To celebrate Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, I want to tell you about one inspiring woman-led business in Bulgaria. As a dairy lover who always tries to find bioproducts, I like to visit farms that produce their own cheese, milk, and yogurt. I heard about one such farm from word of mouth, and I decided to pay a visit. Little did I know that the place was owned by a woman named Ivanka. I was curious to find out how a woman entered such a difficult business and ran it with only two other people, one of them being the shepherd.
Establishing Strandzha Farm
Struggling with the difficulties of life in a provincial town, Ivanka and her husband decided to move to the village of Stefan Karadzhovo and start from scratch. Before being established as a family business with several operational buildings, the place was a barren field. There were just the crumbling foundations of what used to be a barn a long time ago.
The couple began building what was necessary to facilitate a young herd. It was ten years ago when they started with two hundred lambs and many more hopes. A year later, those two hundred lambs turned into a large herd of young cattle, and by the end of the second year, it was at five hundred and counting.
After losing her husband, Ivanka chose to fill in his shoes and continue to run the farm on her own. Except for the sheep and lambs, there are plenty of other animals she takes care of today, like cows, pigs, ducks, geese, rabbits, and many dogs. Even though the farm is in a village far from major cities, it attracts both companies and individuals as customers.
Ivanka’s farm wasn’t on Google Maps the first time I visited it, so I made sure to add it. I recently had the opportunity to go again and talk to her about her farm and what she thinks is important for small businesses to thrive. Although luckily, her business wasn’t affected by the pandemic, she had a lot to share about her daily activities.
What is it like running a farm on your own?
“You feel the pressure of time and responsibilities. It is a constant fight. Sometimes you feel trapped with work and desperate, but the small victories and the fruits of your labor make it worth it.”
What are your day-to-day tasks?
“It depends on the time of year. Mid-September till the end of October is “the calm before the storm” as from December the sheep start giving birth, and you spend all day and all night in the barn; yes, 24/7. You need to help the animal give birth, dry the newborns, feed them, feed the rest of the herd. Rinse and repeat throughout the night. Meanwhile, the world doesn’t stop turning, and you have other things to take care of.
That [goes on] until the end of March when you start milking. You need to get up around 5 a.m. every morning and prepare the animals to be milked. When it’s done, you wash the automatic milking system and start making the dairy products. The herd goes out in the pasture, and around 8 p.m., it returns. You then feed them dry food and milk them again until around 11 p.m. This [repeats] till mid-August.”
What do you offer, and who are your customers?
“[We offer] all kinds of dairy products and even animals, like lambs. We are certified to produce milk, cheese, butter, and other items. In the beginning, we also used to sell wool, but we don’t anymore.
Our main buyer is one of the most well-known and major companies in the business of animal products in Bulgaria. But [we are open to] all markets, and there are a lot of one-time and regular individual customers as well.”
Since your farm appeared on Google Maps, it has accumulated more than 1000 views. Have you noticed any new customers coming here?
“I would say that there were a few new one-time customers who came from cities that are a bit far away from us. They were passing by the village and decided to stop. I didn’t know that my business would have such visibility.”
How can people help small businesses?
“[For a start, small business owners] should not go against each other. Don’t be greedy and jealous of others, and [don’t] spend your energy destroying what others are trying to build. Another way is [for individual customers] to buy local produce when they need it [that came from small owners].”
Is there a woman-led business in your area that inspires you? What small businesses are you supporting right now? Tell us about their stories in the comments below.
, gracias por compartir .
, Farid
