5 Senior Citizens Whose Amazing Start-Up Will Make You Rethink Of Retirement

Age is only a number, that’s all. It has no limitations! The only limitations are the ones you set for yourself. As Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.” Therefore, it’s only your attitude which determines your success and failure. Those who are fearless, never grow old.

Here we bring you such inspiring stories of women entrepreneurs across the world, who not only believed in that Henry Ford quote, but also went ahead and proved it.

1) MANJU JI, 85

One such inspiring soul, Manju Ji is a senior citizen 85 years old, who has no intentions of retiring. She also never takes a day off and loves hustling at her restaurant in Brighton, UK. At the age of 80, when most people retire and want to lead the rest of life in peace and spend most of their time with their families, Manju Ji did something extraordinary when she started a restaurant called, “Manju’s Restaurant”.

Manju Ji always had a knack for cooking and experimenting with different dishes. So, when her sons gifted her the space in Brighton, England, she became more thrilled thinking about her dream turning into reality. Today, she says that after a lifetime of bringing up a family and putting her dreams on the back burner, she is blessed to have got an opportunity to follow her passion.

2) NAGAMANI, 88

A Bengaluru resident Nagamani or fondly called “Mani aunty” had experienced hair fall since her college days and because of that, her friend suggested her a home remedy and fortunately, it worked wonderfully. Today the most popular brand Root & Shoots is born out of this brain. Preparation is the thing which makes the oil stand out from other brands.

The procedure includes collecting the ingredients, the seeds are hand-pounded and then added to the coconut oil and left under the sun for at least six weeks and finally, the oil is ready to use.

3) SANTOSHINI MISHRA,74

Santoshi Mishra is a resident of Odisha, where her husband runs a paan shop and used to be the only bread earner of the family. Unfortunately, when he passed away, all the responsibility fell on the shoulders of Santoshini. This was the starting point of her journey of running a successful business. Since cooking was what she did the best, she decided to rely on it.

Today, her catering service in Odisha is a hit at weddings and other occasions. She is widely recognised in the region as a go-to for catering and even has 100 employees working under her.

4) NIRMALA HEDGE, 64

Here we have one more inspiring story of Nirmala Hedge, a 64-year-old who loved to cook and feed whoever would come to her home. Lockdown is the only period which provided the chance for lots of people to bring out their hidden talents and this proved beneficial for Nirmala too as she got the chance to turn her passion into a business. At first, she began cooking for the building security guards. Later, when Nirmala started her home food venture, within two days she had earned Rs 8,000. Today, the bestseller on the menu continues to be the appam and garlic chutney which has received hundreds of orders to date.

5) ASHA PURI, 75

For someone who had been knitting sweaters, mufflers, etc for more than 50 years, Asha Puri was very unsure of her skills. So when her granddaughter, Kritika Sondhi, insisted that she turn her passion into a business, she was sceptical. She also stated that “I didn’t believe people would purchase the disappearing art of hand-knitted items in a world full of machine-made mass-produced goods.” Regardless, she thought to give it a try and back in 2017 the venture “with love from granny”(WLFG) had gone to its highest peak and the bags were ordered more than 100 every month.

Credits: The Better India

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