In 1993, Vandana went to visit her close friend Vaishanvi, who was studying at the Women's Christian College in Chennai. Outside the college gate, there was a mentally-ill woman in mid-30's whose physical condition and behavior touched them a lot and finally got her admitted to an institution which became the incident to sow the seed of "The Banyan" as later on they found that the woman left the place and nobody know her whereabouts or fate thereafter. Both of these ladies were from well-to-do families with good education. Vaishanvi was so much devoted to the organization that she did not get married. They shared unrelenting compassion for the mentally ill and destitute women with the motto, "I exist, thereafter I am," which addresses the rights of the marginalized sections of society to live and to be.
Having decided to start a home for mentally ill women, the founders first convinced their family and the society. They registered The Banyan as a 'secular Indian public charitable trust reaching out to the marginalized sections of society." At first with large effort, they were able to get a small place on rent and started the first home and titled "adaikalam" (shelter). For raising funds, they knocked on the doors of banks, clubs and corporate offices. After a long effort, they could raise Rs. 85,000 in the first year.
The founders did not want The Banyan to be merely a place for lifetime, but rather a protective home where mentally-ill women could be taken care of a rehabilitated so that they returned to the mainstream society and continued their normal lives with renewed confidence. Numbers of inmates getting rehabilitated and returning to the society grew as well the number of inmates joining the home also increased. The great challenge for them was that, prevalence of the perception in the society that mental illness was a disease which could not be cured resulting on that people were not simply ready to accept rehabilitated women back in the society. In fact, Vaishnavi felt, "it was easier to handle mentally ill people than normal people". So they intensified their efforts of spreading the awareness and dispel the myths attached to mental illness.
They sought government assistance, and got about 6.5 grounds of land from the state of government under the Mogappair, Chennai. After going through a series of formalities and verifications, they received Rs. 1.8 million every year from the central government under the Swadha Scheme to sustain 200 beneficiaries. By April 2001, The Banyan had a 24,000 sq.ft. area with large dormitories, a sickbay, spacious office rooms, a modern kitchen and a modern auditorium. It received a generous donation from the Japanese Grassroots Assistance Scheme of the Government of Japan. The Banyan was able to put up a large Therapy Block to offer individualized and group holistic development programs.
The founders along with volunteers intensified their efforts to mobilize funds. With more of month, than Rs 1 million needed to meet the recurring expenses of the home every were tapping all possible sources. There were only a handful of generous souls who made donations to such causes. However, the founders felt that there were still many people out there willing to contribute and support such causes. It was just th4ey had to be identified ii and approached. In fact, 74% of the revenues during 2003 -2004 came from donations whereas remaining 26% from the grants from government bodies and income from in-house programs.
The Banyan raised funds by selling products and greeting cards made by the residents. They organized exhibitions of such products at various premises like schools, colleges and corporate houses. Apart from BasantUtsav, they conducted similar small events for fund raising. Program was promoted among the film stars. BasantUtsav was a vibrant festival of music and dance conceptualized by volunteers of the Banyan in 1998 which became a regular feature every-year. With so many celebrities promoting the cause, corporate groups too joined to become a part of the event.
Questions:
1.What are the challenges to be faced by an entrepreneur at the start-up of the business? Explain on the basis of case.
2.What are the necessary qualities of an entrepreneur? Explain taking the reference of the case,
3.Explain the triple bottom lines that has to be fulfilled by any social organization for its sustainability. Align them the case.

Question

Accepted Answer

The Banyan is a well-known charitable organization founded by Vandana Gopikumar and Vaishnavi…