Revathi Roy an entrepreneur at an age where people settle down in life. At the age of 47 she dared to achieve what today as we might call it the safest option for women is to get back to their homes. She pursued her Masters in Economics from the Mumbai University and is an Alumni of St Xaviers College. Being a single mother she went on to make her best decision in 2007 by starting the first ever taxi service “For-She” which has women as its employees.
“Unlike other entrepreneurs, she started in the midst of a personal tragedy. Her husband, after a long illness, went into coma and passed away few months just before the company was set to be launched. With no money in hand, her husband in coma and with the children growing up, there were very few options open to her” as per the story done by rediff.
Driving being her passion made this fantastic idea come alive. The business started with a capital of 8 Lakhs which she collected by borrowing from family and friends. Women are not only given training for driving but also are trained with martial arts for safety reasons and they get paid for the amount of hours that they drive which can go high as Rs.18000/- per month along with basic salary of Rs.5000/-. These drivers are from a background where they are not motivated to work and leave their homes but when they come back from their work in a car this makes their family members realize that they are doing a great job.
She did not want just a driver but a full fledge person who is capable of doing everything while driving. So another business venture was setting up training facilities for these drivers where they are taught everything about the mechanics and functioning of their cars. Due to these advancements the facility is packed with drivers not just from the common background but also from police department, hotels, cab drivers and many corporate offices as well. The office for this facility is given by ORIX auto infrastructure services which holds a minority shareholding in this company and earns about 60lakhs a year from the taxi service.
Achievements for this innovative idea are immense. Till now around 1000 girls are trained for safe as well as efficient driving. Also she wants to take this notch to a higher level by training 10000 women over next three years. There are many titles to the work that she has started. In 2014 she was received Women of Excellence Award from Lala Lajpatrai Institute of Management. In 2012 she has been a participant of South Asian Entrepreneurship Summit which was held at Dhaka Bangladesh. There are immense list of colleges and podiums that have been honored with her inspirational speeches.
The Logical Indian applauds Revathi Roy for doing what very few dare to do and also for contributing to the society at the same time. Such women make us feel that ideas can be generated any time in life. But for the ideas to come alive passion is the most important aspect. Revathi Roy not only created safest option for working women but also gave wings to her passion.
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