Ahmedabad woman brews wealth in teapot

Two women, Hansa Soni and her daughter-in-law Hetal, have set an example for others by earning more by selling tea and
coffee than what many MBA graduates get as their first salary.

Undeterred by her lack of education, Hansa started her tea business about five years back when she realised that her family’s earnings were not adequate for her expenses. She was later joined by her daughter-in-law. They had realised that a decent living could be made from homemade tea and coffee served to company offices, malls and big shops in and around the Satellite area of the city. Incidentally, they live in 10th-floor apartment in Satellite.

Today they have nearly 100 customers to whom they serve over 60 litres of tea and coffee each day. Their customers in Vejalpur area refer to the hot tea and coffee they serve as ‘Fresh Tea’.
“Our family’s income was not sufficient to pay for even our routine expenses,” said Hansa. “I was, therefore, looking for a
business that could supplement the family income. I had noticed that tea vendors are seldom free as there is no dearth of customers for tea.”

Hansa said that, initially, she and her daughter-in-law, Hetal, began serving homemade tea and coffee to people at the offices in the Satellite area. “I remember I consulted the yellow pages to contact customers,” she said. “We had a few customers in the beginning but now we have over 100.”