Business, not a women’s job is an outdated proposition today. Kudos to the women who have successfully made their way from the kitchens to the boardrooms. In the era of start-ups, women don’t seem to take a backseat and hence have come up with innovative ideas running some of the affluent websites of the time. But, this journey for them was never easy as women need to overcome a lot of stereotypes before getting established as start-up entrepreneurs.
Venture capitalists who provide funds to the start-ups do feel that women are not that serious about business and hence can drop out anytime, thus they reserve themselves when it comes to funding women start-ups. Women do have limited access to resources. In this male dominated world when a woman asks for space to run a business, she is often looked down with suspicion. Women competing with men is often hard to accept for the society. When it comes to marketing, the sphere which has long been dominated by men, women find it an unsettling task and so have to rely on middleman or outsourcing which again takes up quite a larger part of their profit. The mother of all problems is the patriarchal society which because of its regressive belief considers women to be weak and with no sense of economic issues which again creates a blockade in starting up a new venture. But despite such issues, there are women who have made their dreams come true and are a role model to many budding and aspiring women entrepreneurs.
- Suchi Mukherjee, LIMEROAD
Suchi, on her maternity leave, decided to come up with one of the leading marketplaces for women’s fashion in India- LIMEROAD in the year 2012. She is a post-grad from London School of Economics.
- Richa Kar, ZIVAME
None other than women can understand a woman’s problem, Richa proved it right. Being abreast of the problems that women face in buying lingerie, she came up with India’s first online marketplace for lingerie. Richa is a Bits Pilani graduate and has worked with spencer’s retail store.
- Falguni Nayar, Nykaa
Falguni had been an investment banker for 27 years after which she led the foundation of an online web store for beauty and wellness, Nykaa.
- Anisha Singh, MyDala
Anisha, a graduate from an American university has worked with the Clinton administration and has also helped women entrepreneurs raise funds. Her self-motivation and inspiration brought her back to India and she led the foundation of MyDala, when mobile reach in India was only 5%. Today MyDala has a presence over 200 cities.
- Sairee Chahal, Sheroes
An inspiration for many budding journalist, Sairee came up with a unique idea of opening up a platform which helps women find jobs after a long break. Women who leave their jobs for social responsibilities often find it difficult getting a good job. The platform also provides a good opportunity to work from home, thus proving a boon for all educated women in the country.
- Radhika Aggarwal, ShopClues
Radhika, a post graduate in public relations and advertising and owner of her own ad agency is the CBO and co-founder of shopclues.com, a leading online marketplace with amazingly low prices.
The list does not end here as there are a lot more victorious entrepreneurs who were brave enough to extricate themselves from the shackles of society and lead the coming generations of women entrepreneurs. Life for women is tough only when they believe it to be, otherwise, no dream is a distant dream.
Happy International Women’s Day