Entrepreneur and philanthropist Shashi Soni, who is an inspiration to many young working women in India, recently interacted with NewsX as part of its special series NewsX India A-List. As part of the conversation, Shashi Soni not only reflected upon her journey so far but also shared some valuable lessons.
On her journey so far, Shashi said, “I was just a housewife and never thought that I would be able to achieve such a big goal. But my inner voice said that I have to work. My brother had a garage and I thought I could do something in the garage. I started going there, working with the mechanics and giving them spare parts. In the evening, I would make tea for the mechanics. They were very happy working with me and I was very happy working with them. Then, I ventured into the transport business. I had one vehicle, I put money in that and asked my brother what more we can do. To which, he said that we can take it forward as we have a petrol pump and a garage. After I started that business, I had 20 vehicles with me in a span of 6-7 months.”
“Post which, I again pondered what we can do more. The garage of our land was very big. So, I approached the government and it said that this was a green belt and we could only make it a public utility place. We thought of putting up a factory and my husband suggested that we can put up an Oxygen plant. After my son went to an engineering college, I took up the challenge. I started going to industry departments, financial institutions and meeting them. I used to take feedback from them as to what more we can do. It took almost one year to get the clearance. Everybody knew that there is a lady called Shashi Soni and it is her project. We were successful in that but after facing some big hurdles. After my elder son cleared his engineering, he expressed his interest in electronics. Metro people approached us for a project. We took up that and that project involved manufacturing of colour monitors. Moving forward, we ventured into the IT business.”
Speaking about venturing into the defence production sector, she shared, “When I came to Goa to see the factory site, the building was in such a shape that nobody would accept that we could have any kind of unit there, let alone defence. Today, we are the number one in India to get the licence. I took up the challenge, started collecting the contractors in the new environment. The word Aatmanirbhar is easy but becoming one is not easy because the rules and regulations of the government aren’t that relaxed.”
On a parting note, Soni shared a valuable lesson for young women entrepreneurs. “Always think about challenges. If a challenge is in front of you, you have to fight it out. One always needs a goal in life. If there is no goal, then you wouldn’t be able to move forward.”