Manoranjan Mohanta was born in a small village of Mayurbhanj district in North Odisha. His father was a farmer, and he had spent most of his childhood helping his father in the paddy fields. He comes from a low income-class family with a household of 5 members. However, life had been tough for the family as the yields were not always good, and they struggled to make ends meet. While growing up, he witnessed struggles for not receiving fair prices for agricultural produce, lack of road connectivity, access to healthcare system, good schooling, etc. Despite those challenges, Manoranjan was determined to improve his situation and that of his family.
He enrolled in the Turner trade at Government TTI Takatpur. During his study, he started doing seasonal business such as trading of Sal leaf, Sal seeds and vegetables and pay his education and living expenses. After completing the course, he struggled in the job market and that’s when he learnt about Nano Unicorn programme from his college teachers. He had seen that there was a gap in the market for a local grocery store in his hometown and so he decided to start a grocery shop. With the little money that he had accumulated from previous jobs and the Nano Unicorn loan amount, he set up his shop. Initially, business was slow but with perseverance, he began to attract customers.
During COVID-19 pandemic, even his business got impacted but as soon as the restrictions were eased, he resumed the work and with immense hard work he managed to repay the full loan amount of Rs. one lakh to Nano Unicon project. Currently, his business has a turnover of Rs. 50,000-70,000 per month, with a profit of around Rs. 15000/. He has employed one support staff in his business. Despite the challenges he faced, Manoranjan’s hard work and determination have paid off and he has succeeded in improving his family’s financial situation.