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Noelette is an inspiring entrepreneur woman, coming from La Gaulette who has built her entire business from scratch starting from merely a small venture of five chicken. Slowly and steadily, when the business generated profitable revenue, she bought more chicken then constructed her own chicken farm in her yard. She already had a specific breed of chicken, namely “poule la cour” which she bred, to which she added a few “poule pondeuse”, along with a few ducks that she nurtured in a nearby source of water. Noelette roughly earns Rs700 per duck and Rs250 per chicken during festive occasions.
From five chicken her business expanded profitably to 130 chicken and each growth was mutually exclusive and was highly dependent on the type of chicken she was breeding. One such example is the “poule pondeuse” which the most remunerative breed of chicken. Displaying a swift growth, these chickens were bought from the Ministry of Agriculture every 6 months. This special breed of chicken can only be kept for 1 to 2 years, allowing them to lay the maximum of eggs possible. The advantages of rearing “poule pondeuse” are that they are already grown and vaccinated from the sellers. Thus, Noelette brings in risk-free chicken on her farm and only bears the responsibility of feeding the chicken. But they feed only on a specific food for the them to grow healthily and lay the maximum eggs, which is often expensive, as Noelette describes. The only disadvantage of this breed is that they cannot be kept for a long time as their feathers shed with time and their immunity to diseases decreases. Hence, Noelette prefers swapping them on a yearly basis in packs of either ten or twenty as a witty strategy to combat risks.
Poule la cour, on the side are born and grown on her own farm. The maintenance costs of these chicken are very low as she can feed them homemade organic food namely greens, rice, bread and even old bread or “du pain rassis” from her neighbours. However, irrespective of the breed, her sales vary from time to time, from season to season and from occasion to occasion. During festivities, sales would soar, generating a remarkable profit but during normal days, sales would plummet and she resorted to only the sale of eggs. Given the unpredictable nature of the business and her husband’s ill health Noelette works as a cleaner to make ends meet. However, she always persisted in the business and relied on the sale of eggs. While she sold eggs to customers in her neighborhood, including small restaurants and snack bars, it was always her customers who came to her and not vice versa.
She managed to channel a small clientele by constant promotion through newspapers and social media. She even created a Facebook page and posted the advert in Acheter Vender section for not only the chicken but also the ducks. Noelette receives customer from all over the country and all buyers till date have been very cooperative for the delivery. However, Noelette could not realize the vision she started her business with. Her initial business plan consisted of gaining a territory that she would dedicate to rear natural chicken. But she could not fulfill this plan as the business she stepped into was a seasonal one and she never had a fixed income stream. To monitor the cashflow and the expenses of the business, Noelette keeps a small logbook. She describes expenses being greater than profits during certain times of the year. In case of profits, she has to reinvest part of these in purchasing special foods for the “poule pondeuse”, which cost Rs 430 per pack.
Viewing Noelette’s dedication to make her business work, she received immense advice from the panel of judges. First of all, registering as an entrepreneur at the ‘Entrepreneur Council’ of Mauritius would be a great addition. This would help her receive subsidies to fund the food purchase for some of the chicken. In this way, using the grant, she save money and invest into new opportunities. For instance, she could invest heavily packaging and selling eggs, and possibly even setting up a stall in her yard for that purpose. This could a step towards reaching out to customer and help extend her customer base. This could generate a fixed source of income for Noelette. Additionally, the sale of eggs is not seasonal, eggs are in demand all year long. In fact, she could even reach out to nearby hotels in the region, after starting a full-fledged egg-sale business.
Another valuable piece of advice she received was to specialise in breeding “poule la cour.” This breed of chicken is very in demand as it not easily available. In contrast to our current society, where commercially driven chicken reared in a month, often injected with different hormones, are the ones on sale. If Noelette informs, and publicizes the sale of her organically reared chicken, she will definitely attract more consumers. All in all, what Noelette needs is some more publicity so that people are aware of work, and can attract customers. After all, creating a business from 5 to 130 chicken requires a lot of dedication and hardwork, and it would be unfair to Noelette’s dream to let go of that business because of some rough days.
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