From Housewife to Businesswoman

Hailing from Yanchi County of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Song Xianglan is a 37-year-old with a senior middle school education. Nowadays she is known among locals as the "Queen of Planting." She is also deputy director of Plant Association of Three Villages and director of the Women's Development Association of Yanchi County.

Song exudes innate optimism, self-confidence and astuteness. She used to be a typical housewife taking care of the daily house chores until the staff of Micro Credit Service Center in Yanchi County introduced her village to their micro credit plan in 2003.

Song realized this could make an excellent and life-altering opportunity for her. Without thinking twice, she applied for a loan of 1,000 yuan(US$162.8) and with that money went on to build a greenhouse for growing vegetables. Her vegetables sold at a good price, which in turn generated an income of 10,000 yuan for her that year.

Song applied for the additional loan of 9,000 yuan and built six more greenhouses, and an additional sheep barn. She decided to adopt the drip irrigation method in all of her vegetable houses. That year her net income reached 20,000 yuan. In next to no time, she had opened up her own store for agricultural supplies, as well as a grocery store and a chess room later on.

As Song's case proves, a mere of 1,000 yuan from Micro Credit can provide a housewife with the sufficient financial support for starting up her own business.