10.1 What Will You Improve Next

Once your first few months go smoothly, you’ll start thinking — “Ab next kya?”

That’s the beauty of this business — every batch teaches you something new.

• Learn how different foods behave: mango pulp dries faster, onion slower, spinach delicate.

• Experiment with temperature and time — develop your own “signature recipe.”

• Improve packaging — airtight jars, kraft pouches, QR-coded labels.

• Add a small weighing scale with auto pricing — gives a professional feel.

💬 Example:

In Ajmer, Rekha Soni started with drying mint and chillies. Within a year she made her own “Drying Chart” for 30 items. Now she trains new entrants — they call her Madam Rekha Food Tech Expert!

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10.2 Skill You Need to Learn

This business doesn’t need degrees — only curiosity and discipline. Still, learning adds polish and power.

• Food Preservation Basics: Moisture, hygiene, packaging — available free on YouTube and PM-FME portal.

• Digital Basics: Using WhatsApp Business, clicking good product photos, updating your SNL profile.

• Financial Basics: Simple Excel sheet or diary for daily cost vs income tracking.

• Customer Communication: Short polite messages, keeping order promises.

💬 Example:

Faisal from Lucknow learnt Canva on his phone. Now his pouches look like store brands. Customers think he’s running a full factory — but it’s just one machine in his backyard!

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10.3 Future Product or Market Expansion

This business can grow in dozens of directions without needing big money.

• A. Add New Products: Dried soups, ready meal mixes, herbal teas, pet food, flower petals for rituals.

• B. New Markets: Supply to hostel canteens, religious trusts, trekking clubs, and online stores.

• C. Export Potential: NRIs crave authentic Indian taste — dried poha, pav-bhaji mix, masala bhindi.

• D. Processing Clusters: A few micro-entrepreneurs in one area can share packaging and transport.

💬 Example:

In Coimbatore, Three Friends Drying Co. began as one woman’s side gig. Now they have four machines, three families involved, and they export dried jackfruit chips to Singapore.

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10.4 Simple 1-Year Growth Plan

💬 Example:

Anjali & Aruna Sisters from Surat started one unit under PM-FME. In month 11, they helped their cousin in Baroda buy another dryer. Now all three work together — one buys, one dries, one packs — earning ₹ 1 lakh+ per month combined.

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10.5 Why This Business Has a Secure Future

• Food Never Goes Out of Fashion. Only the way we preserve it changes.

• Technology Keeps Improving, Not Disrupting. Your dryer will get smarter with IoT updates — not outdated.

• Government Support Is Strong. Food-processing, waste-reduction, and women-enterprise are priority areas in every scheme.

• Lifestyle Trends Help. Working couples, travel eaters, health freaks — all prefer convenient dried foods.

💬 Example:

Mohanlal Ji from Udaipur, 68, once called this a “time-pass.” Two years later, he’s been invited by a local college to speak on “Micro Food Enterprises & Sustainability.” That’s not just income — that’s recognition.

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💬 In Simple Words

This business grows like a family tree — one branch at home, one with a friend, another with your relative — all connected by trust and technology.

There is no saturation point because every city, every season, every kitchen keeps producing food that deserves to be saved, not wasted.

💚 “Sikhte chalo, sukhate chalo — earning bhi, learning bhi.”