The Roman Urdu word Saathi translates to a brother in the modern context of life. A Saathi can be anyone, irrespective of gender, a friend or a helping hand with whom one can collaborate to achieve goals and desires.
At Udhyam Vyapaar, we strongly believe in co-creating interventions with the customers we serve. With this in mind, 11 months ago, the Udhyam Vyapaar team started an initiative titled Udhyam Saathi Program to bring on board the insights about the vyapaaris we work with.
The Program
Udhyam Saathi Program is the critical bridge between Udhyam Vyapaar team and the vyapaaris. For this program, the team handpicks young and aspiring individuals, with a high sense of agency and responsibility. The team looks for motivated individuals, who not only carry with them a sense of giving back to society but also an instilled aspiration to empower those around them.
As of date, the Udhyam Vyapaar team has 8 active Udhyam Saathis on the ground and all of them come from various different backgrounds. While 70% of them have a Master’s Degree in Social Work, the rest hold MBA degrees in CSR and Finance, among others.
Cyril Joseph who leads the Saathi function at Udhyam Vyapaar says that he is always on the lookout for individuals with passion, willingness and most importantly social connect, to find the next best Saathi.
What Does an Udhyam Saathi Do?
A Saathi, in a detailed and deep induction process is trained in local business dynamics and finances, among other aspects. They are then allocated a geographical area of operation for which they are responsible. They reach out to various businesses in the designated area, building relationships with the local vyapaaris. They spend significant time with each vyapaari on understanding their challenges as well as onboarding them on to Vyapaar's offerings. They bring back insights and problem statements from their conversations with the vyapaaris, brainstorm internally for solutions and co-create interventions. They also test these interventions and through feedback improve the solution.
Results So Far
Although the program is less than a year old, the Vyapaar team has reported that the Udhyam Saathi Program has seen an incremental growth and impact since its inception. Over the past couple of months, new candidates have been inducted, and now there are 8 active candidates in Bengaluru alone. These candidates combined, manage and interact with over 500 vyapaaris and bring back valuable data and insights to the table.
Future of the program
Udhyam Saathis have reached and impacted the lives of hundreds of vyapaaris, and the team plans to continue and grow this function significantly in the future.
Interested to know more about the Saathi function? Write to cyril@udhyam.org
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