The Story Of A Young Girl Who Started Her Own Business İn Sanliurfa - Yasemin Bilici (26 Years Old, Former Participant And Educator At The Yakubiye Neighborhood Catom İn Sanliurfa)

* THE STORY OF A YOUNG GIRL WHO STARTED HER OWN BUSINESS IN SANLIURFA - Yasemin Bilici (26 years old, former participant and educator at the Yakubiye neighborhood CATOM in Sanliurfa)
(Yasemin Bilicis story, as presented below, is based on notes from an interview conducted with her in Sanliurfa on October 19, 2003 Yasemin is a former CATOM participant and educator who, after her departure from the CATOM, formed her own business The text below is an unabridged rendition of the interview with Yasemin where she outlined the nature of the challenges she faced in the course of implementing her initiative Approximately one month following this interview, Yasemin moved her business to new shop space rented under her own name within Sanliurfas central marketplace)
I used to be a CATOM participant I never imagined starting my own business Under the supervision of an instructor at the CATOM, we were engaged in making bags out of felt Two days a week, the instructor gave lessons on felt embroidery I worked at the CATOM with the instructor for a few months I was then offered the job of handcrafts instructor at the CATOM I began working as an instructor at the CATOM in 1999 The other instructor left shortly thereafter We were making tablemats and bags out of felt But this was not enough We also began to make miniature decorative Turkish-style slippers and evil eye charms The number of CATOM participants had reached 400 The participants had begun to earn money Every day, I would tell the participants "think about what else we can make from felt" I always praised their work and never looked down upon it Also, everyday I asked myself "how can we improve our products and have them catch peoples eye?"
I was engaged in demonstrating handcraft arts on felt to the CATOM participants and educating them One day a group of people arrived from America Yildiz Hanim, Deniz Hanim and Mehmet Bey came to visit us They asked "what can we do with (to help promote the work of) the young women of the CATOM?" I answered them by saying "send us whatever (samples) you like, we will make it" My thought was that "if they like it, we will continue to make the item; if they dont like it, we will discontinue the work" Yildiz Hanim contributed money to the CATOM for the purchase of felt She took samples of motifs we were using in our work and took these to America
The GAP management viewed me as the responsible person at the CATOM They invited me to the meetings They would always show their appreciation to me I traveled to Mardin together with Fatma Meral Horne Hanim The back of the car was fully loaded Fatma Hanim was going to give us training in Mardin Fatma Hanim had samples of Christmas stockings She asked us "can you make these?" If someone mentions "work", it will make me stop in my tracks, even if I have my wedding dress on! "This is work?" I answered, "we can make these of the highest quality" Within a week, we had prepared several samples for Fatma Hanim I was there as the representative of the community and its poor people Fatma Hanim gave us instruction Before this instruction, we were working on the red and green Christmas stockings We were simultaneously receiving her training and working on the order for goods that we had received We were very happy Education and a merchandise order at the same time! It was an energetic CATOM Everyone was happy We would stay there until 9 in the evening We completed and shipped the order in August of 2001 Included in the order shipment were 600 large, and 1200 small Christmas felt stockings As a whole, 150 persons at the CATOM benefited from the work for this special order This was an order totaling 12,000 US dollars We enlarged our workspace We moved to the workshop located on the ground floor of the CATOM Almost everyday, I was giving interviews to radio and television programs I was receiving calls from Ankara I was participating in live broadcasts CNN, Star TV, ATV, Show TV, TRT, they were all coming by Other people began to show interest in the CATOM too "Give us guidance, let us make the same things too", they would say
We earned the appreciation and affection of the people working at the CATOM by showing them profitable items they could create They need to be able to take money home Education and the question of health all hinge on earning power The participants at the CATOM have nothing in the way of money I am a high school graduate I am currently working toward a university degree in social sciences by taking extension classes (Acik Ogretim)
I departed from the CATOM in January of 2003 I left my productive role I left the ladies with whom I worked When I left my job at the CATOM, I became like a bird with a broken wing The months of January and February passed by for me without any employment All I had was the last salary payment I had received Was I going to use this money to support myself or to start a business? I was thinking about starting a business by obtaining credit But we (my family and I) were not able to take on this risk "Can I pay back the credit?" is the question that was weighing on my mind I was losing sleep at night thinking about this I used to think "I wish it werent nighttime" This is because I am able to think better during daytime Every day I would come to this marketplace and walk around
My struggle was for the ability of women to earn their own wages I would think to myself "Yasemin, did you take these training courses for nothing?" I had taken a business skills/micro-enterprise training course sponsored by Anatolian Artisans Given the hypothetical types of entrepreneurs introduced during the course, I kept thinking to myself "should I be smart Aynur, or economical Tayyibe?" I was thinking of setting up a stand to become a street vendor Then I thought of the owner of the shop I am currently in, brother Tevfik Because he worked in a government office, he himself could only open his shop and tend to business during weekends His son kept the shop open after school hours, but this store was closed to business most of the time One day I asked the owner "what would you say to our working together?" He responded "sure, be here at 9 oclock tomorrow morning" He put the key to the shop in my hand Now we work together He said to me "the store is not mine, it is yours; if you wish, gather the women, you can all work here or you can give them work to take home" The store was ours, but we had no raw materials with which to produce anything I only had 3-4 pieces of work in hand I could not do business with just this
My sister was working at a market for a monthly salary of 100 million TL (Turkish Lira) Her salary had been meeting our familys living expenses At home, in addition to my sister and my mother, we had my grandmother and grandfather, as well as my bedridden father who has been paralyzed for the past 15 years I thought to myself "put everything else aside and rely on your own personal trustworthiness, or PERSONAL TRUST CREDIT"
I went to visit the bead vendor He said "my teacher, the store is yours, take what you need, and if you cant pay it back, let it be yours to have and enjoy" The felt vendor said "I freely give you all the felt you want" The paint vendor also reacted the same way I was in shock I went to the women who would do the handcraft work and said "here are raw materials for you to work with, we are starting a business if I cannot pay your salaries " The women also responded "we give you our time freely" Raw materials debt No time commitment Raw materials, other supplies, labor included, I began my business with an investment worth five billion Turkish Lira (about $3,400 US) Hand labor comprises half of the expenses for my business
Currently, I am employing 90 of the 400 CATOM participants I have separated them into groups: embroiderers, those who make perimeters, those who sew on beads, those who cut the felt, those who apply the paint, those who are good at appliqué work, etc
Before I assign work to a woman, I talk with her I only employ them if they are sending their children to school They must give me their word that their children, and particularly their female children, are attending school To those who do not comply with the "education requirement", I say "there is no work for you" I provide assistance for my employees whose children are attending school I collect clothing and stationery supplies for these children from people who want to help This help is sent to me in packages I also obtain educational scholarships for these children from some people I found scholarships for 20 daughters from the 90 families I am currently giving work to Scholarships are given in the following amounts per person: 20-25 million TL for elementary school children; 50-100 million TL for middle and high school students; and 120-150 million TL for university students Those who offer scholarships are individuals as well as business owners
Clothing donations are primarily given to families lacking employment potential whom we have identified within the communities in which the women who work for me live We do not give monetary assistance The people we try to help are those who live in the most remote districts of town, those who were not able to even support themselves in the village I met most of these people through the CATOM I have learned everything I have done from the CATOM I was raised at the CATOM If it were not for the CATOM, I would not be here When we were working at the CATOM, men would not send their daughters or wives to the CATOM We would go talk with the men We would invite the men to the CATOM By persuading the men, we would enable the wives and girls to come to the CATOM
I am the accountant for my business I learned accounting when I was looking after filling the orders for goods that the CATOM received Preparing and shipping the goods to fill the order from America strengthened my accounting skills We were earning money We were then reinvesting our earnings in raw materials
I learned how to turn work into a real business activity from Fatma Meral Horne I learned that when I was making something, I should strive for a flawless product Before, I would plan according to my own know-how I would instruct participants to do as I said I would not allow the participants to introduce their own creativity I learned from Meral Horne that this is not right I learned about quality Before, we would not take the risk of dyeing the felt in a cauldron We would prepare the dye in small containers I learned the correct way to dye felt Now we do all our own dye work We buy at least 40-50 meters of felt We take the felt to the Yakubiye neighborhood and we do the dyeing together with the women who live there
The micro-enterprise training course I took taught me to not remain idle and how to run my own business I believe that the education I received from the course sponsored by Yildiz Hanim has played a very large role in my success
The merchants in this marketplace have shown me a lot of respect as a shopkeeper All of them They always ask "my teacher, is there anything you need?" Actually, the marketplace merchants are not used to situations as this I am the first (woman shopkeeper) in Urfa After seeing me, one of the merchants began to bring his wife and daughter to his shop to help him
I began this work on March 22, 2003 The owner of the shop and I participate jointly in arts and crafts fairs The shop owner attends fairs in other provinces and in other countries He also takes my merchandise when he goes I myself participate in fairs that are held within the province, and I take his merchandise with me when I go When I sell the shop owners merchandise, I give the proceeds to him I keep the proceeds from my own sales I work in this store together with my mother My sister has recently left her job and joined us here We earn an average income of about 500-600 million TL

This shop draws a lot of interest Domestic and foreign tourists take notice of our shop because the products we sell are native to Urfa and also women are employed here We are the only female shopkeepers in Urfa
I would like my business to reflect URFAS AUTHENTIC ESSENCE I only purchase felt raw materials in Urfa I do not want to purchase the felt in Kayseri or in Balikesir
I have based my business on the concept that WOMEN CAN BE PRODUCTIVE I enjoy the appreciation and compliments expressed by an increasing number of people Some people tell me that they wish their women could do something like this I enjoy serving as a role model in Urfa
Business experience has taught me the art of dialogue Here I am together with everyone -- women, men, tourists At the CATOM I met many women My outlook expanded at the CATOM It has become even broader here I learned tolerance I used to be impatient I have learned patience and tolerance
The biggest problem I have right now is that of how to transport the felt I carry the felt myself I keep thinking "I wish I had an automobile" I dont transport the felt by taxi I say to myself "instead of paying 5 million TL for a taxi, I could give that money to a girl/woman; I could use the money to pay for labor"
If the women who work with me, the ones I give work orders to, are laborers, then so am I If they are employers, then so am I This is the only way we can work together and collaborate If I look down upon them, then it is certain that we cannot work together When I tell them "this order has to be ready in two hours" they never put me in a position of having to repeat what I said
The secret of a successful business is PATIENCE AND TRUST This applies to the work you do and to those you employ Also, you must be broad-minded when you are working with people
I expect that I will be receiving very good merchandise orders over the next five years My imagination entertains even better possibilities I envision seeing bright and beautiful days Like Sabanci, I envision establishing a holding company, FELT HOLDING, where I will employ and work together with thousands of women and girls