said that there is a need to address the gap between academia and industry so that students can gain practical exposure to entrepreneurship. She hailed the interactive session at the Kashmir festival for gaining practical exposure regarding entrepreneurship.

“This was the first edition of the Kashmir festival, and we are grateful and overwhelmed by the excellent response. The event will go a long way by sowing the seeds of ecological entrepreneurship in Kashmir and beyond. The work to organise the next edition of the festival has already begun,”  said Fayaz Ahmad Dar, Founder, Sagg Eco Village.

Sagg Eco Village, a natural farm cum retreat centre located on foothills in the Ganderbal district of Kashmir, was founded in 2013. Sagg Eco Village designs, develops, builds and promotes recreational, educational and lifestyle services, spaces, products and programmes based on the integration of natural resources, cultural wisdom and modern needs.

Over the years Sagg has developed many creative services, spaces, products and programs promoting a healthy and procreative lifestyle that are much appreciated by the participants. These include educational, work and leadership capacity building and consulting programs for individuals, groups and organizations.