From idea to income: how are neighborhood business projects being developed?
Today, 97 entrepreneurs operate in the Habib Abdullayev neighborhood located in Tashkent. Among them are those working in the fields of manufacturing, services, trade, and education.
From idea to income: how are neighborhood entrepreneurship projects being developed?
The neighborhood banker communicates with citizens to determine what kind of assistance is needed to expand their business. So far, financial support has been provided to some neighborhood residents to purchase necessary equipment, and to others to start a new business.
The activities of entrepreneurs in the neighborhood vary. Some have continued a family profession, some have developed a craft learned over the years, and others are trying to expand a business started at home. The main problem uniting them is one: a lack of funds and necessary equipment to improve their activities.
In the Habib Abdullayev neighborhood, in cooperation with JSCB "Uzpromstroybank", the needs of such citizens are being studied, and their business ideas are being transformed into practical projects.
Today, nine types of products are prepared at the confectionery and bakery workshop in the neighborhood. 17 employees work at the enterprise, which supplies three types of cupcakes, gingerbread, buns, and other products. Five of them reside in this neighborhood. According to the entrepreneur, the financial assistance allocated by the bank served to expand production capabilities.
"We received an amount of about 100 million UZS from JSCB 'Uzpromstroybank'. With these funds, we purchased the necessary equipment. As a result, our production volume increased significantly, by about 30–40 percent,"
says Araik Gukasyan.
The increase in production volume has also affected the sales geography of the products. Today, the sweets prepared in the workshop are supplied to grocery stores and retail outlets in the neighborhood. As the neighborhood banker noted, the opportunity for a local producer to sell their product right in the same area is also important. This is because delivery costs are reduced, the price of the product becomes relatively affordable, and fellow residents are provided with freshly made products.
The entrepreneur's future plan is to expand production even further.
"We want to develop our current activities and later open branches. We plan to expand the business step by step and intend to continue cooperating with the bank,"
he says.