A team of Women on Wings experts worked intensively with the management of The Ants in Bangalore on a sustainable business plan. It focuses on the expansion of the company’s wholesale activities. Several improvements are already evident since Women on Wings started working with The Ants in 2009.
The company’s cash flow problems were studied in the Netherlands by expert Anke Rotink. Experts Matthijs Rosman and Ronald van het Hof have examined the current financial situation of The Ants in detail together with its management and they have jointly developed a number of tools to improve financial management. In addition, the activities and priorities of the management have been given structure and focus. A reporting format has been set up that is discussed with the team each month in order to monitor progress.
In addition to its retail activities, The Ants has a café above the shop where many activities are organized to provide further information on the north-east of India, where all products and employees come from, to its customers in an interactive manner. The Women on Wings team attended a film screening about the construction of river dams in the north-east. Matthijs Rosman: “It was impressive to see and hear how the construction of dams affects the lives of the people there. Hundreds of people lose their land and homes and a lot of nature and culture disappears.”
