Name: Manjiri Gokhale Joshi
Business Name: Maya CARE Foundation
Location: Pune, India
Establishment (Year): 2014
Category/Industry: Social Enterprise and NGO
Profession/ Specialty: NGO
Website: https://mayacare.org/
Social : LinkedIn
Company Detail:
Maya CARE set out on its mission to provide older people with free intellectual, logistical, medical, and emotional care in 2009. Its volunteers visit the elderly and help with doctor appointments, paperwork, picking up medications from the store, going for garden walks with them, assisting them with video calls, reading and writing for them, playing games of recreation, and planning various events for them in their own homes and care facilities.
Via its project Bindu, the Maya Care Foundation is renowned for its dedication to recruiting and educating people with disabilities (PWDs) (which means "focus" in Sanskrit). It hires PWDs from various geographical origins who have never worked for pay or experienced corporate work culture.
Unique Selling Proposition or Competitive Advantage:
Maya CARE is the only organization in the world that offers older people free support while also improving their physical and mental health. Its "Project Bindu" is likely the only programme of its kind that addresses the issues facing two marginalized groups in society: the elderly who are in danger of dying and the disabled who are confined to their homes, lacking a sense of purpose and relying on their families for support their entire lives, resulting in low self-esteem.
All other programmes for the elderly are either for-profit or targeted at particular regions, castes, faiths, or time periods. Since 2009, Maya CARE has offered this healthcare help without charge in 66 Indian cities and 5 UK cities.
Challenges Faced During the Journey
For the first eleven years of its existence, my husband Abhay Joshi and I provided 92% of the money out of our personal salary. We came to the conclusion that this financial model was unsustainable as we followed our own careers in diverse sectors of the corporate world.
We were forced to choose between closing Maya CARE and making a risky move as we got closer to our own retirement age and didn't come from financially stable households.
Advice for Women Entrepreneurs:
Establishing a company or charity can be difficult. It's critical to have faith in your skills and concepts. Make sure you are well-versed in the industry and your rivals. Meet people from your organization or sector in the real world. Attend networking gatherings, sign up for trade associations, and make contacts with business owners.
It might take a while and be challenging to launch a firm. Be ready for failure, but don't let it demoralize you.
