Deepa Udayakumar

“FIZZING SUCCESS THRU HARD WORK”
Deepa Udayakumar, a 34-year-old housewife from Vellakkamurani in Palakkad district of Kerala has been associated with their family run soda making business for decades. Five years ago, Deepa decided to start her own venture, but to break into a market which requires some capital investment; she needed to find a suitable micro finance company and an innovative approach to production. Deepa wanted to be a small, artisanal producer with the ability to experiment and make changes to her products to assure greater success. She approached some local lenders but was doubtful in their demands. She was introduced to Muthoot Microfin subsidiaries of Muthoot FinCorp at this time by a friend and was impressed by its simple and effective operations. Deepa soon joined a group and was granted the first cycle micro finance loan of ₹15,000. She utilised the entire amount to buy new machines for packing and bottling. Deepa started innovations at her soda plant by experimenting with new ideas. Infusing sparkling mineral water with fresh ingredients like ginger, lime and citrus, she developed some flavours and all of them were accepted in the market. She also received business training from Muthoot during this time.