Innovation

Replacing plastic in any city is a highly challenging task and poses a lot of difficulty especially in a state like Goa where tourism is always at its peak. Dr. Indira Fonseca has developed a wide network of clients and patients through her routine medical practice and by the virtue of being a native. She never gave a second thought in spreading awareness amongst her patients about the disadvantages of using plastic and also providing an alternative as to how plastic consumption can be curtailed by using paper made products. The paper products are not only creative and fancy looking but are also highly innovative and eco-friendly. These products are made of recyclable paper which is reused many times. It is decorated by using natural color dyes and eco-friendly materials like dry leaves, flowers, and jute.

With constant innovation, the entrepreneur takes pride in saying that ‘Kaushal paper wonders’ does not compromise in quality. She makes sure that the paper bags have sufficient strength to carry various kinds of load.

There lies a sense of achievement in Dr. Indira's eyes when she shared that whenever she asks her clients to state at least three flaws in her product, they do not have much to complain. From a batch of samples kept at her workshop, she showed us the strength of the bag by trying to rip the paper and said: “we never compromise with the quality as we produce bags with the highest bursting factor”.

Inspiration

Everybody has a passion inside them and so did Dr. Indira Fonseca. But you always need someone to ignite that passion within you who in turn becomes a source of your inspiration. After graduating, Dr. Indira had considerable time in her hand during the days when she was trying to establish herself in medicine. She used her time to make photo frames and other craft materials using old magazines and newspapers. Time to time she would love gifting them away to her friends. But one day she received a request from one of her friends to make handmade return gifts from papers which she gladly did. To her surprise, she realized that this could actually turn into a potential business as suggested by her friend. She started taking small orders and gradually she started making a living with both her passion for the paper craft and practicing medicine at the same time. It was during this when she met her husband who also motivated her to pursue her passion and stood by her in every way possible.

Initially, she figured that her business was running at a loss, then she had a baby and as balancing her home and clinic became somewhat difficult she had to stop her paper craft business for a while. But it was again her husband who persuaded her to restart her business. He helped her to find a place where she could practice medicine and run her paper crafting workshop at the same time. Her husband, in-laws and her parents and siblings, were supportive throughout her journey and Dr. Indira admits that it would not have been possible without her family’s support. It took some time to lift back her business, but it worked out eventually.

She didn’t take a loan but rather invested everything she had saved from her practice. Gradually her business flourished where she employed underprivileged women and people who had left their education. She took it on herself to inspire these people to work for themselves, to earn and to educate themselves more. Her passion for the paper craft and her distress towards plastic usage both provided her with an infinite source of inspiration, dedication and a sense of duty and responsibility towards her family, society and the environment.

Overall impact

Dr. Indira Fonseca dreamt of a change in the society and she is utilizing her abilities to the fullest to convert her dream into reality. “I want to see a plastic-free society” were her words when she was asked about the reason behind starting her own business. She is driving a change in society with her constant efforts. She believes that taking small steps will eventually create a bigger footprint.

Now she has started to supply the paper bags to many leading bakeries, wine shops, hotels and event organizers in the city. She also makes sure her products are of a top-notch quality so that her clients trust paper products, in turn, reducing their plastic consumption. Her clients and patients are now inclined to using pen stands, folders, and bags made of recycled paper.

She takes pride in elaborating the changes that she has initiated and also feels satisfied to see her son pointing out to the use of plastics and making people aware around to quit using plastic. She is happy that through Kaushal Paper Wonders, she is creating an impact both outside and inside her home.

Business benefit

For Dr. Indira, it all started a decade ago. She says, “I always had a knack for making things out of waste. When I first started out as a doctor, whenever I had free time on my hands between patients, I would be creating crafts out of whatever waste paper I could find.” As Dr. Indira narrates, it was her husband who encouraged her to pursue her passion and turn it into a full-fledged business.

Over the years, the brand has evolved. From once relying solely on manual labor, the company now makes use of self-automated machinery. Dr. Indira says “Installing self-automated machinery has led to an expansion of her production capacity, and since the machines are self-automated workforce intake has also increased." The material used by Dr. Indira has been extensively researched and imported from mills from all over the country and emphasizes quality and durability. She also says “ I love meeting my targets and this has made my employees learn discipline and work ethics.”

Launching a business and getting it off the ground was difficult and Dr. Indira had to face a lot of challenges, in the form of sourcing capital, labor and figuring out how to run operations. The initial days of Kaushal Paper Wonders witnessed time and energy being consumed in addressing these issues. Dr. Indira says, “Coming from a medical background, I had absolutely no idea how to run a business." Figuring out the know-how when it came to starting a business proved to be one of the biggest hurdles. She says she has learned a lot over the years and finds herself a confident soul because of Kaushal Paper Wonders.

Social and environmental benefit

Driving any business is not only about more sales, more revenue, more profit. Every business is incomplete without giving back to society. Dr. Indira Fonseca throughout her interview emphasized how Kaushal Paper Wonders in its own way has contributed towards the society and takes care of the environmental impacts. She takes pride in saying that Kaushal Paper Wonders uses only bio-degradable material which can also be recycled easily. They use eco-friendly ink obtained from vegetable dyes instead of chemical dyes irrespective of the cost, fulfilling their agenda of environment-friendly business practices. Many businesses use newspaper for packaging, but according to Dr.Indira, the newspapers lack durability and are toxic due to the usage of chemical ink. Complete exclusion of plastic, plastic laminators, chemical coatings or any other plastic bags makes her feel glad about the fact that they are not harming the environment in any way.

Dr. Indira mentioned how she started off with her journey and the workforce required for their operations. They started off with only women workforce who were trained and encouraged to study further. Workshops were held to train unskilled women to create employment opportunities. Eventually, when she thought of expanding the workforce, she thought of employing the young college/school dropouts on a part-time basis and providing livelihood to slum population by outsourcing the work. She says “It gives me an immense pleasure to work with them, guide them and see them grow because of Kaushal Paper Wonders “.

Interview

Dr. Indira Fonseca, Doctor