We've published 2 installments of this story on our blog at regententrepreneur.org, so I'll share that with you today. Thanks, Manika, for sharing your insight and experience with us!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a story in Nepal and I would like the rest of the details to be anonymous.
A very wonderful lady (lets assume her name to be Hema) started a kingdom business in order to share the love of the lord and also to provide employment to otherwise disadvantaged group of women who had no education and were suffering in their society and also in their personal and financial life. She was a foreigner with many years living experience in Nepal and a huge heart and passion for Nepali people.
The business grew and many deserving women got employment, their lives changed and their children were able to afford decent meals and go to good school. I had personally met with those women and they were very grateful for the opportunity they had to be work in a clean environment and also be able to get good income every month.
These women otherwise were often abused in their work environment and were never paid the said amount by their employer. Being Christians, they were often left without jobs and with added abusive family members. But thanks to Hema, their lives changed and one could see the changed color and happiness in their face and in their lives. They also learnt a lot about Lord in their work, conducted daily devotions, learned to give to the church and overall it seemed to be a very happy beginning for them.
Then Hema appointed Gita, a local educated Christian lady to be the Administrator of the business. The business grew to great measures, the products were amazing and they were able to find new markets every week. The products were popular even among the local users and their workplace became their selling point to many locals.
Gita was a very harsh women who never treated any of the workers with any respect. She was always rude and never took much interest in the scope of business and was always to herself. All the workers in the office greatly feared and disliked Gita because of her behavior to them. In fact some women told that Gita often mentioned to then that the company belonged to her and if they do not behave well, she will kick them out of the company. In fact, she was often heard passing very crude remarks like 'These women should be slaves, they should be given this kind of opportunity to work in peace'. the problem was bigger while paying them salary as Gita always thought the women were paid too high.
The women were paid a salary range of (Rs 4000 = Approx USD 60-70) which is a decent sum of money for unskilled women. In addition, the women got 2 days off to spend time with their family which was rare. they also got tea and snacks inside the office which was unheard of in Nepal.
On the other hand Gita was paid (Rs 15,000 = Approx USD 200) which was also unusually high for a semi-skilled worker in Nepal. Everyone in the office disliked Gita openly and even other women in the church and relatives knew about her nuisances.
But the only person who always praised Gita was Hema and was extremely please with her which no one else understood why. Her job was to manage the inventory and to keep the accounts which was not a huge and meticulous task looking at the business and also the involvement of Hema for the same.
So far things were normal. The company grew and time came to register under small industry. Hema without anyone’s consensus registered the company under Gita's name. As per the industry law, a foreigner was not allowed to own any small industry in Nepal and there was no other alternative than to register under some Nepali’s name.
The company grew everyday, in fact it became difficult for Hema to manage the company on her own and he often took help from her country’s people through short term trips. The demand for the product grew and as the company grew Hema became much more involved in the project and she made all decisions for the company with Gita.
Now the company kept on growing, there were many full time employees working full time and time came to register the company as an international business independently. Hema started the paperwork and was overjoyed that her company was been blessed to such extent.
She rented a huge new office space and kept on employing more people. The company had to show a balance of nearly USD 100,000 to make it international and Hema deposited the amount in the present company’s bank account (which is in Gita’s name if you remember).
But one day before Hema to submit the paperwork to the ministry, Gita decided to take control. She locked the office and took off Hema’s name from the bank account signatory. Next day when the employees came to work, the office was closed and Gita was not anywhere. When Hema inquired, she found out that Gita had decided to take control of the business and is not going to listen to anyone. In fact Gita’s husband came to the office and threatened the employees and Hema together.
Hema’s dream was shattered and she chose to withdraw herself from the company and any other issues. All the employees who were so happy and working for the best suddenly were jobless and without anything else to do.
So where did this company go wrong? Although this might not be the main cause, but I personally know a similar fate of many company and non-profit organizations after a while. Why is it otherwise difficult to see a company started by a missionary that has been operating for the past 100 years?
