â„¢ www.insightssuccess.in May 2018
CEO of the Month
The
Successful Business
W MEN
Dipti Agrawal, CEO Tudip Technologies
To Watch In 2018
Cover Page Urvashi Makkar Director General
Urvashi Makkar A Visionary in the Perspective of Transforming Management Institutions
Editorial
T
he scenario of entrepreneurship is changing every day. Women owned businesses are gradually increasing in the number and creating a rapid positive impact on the economies of almost all countries. The hidden entrepreneurial potentials of women have gradually been changing with the growing sensitivity to the role and economic status in the society. Skill, knowledge and adaptability in business are the main reasons for women to emerge into business ventures. A women entrepreneur accepts challenging role to meet her personal needs and become economically independent. A strong desire to do something positive is an inbuilt quality of entrepreneurial women, who is capable of contributing values in family, professional and social life. With the advent of media, women are aware of their own traits, rights and also the work situations.
Improved Education and Changing Socio cultural Values Driving Entrepreneurship to the Level-Next
The challenges and opportunities provided to the women of digital era are growing rapidly that is what is turning the job seekers into job creators. They are ourishing as designers, interior decorators, exporters, publishers, garment manufacturers and many are still exploring new avenues of economic participation. In India, although women constitute a huge percentage of the total population, the entrepreneurial world is still dominated by men of the society. Women in advanced nations are recognized and are more prominent in the business world. In this era of economic liberalization and globalization, these women entrepreneurs are the key players in any developing country particularly in terms of their contribution to economic development. In recent years, even among the developed countries like USA and Canada, women’s role in terms of their share in small businesses has been increasing. At the same time, women are doing a wonderful job by striking a beautiful balance between their house and career. Now, women have taken up entrepreneurial role in order to break the myth and give meaning to their lives. Better education, changing socio cultural values and need for supplementary income are some of the factors responsible for this noticed change. When proper exposure, education and knowledge are imparted in a proper direction, women can demonstrate themselves to be highly potential productive force for the development of the nation.
Shweta Priyadarshini Shweta Priyadarshini
™
Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Senior Editor Shraddha Deshpande Managing Editor Rajarshi Chatterjee Executive Editor Shweta Priyadarshini Contributors Bhavithiran, Ashwini Deshpande Devasish, Apurva, Shruti Art & Design Director Amol Kamble Co-designer Priyanka Rajage Picture Editor Alex Noel Art Editor Shweta Ambilwade Visualiser Shweta Shinde Business Development Manager Akansha Garewal Marketing Manager Dhruv Apte Business Development Executives Rutuja, Joan, Shraddha Research Analyst David Circulation Manager Vivek Database Management Prashant Chevale Technology Consultant Swapnil Patil sales@insightssuccess.com
May, 2018 Corporate Ofces: Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. Off. No. 513 & 510, 5th Flr., Rainbow Plaza, Shivar Chowk, Pimple Saudagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411017 Phone - India: 020- 7410079881/ 82/ 83/ 84/ 85 Email: info@insightssuccess.in For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.in
Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com
Cover Price : RS. 150/Follow us on :
www.facebook.com/insightssuccess/
https://twitter.com/insightssuccess
We are also available on : Copyright © 2018 Insights Success, All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Insights Success. Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success. Printed and Published by Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd.
rS Cove tory
Con ne s Urvashi Makkar
A Visionary in the Perspective of Transforming Management Institutions
CEO of the Month
Dipti Agrawal
8 Articles
16
A Woman with Indomitable Will
30
Chalk Talk Impact of Women in the Business World
40
Editor’s Pick The Dynamic Women of the 21st Century
Expert’s View
20 Inspiring Enterpreneur
26 From the Desk of Leading Women Entrepreneur
Emerging Issues & challenges for Women Entrepreneurs in this Era of technology
34 Business Talk
44
Expert’s Viewpoint on Maintaining an Equal Balance in an Entrepreneur’s Life Women Breaking Stereotypes and Crea ng Milestones in the Dawn of Entrepreneurship
Anu Veledandi P
Seamlessly Escala ng the Branding & Digital Media Services
Women Entrepreneurs Analyzing & Overcoming Challenges in Business
Adi Chadha
22
Innova ve Connected
28 Device for Women's Safety
Minnat Lalpuria Meghana Kambham Leading a Mission to Serve
32
38
An Inspiring Women who Takes Wedding Services to the Higher Edge
Priya Sachdev A Contributor in Sales Performance Best Prac ces of World Class Sales Organiza ons
42
Rashi Narang
46 Your Pet Paren ng Partner
10
The
SuccessfuL Business
W MEN To Watch In 2018
The Most Motivated Women Entrepreneurs Deciding on the Right Business Idea
T
oday, India has its own pool of fearless and talent women entrepreneurs who have made a mark for themselves in India as well as overseas. They have embraced entrepreneurship and established their own venture. Women entrepreneurs in India are bringing about a lot of development in the public and private sectors. These women entrepreneurs are tipping the scale into the start-up ecosystem that usually weighs heavy with male-dominated companies. Insights Success Magazine, we have introduced The 10 Successful Business Women to Watch In 2018. These women have stepped-up to define independent strength, determination and power in this competitive era. Our Cover Story features Urvashi Makkar, Director General of G.L. Bajaj Institute of Management & Research. She is an enterprising academician with an enriching experience of 23 years in the field of education, research, training & consultancy. Apart from this, we have chosen Anu Veledandi P, Owner of Moksha Media, the best branding and digital marketing agency which focuses on Brand Strategy, Brand Identity, and Brand Communications. Aditi Chadha, Founder and CEO of DAZL which is a connected device (IoT) which focuses on the safety and convenience of women across the globe. Minnat Lalpuria, Founder & CEO of 7Vachan which is the foremost organization that provides a wide range of wedding solutions to its customers with special focus on destination weddings. Priya Sachdev, Sales Director, Miller Heiman Group that is a conglomerate of brands that have long been associated with accelerating sales growth and business transformation which is the cornerstone of what we do. Rashi Narang, the Founder of Heads Up For Tails which is a retailer (with an online and offline presence) that exclusively sells pet products with love and loyalty. Meghna Khambham, Co-founder of CarenGrow which is a unique venture aiming to create healthy nations by seeding in the holistic development of children. Dipti agarwal, Co-founder & CEO of Tudip Technologies, that provides software development services, primarily in web, mobile, IOT, DevOps and QA automation space. We have also encompassed Debadutta Upadhayaye, Co-founder of Timesaverz Dotcom Private Limited, Timesaverz is in the business of getting curated home service providers for various services ranging from cleaning tasks, pest control, appliances repairs and handyman jobs, Shuchi Singla, Founder of Bafflesol technologies that provide highquality and cost-effective IT services that meet our customers’ needs. We manage and support all our IT service solutions using cutting-edge technology. Also, we have included articles such as Emerging Issues and challenges for Women Entrepreneurs in this Era of technology written by Meghana Saraogi. Our in-house editors have come up with some adroitly written articles such as Impact of Women in the Business World. So, flip through our magazine and reap the inspiration and insights that lies in between the expository stories of these inspirational women in business.
Cover Story
Urvashi Makkar
Cover Story
Director General
Urvashi Makkar: A Visionary in the Perspective of Transforming Management Institutions
It is indispensable to discard the redundant and obsolete learning for one to succeed
10
The
SuccessfuL Business
W MEN To Watch In 2018
E
very woman is empowered and is an epitome of empowerment despite all her imperfections because she is willing to sacrifice her dreams to foster the aspirations of her family. Women belonging to the most marginalized sections of our nation have exhibited unparalleled courage by risking everything to provide education and basic amenities to their children. In their struggle to uphold their self-respect, they are the true embodiment of empowerment. For all that a woman has achieved today, it has only been possible for the insights and the sacrifices of her mother, who was the bearer of a holistic optimization of her personal and professional life. It is from her undying dedication and hardships that women have inherited the zeal and energy to go ahead in life. Our society owes its bare existence to the sacrifices and self-less dedication of such women who are empowered in the true sense. An Excellent Orator and an Insightful Leader Urvashi Makkar is an enterprising academician with an enriching experience of 23 years in the field of education, research, training & consultancy. A visionary in the perspective of transforming Management Institutions by her unmatched leadership in Organizational Development, her continuous perseverance in improving Academic Quality and Research Orientation, Building Global Interface, Developing Entrepreneurial Culture, Improving Corporate Linkage and Creating Performance Oriented Work Culture has been instrumental for G.L. Bajaj Institute of Management & Research to reinvent Management Education.
and more than 76 publications with paper presentations across National & International conferences and seminars. She has chaired technical sessions at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA, Universities Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia, IITBombay, IIM-Ahmedabad, IIT-Kanpur, IIM-Kozhikode, amongst other institutes of global repute. G.L. Bajaj Institute of Management & Research, Greater Noida is a leading B-School of North India offering Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) approved by AICTE, Ministry of HRD Govt. of India. GLBIMR, established in 2007, under the umbrella of GL Bajaj Group of Institutions, embarked on the journey to promote higher education in NCR. In record time of 10 years, the institute has demonstrated meteoric growth and has carved a distinct niche for itself in the field of management education. This year it has been ranked amongst the Top 4 Management Institutes in “Emerging Category” by AICTE-CII Survey of Industry-Linked Institutes, 2017. Focus on Providing Right Knowledge GLBIMR, ensures that one is not restricted to classroom teaching, but look for overall development of students. The institute has a unique and innovative approach to management education that focuses on providing right knowledge, imparting the right skills for enduring success in management career and shaping the right character. Not only providing education, but the impetus here, is on skill enhancement, employability & corporate readiness by recognizing the industry needs and integrating knowledge with professional inputs.
Cover Story
Nurturing Corporate ready professionals is the main focus
Women can have it all - a successful career, happy marriage, and motherhood. It's not one or another. It's about being able fit it all in with stride. A strong woman can have all this because we were built for it “I look positively at developing an entrepreneurial culture and Global interface to nurture the young pool of talent in India. This vision can be achieved by equipping the youth with management education to grow as entrepreneurs.”
at GLBIMR, for that it does a lot of research work. The team conducts delve into details after every placement drive, to makes sure that the next year’s placements are better than the previous ones.
Urvashi, a Ph.D., EPHRM-IIM Calcutta, holds the certification of “Harvard University Leadership Program” from Harvard University – School of Education, Boston, USA. She has to her credit ten books published by renowned publishing houses, including TATA McGraw Hill
Personal Path of Empowerment Urvashi has always had a keen interest and persistent passion for continuous learning. As she embarked on this endless journey of acquiring knowledge, Urvashi realized that education is the most powerful tool to change the
The young talent of India has to be nurtured in a way so that their ability can contribute towards the economic development of the country
world; but for that it is important that right people join this sector. The dream, aim, passion & mission have thus been shaped to improve the quality of education system in the country. She had the focus of getting into teaching and mentoring from the very beginning and believes that the teaching fraternity plays an inevitable role in building the nation by providing a direction to the youth to channelize their talent and energy. Urvashi has dedicated a considerable time of her life towards research so that she can work for the betterment of the education system in India. Providing a wholesome, career-oriented education to contribute towards Nation Building has been the true essence of education for her. During her recent sabbatical, Urvashi was mesmerized by the story of Michael Angelo’s creation of “David”; he stated that from a piece of rock he discarded what was “not” David to create an unfathomable perfection of a sculpture. The research orientation made her realize the need of redefining the education system, especially the Management Education in India, in terms of employability to develop an entrepreneurship culture. Urvashi has an enlightening experience as an academician to enable the students to come out of a debilitating mindset of treating the PGDM course as a mere utilitarian concept to earning a degree and help them understand that the institute aims at enhancement of skills for a lifetime. Inspiration to Undertake New Experiments in Life Since childhood, Urvashi was strongly inspired by the thoughts and works of Swami Vivekanand. His youth orientation, his teaching and his passion had always inspired her. She has imbibed his teaching in the profession to make sure that she contributes towards the society. Also her parents are her greatest source of inspiration. She has inherited the passion towards work from her parents.
I believe and practice an absolutely disciplined way of living. As a leader I feel morally responsible to maintain a demeanor that is professional and endearing
Excellence Awards Earned by Urvashi and GLBIMR Urvashi has been decorated with the Excellence Award for Academic Leadership to Director General, at the 18th National Management Summit by Fore-Top Rankers. She has been conferred with the ‘Women Leadership Award for Promotion of Responsible Management Education’ by Canara Bank School of Management Studies (CBSMS), Bangalore University, National Women Excellence Award in November, 2017 at India International Center, New Delhi and ‘Leading Women in Education Award’ to the Director General, GLBIMR at the 7th Annual Women Leaders in India & Awards, in February 2017. She received the ‘Eminent Director of Leading Institutes of India Award’ by Competition Success Review for the sixth consecutive year, 2016-2018. Center for Education Growth and Research (CEGR) awarded her with the prestigious ‘RashtriyaShikshaGauravPuraskar’ in 2014. She also received “Confederation of Education Excellence Teachers’ Award 2014” in the Higher Education Category.
Envisioning Future with Winning Streak of Professionalism In her current association with GLBIMR as Director General, Urvashi has followed the 3P’s approach of Pride, Power of Dreams and Perseverance to facilitate development of future corporate leaders. She feels, that institutions like GLBIMR, are contributing much more to the society by providing a platform for inclusive growth. The elite institutions have become isolated islands, catering to a select few, whose contribution to the society can be questioned. The Institute has a futuristic approach that keeps pace with the changing trends in the professional world through the global perspective and we envision becoming an incubator for future leaders with a winning streak of professionalism and entrepreneurial spirit. There is a strong need of encouraging research orientation amongst students as well. Research needs to be reflected in the curriculum design since most employability opportunities need the students to implement research instruments. In the current association Urvashi is actively working on skill building process that enables them to progress in the industry in the long run.
Women have always had a sense of ownership and an entrepreneurial streak in them and in the present
Placements of students of GLBIMR have been 100% since the inception. GLBIMR has been conferred with highly prestigious award of – ‘Best Management Institute in Placements’ by ABP News Network, in July 2017, in Mumbai, during ‘The 8thNational Education Awards 2017’. GLBIMR does not just provide placements, but the task is to shape the career of students, which is much more important, than granting them a job. It is more a question of producing quality management professionals with corporate readiness.
era they are driving out of their comfort zone to achieve new heights in the world of business
Read it First
Subscribe today Yes I would like to subscribe to Insights Success Magazine.
Global Subscription 1 Year.......... (12 Issues) .... Rs. 2500
6 Months ..... (06 Issues) .... Rs. 1300
3 Months .... (03 Issues) ....
1 Month ...... (01 Issue) .....
Rs. 700
Rs. 250
Date :
Name : Address :
Telephone : Email :
City :
State :
Zip :
Country :
Cheque should be drawn in favour of : INSIGHTS SUCCESS MEDIA AND TECH PVT. LTD.
CORPORATE OFFICE â„¢
Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. Off No. 513 & 510, 5th Flr, Rainbow Plaza, Shivar Chowk, Pimple Saudagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411017. Phone - India: 020- 7410079881/ 82/ 83/ 84/ 85 USA: 302-319-9947 Email: info@insightssuccess.in in
10
The
SuccessfuL Business
W MEN To Watch In 2018
Company Name
Management
Brief
7Vachan 7vachan.com
Minnat Lalpuria Founder & CEO
7Vachan is the foremost organization that provides a wide range of wedding solutions to its customers with special focus on destination weddings.
Bafflesol technologies bafflesol.com
Shuchi Singla Founder
Bafflesol technologies provides high-quality and cost-effective IT services that meet our customers’ needs. We manage and support all our IT service solutions using cutting-edge technology.
CarenGrow carengrow.com
Meghna Khambham Co-founder
CarenGrow is a unique venture aiming to create healthy nations by seeding in the holistic development of children.
DAZL dazl.io
Aditi Chadha Founder & CEO
DAZL is a connected device (IoT) which focuses on the safety and convenience of women across the globe.
G.L. Bajaj Institute of Management & Research glbimr.org
Urvashi Makkar Director General
G.L. Bajaj Institute of Management & Research is a leading B-School of North India offering Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) approved by AICTE, Ministry of HRD Govt. of India. GLBIMR, established in 2007, under the umbrella of GL Bajaj Group of Institutions, embarked on the journey to promote higher education in NCR.certification body in the field of Cyber security globally present in 142 countries.
Heads Up For Tails headsupfortails.com
Rashi Narang Founder
Heads Up For Tails is a retailer (with an online and offline presence) that exclusively sells pet products with love and loyalty.
Miller Heiman Group millerheimangroup.com
Priya Sachdev Sales Director
Miller Heiman Group is a conglomerate of brands that have long been associated with accelerating sales growth and business transformation which is the cornerstone of what we do.
Moksha Media mokshamedia.co.in
Anu Veledandi P Owner
Moksha Media is the best branding and digital marketing agency which focuses on Brand Strategy, Brand Identity, and Brand Communications.
Timesaverz Dotcom Private Limited timesaverz.com
Debadutta Upadhayaye Co-founder
Timesaverz is in the business of getting curated home service providers for various services ranging from cleaning tasks, pest control, appliances repairs and handyman jobs
Tudip Technologies tudip.com
Dipti Agrawal Co-founder & CEO
Tudip Technologies, provides software development services, primarily in web, mobile, IOT, DevOps and QA automation space.
A Woman with Indomitable Will
‘‘
I believe any business is about providing value to the client, money is just a by-product
‘‘
Dipti Agrawal CEO & Co-Founder
16
May 2018|
™
W
omen entrepreneurs serve as the catalyst for economic growth and are bringing a lot of development in public and the private sector in the country. The notions of successful businesswomen have different perspectives. However, self-belief, ambition, passion, sense of purpose, assertiveness, humility and willingness to work under any circumstance are some of the common traits that can be attributed to them. Successful female entrepreneurs are always passionate about what they do because they tend to create businesses around the things they enjoy. One such ambitious and passionate business women, Dipti Agrawal, CEO, Tudip Technologies, is an inspiration and role-model for budding female entrepreneurs. She has fostered Tudip Technologies into one of the fastest growing organizations in the very short span of time. Women face a multitude of challenges in the workforce. Despite these hurdles, female leaders find ways to overcome and prosper. These women are the driving force and strength behind some of the successful and giant business organizations across the globe. With highly skilled workforce, Tudip Technologies offers bundles of products and services into software development, primarily in the web, mobile, IOT, DevOps and QA automation space. Dipti’s Entrepreneurial Expedition Dipti, CEO, is an alumnus of IBS, Hyderabad and an engineering graduate from NIT Durgapur. With her strong acumen for business, Dipti has played a vital role in shaping Tudip Technologies over the years.
™
May 2018|
While speaking about helping clients and earning profits in business, Dipti says, “I believe any business is about providing value to the client, money is just a by-product.” Dipti’s charisma, passion & years of dedication have led her to one of the top Business Women. With her gogetter attitude, ability of taking calculated risks, disciplined nature, strong people skills and work ethics, she is recognized as an inspiration to several folks, especially women throughout India. Women entrepreneurs are not only bringing economic growth in the country, but also a constructive societal change. She says, “Being a successful woman in business is more than just income, it’s fulfillment of work-life balance, and making a difference in the world.” Meticulously Designed Solutions A commitment to excellence, creativity and innovation, Tudip Technologies has strived to build and deliver great user experiences through its products and services. The organization offers flexible, customized, personalized and cost-effective outsourcing solutions by ensuring the utmost confidentiality of sensitive business data with on-time and on-budget delivery. To minimize the gap between the client needs and their offering, the company developed dedicated and businesscentric web solutions coupled with innovation and expertise as the tools to achieve business goals. Tudip’s high-quality, cost-effective, reliable and scalable services have helped it in building an enduring relationship with its esteemed customers from all over the globe. “With a steady focus on all new cutting-edge technologies like ReactJS,
‘‘
Being a successful woman in business is more than just income, it’s fulfillment of work-life balance,& making a difference in the world
‘‘
CEO of the Month
ReactNative, AngularJS, MVC 6, MEAN, PHP 7 etc. we are additionally pushing for more exciting work in IOT, Mobile, AR/VR space along with cloud-enabled technologies,” expressed Dipti. Commencement towards Excellence The foundation stone of Tudip Technologies was laid on 5th of April, 2010. From the team of four bright minded folks to a workforce of around 250 enthusiastic talented engineers, Tudip has made a remarkable progress since inception. Headquartered at Pune, India, they have another team working in Campbell, California. Everyone can be an entrepreneur. However, the skills that one needs to be an entrepreneur are ability to have ideas, to sell those ideas, to execute on those ideas, and to be persistent so even as you fail you learn and move onto the next adventure. Thus, with the same zeal and resolve, Tudip was formed by two engineers from National Institute of Technology Durgapur (NIT) first-generation entrepreneurs per se, since then; the company has a glorious history of growing at a high pace in spite of the market instabilities and recession.
17
‘‘
You Never Really Lose Until You Stop Trying The ability to handle life’s challenges and adversities is a measure of the strength of a woman’s character. “One of the key lessons, I learned was to never give up on clients. We did not leave our clients even when the chips were down. This helped us gain their trust which got us good business in the long run,” says Dipti. Being an entrepreneur, one should be ready to face new challenges; because challenges bring opportunities to perform better. While talking about the goals, Dipti feels, dedication and hard work are the two things which are must to succeed in any business. When you love what you do, dedication and hard work come naturally. There have been several moments when the entire team sat for several hours to deliver a quality product to our clients. For me, such moments are more valuable than any awards. She also believes that being updated about the latest developments in
18
Achieving Maximum Productivity through the Work Culture There is a saying, Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers. Tudip Technologies has adopted a flexible, informal, supportive and empowering work culture with the mantra of “Employee first”. This has enabled Tudip to achieve maximum productivity and work satisfaction amongst all the employees. Tudip’s values are Integrity, Innovation and Serenity. Since inception, the management has fostered upon open work culture and tagged them as Equal Opportunities Company. The company culture need not be PingPong tables and free lunches. By simply providing employees with a sense of safety and well-being and creating a policy where everyone looks out for each other can easily suffice and Tudip has been successful at accomplishing this. Words of Wisdom for Budding Women Entrepreneurs Women being entrepreneur can certainly make a strong contribution to the economic well-being of the family and communities, poverty reduction and women’s empowerment. Governments across the world, as well as various developmental organizations, are actively undertaking promotion of women entrepreneurs through various schemes, incentives and promotional measures. Dipti says, “My advice to budding women entrepreneur is if you are authentic in your work, if you’re passionate about it, and if you always
strive to better yourself, you will rise to the top. There will always be hurdles so don’t be scared, if you have the will, you will definitely cross them” Footsteps towards Bright Future The constant technological innovations and advancements in IT industry in recent times have changed the economic equations for several IT companies in India. However, this technological revolution has also opened the doors to several untapped opportunities. The Tudip team desires to venture into newer technologies and unexplored domains. They have carved a niche as MVP Experts with over more than 300 successful products deliveries and counting. While sharing her thoughts about the future endeavours, Dipti states, “We have learnt from our past experiences that technologies that seem hot today can be seen being pushed to oblivion in absolutely no time. We are venturing into very challenging domains such as translation services and IoT and are ready to push our limits to deliver the best products and solutions in these domains.” Having a guiding force like Dipti on board, Tudip Technologies certainly has golden days ahead!
‘‘
‘‘
‘‘
One of the key lessons, I learned was to never give up on clients. We did not leave our clients even when the chips were down. This helped us gain their trust which got us good business in the long run.
respective fields is very essential to sustain and maintain the peak position in the industry.
Entrepreneurship is all about self-discovery
May 2018|
™
Emerging Issues and challenges
for Women Entrepreneurs in this Era of technology
4
years ago while I was working as a graphic designer, I would spend hours thinking about the idea of StyleDotMe and its potential. I did not start working towards it until one day a friend asked me “What if someone else comes up with same idea and creates it before you?” When I decided to give up my job and begin working on StyleDotMe, I had to go through multiple challenges. I wasn’t as confident but I was passionate and my vision was clear. In the journey there were multiple challenges that comes up but for me the top ones were Taking that first step: Women are asked not to go late at night, travel alone, wear short clothes, etc. We are always given that extra protection and so we are used to being dependent on someone from the opposite gender whether its our father, brother, boyfriends or husbands. When we want to start something on own, getting out of that protective shell is sometimes difficult for us and sometimes for the people around us. I think it’s important to leave your insecurities and fear behind and believe in yourself and standup for something you believe in. When I decided to take the plunge, there were many people who helped, stood by but many opposed and discouraged. At every step when people told me I cannot do certain things, I worked harder to prove them wrong and moved ahead. I think passion, persistence and perseverance as the most important qualities to start and follow your dreams. Having the right mentor is also very important. I was blessed to have Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder of Naukri.com as my first mentor who showed me the right direction at every step since inception of StyleDotMe. Most of the time how to start is the biggest question and I think a good mentor helps in getting clarity, push you when required and helps at various levels with his own
20
experiences. Sanjeev didn’t just stand by my side when it comes to work but also motivated and supported me throughout even when things were not moving right. I am learning from him everyday how to be a good entrepreneur and a leader but more than than I am also learning my biggest life lessons from him. His thoughts, value system and integrity keeps me on toes and teaches me how one should be in life. Building a great team: The biggest challenge for me was that I started a tech company without having any technical knowledge. I had the idea, the designs and plan ready with a long-term vision but didn’t know how to execute it. My strengths lie in design, planning and overseeing a project but since I did not have the technical knowledge and I was building a tech product, it was an impossible challenge. A strong team is the most important part of any company and finding talented engineers with limited resources was quite difficult. I outsourced the first version of the product and raised a seed round, but I soon realized building a strong team is the most important part of growing a business. It’s important to have people who believe in the same vision and will be willing to go to any length to make it work. So I started looking for people who will work for passion, who will work for making a difference in the world and I managed to build a great team! The Tag of Being a Woman Founder People treat Women entrepreneurs differently. No one calls “Men entrepreneurs” so why is there a different tag for women? I do not walk into any meeting or an investors pitch thinking I am a woman and should be treated differently. I do not expect special attention or benefits, but what I expect is respect & equality. What I expect is that when people make decisions for investment, collaborating or even joining my company it should not be on the basis of
May 2018|
™
Expert’s View
About The Author
Meghna Saraogi Founder
Juggling roles and harnessing untapped opportunities has always been up Meghna’s alley. Having done her BFA in Applied Arts from College of Arts, she spearheads StyleDotMe by blending her creative expertise, her PR skills and her teensy bit of technical know-how to make it the one-stop destination for everything fashion!
my gender. It should be on the basis of my qualification, my vision, my strengths. I resent questions that dwell on my commitment towards my work post getting married or having children. I would like to answer questions on how I can create a difference in the world by the product I am building. Its difficult for people to accept the fact that a woman is running a company and has raised funds on her own, building her own team, hustling every single day for various things without a sign of demotivation. For me being a women entrepreneur is my strength and not my weakness and I live up to it fully! Fundraising I think a lot of Investors are still hesitant in funding a Female founded company because they are skeptical about the long term plans and that what if the Founder quits after getting married or having kids. I think its important to treat entrepreneurs just as pure entrepreneurs and not on the basis of their genders. I am glad that I have the best of investors who have seen the passion and persistence in me and the skills to build a great team, strong product and decided to back me for my talent irrespective of the gender. ™
May 2018|
Being Emotional Women are considered more emotional than men. Over the period of time I realized that its not bad to be transparent and vulnerable but wrong to show the emotional part and get weak in making decisions. Women Empowering Women To be empowered means to be in control of your life, aware of your capabilities, and ready to take on even your biggest dreams. When I met Ameera Shah, Promoter & MD at Metropolis Healthcare, I felt an instant connection with her. I shared my experiences and times which have been difficult for me in my journey and she suggested me ways to deal with them. I could relate to her story because being a women founder has a lot of challenges and the way she dealt with all of them made me feel stronger and confident about myself and what I was doing. She taught me lessons that gave me the courage to always stand for myself and take the right decisions.
21
Seamlessly Escalating the Branding & Digital Media Services
W
omen by composition are hardworking, dedicated, honest, communicative, and strong, with which they surpass limitations and grow businesses to great heights. It is a known fact that when more women work, economies grow. Especially, in a fastdeveloping economy, like India, employing women and providing avenues to expand their business helps economy grow by leaps and bounds. In today’s growing business era, Anu Veledandi P is one such dynamic and versatile persona. As the Owner of Moksha Media, Anu looks after the brand consulting as well as Hospital Branding Services of the company. She also holds a specialization in providing the best Digital Branding Services to diverse clients. Moksha Media Offers Wide Array of Services Hyderabad-based, Moksha Media is one of the leading branding companies which provides branding, strategic communications, and digital marketing services to a diverse range of companies, be it a start-up or an enterprise. The company facilitates its clients to compete and win with the expert strategy as well as powerful, creative, and awardwinning campaigns. One of Moksha Media’s topmost clients is from the Healthcare Industry and Moksha Media has efficiently created vibrant and powerful digital presence for the said hospital chain across the Hyderabad. Moksha Media is also spearheading diverse segments of Research, Brand Strategy, Brand Naming, and Brand Voice & Message. In addition, Moksha Media also deals with Content Creation, Brand Spaces, Campaign Development, and One-to-One Consulting.
Anu Veledandi P Owner
22
A Life Journey of a Successful Woman Entrepreneur With a strong passion for being her own
May 2018|
™
10
The
10
The SuccessfuL Business
W MEN
SuccessfuL Business
W MEN To Watch In 2018
To Watch In 2018
An inuential businesswoman is one who accurately blends her creativity with the client’s requirements and delivers astounding services
boss, Anu decided to start her own business after graduating in the MBA Marketing field. “I belong to a business family and it was the easiest route to join the family business, but I chose the road less traveled”, Anu asserts honestly. Her creative and reasoning aspects gave birth to the innovative concept of ‘Moksha Media’; which started with brand marketing, but now has ventured into so many aspects of branding, making Moksha Media a renowned enterprise that tackles the diverse aspects in the branding industry. Anu has evolved as an entrepreneur and delivers the credit of her success to her clients, team and her support system – her family. She has been sharing a symbiotic relationship with her business, which has helped her grow as a renowned entrepreneur. While elaborating her biggest achievements throughout the journey, Anu confidently says, “I believe our single biggest achievement is helping our clients to achieve their goals. We have aided our clients to become the benchmark for many others in the field. I think it is our biggest achievements.” Her splendid management skills have exceeded the client’s expectations, which have flourished her clients and their businesses. Anu is an assertive businesswoman, who has successfully sustained relationships with her clients and associates at every stage of the business accomplishments. Attributes for the Absolute Success Hard work, perseverance and patience are the crucial factors, which play a vital role in developing a leader. Leaders evolve incessantly while learning, as it is a continuous process. On questioning her biggest lessons she
™
May 2018|
has learned in the business arena, Anu mentions, “Over the years, I have learned that nothing is impossible. But one of the biggest lessons I have learned is to never get upset with criticism. Critics have been my best motivators. They have helped me to understand and improve. See criticism as a means to improve. Let me assure you, you will thank your critics.” Being a sincere leader, Anu has incredibly put in the time and work to reach a certain level of achievement. She has marvelously merged her intuition with her creativity to accomplish her dreams. Being a strong believer of continuous learning, she learns everything with a new perspective. Anu has invested a great time in building relationships, strengthening her brand, and continuing to learn about new trends that prove to be a cutting-edge solution for her business. The team of Moksha Media is an enthusiastic bunch of well-trained members who are expert in developing something that doesn’t seem to be on the radar of observation and are passionate to identify and set new targets. Advice for the Budding Women Entrepreneurs Anu sincerely believes that being an entrepreneur is equivalent to being an innovator. She encourages women to be the unstoppable force that makes their desired future. She strongly conveys her budding women entrepreneurs to pursue their passion and not to get deterred in a historically male-dominated field. “My advice would be to surround yourself with people that will help you. Women should get a strong support system and a group of mentors which will help you to live out of the box and look at the company from the customer’s perspective”, she articulates. Envisioning a Grand Future On asking Anu about her future preparations, she resolutely asserts, “I am always ready to tackle any hurdle that comes my way, so I always view challenges as opportunities.” She further adds, “I feel, the market is ripe for experimenting with newer concepts of branding. So, there will be resistance, critics, but I am sure I will be able to create a niche for Moksha Media in this space.” Under her brilliant leadership skills, the company is expanding into every possible territory of branding and exploring the unexplored facets of branding. As Anu is always intended to diversify into new markets and provide innovative services, she is looking forward to the new opportunities, concepts, and markets in the media world.
23
Expert’s Viewpoint on Maintainingan Equal Balance in an Entrepreneur’s Life
About the Author Falguni Sheth has played a very vital role in establishing HR systems in my company. Her knowledge, expertise & focused approach has shown good improvement in saving on manpower cost, Employee retention ratio and implementing policies in our organization. Falguni Sheth has very deep subject knowledge and her involvement with our assignment resulted into absolute successful completion of HR Manual. The meticulous system of working, follow up and timely delivery has impressed me & my client in such a way that during my compliance audit my company was rated very good, which has resulted in huge business. Falguni Sheth CEO 26
May 2018|
™
Inspiring Entrepreneur
A
father asking potential groom, “do you know cooking as my daughter knows how to earn money?”
Yes, time has changed big time. There is definitely a change in shift of mindset, attitude to turn your dreams into destiny. At a global level, about 126 million women have started or are running their businesses and whereas in India, there are about 8 million women have started or are running their businesses. Apart from that, women have 24% share in corporate senior management positions and in India it’s 30% for the same. Not only that, round about 37% of formal enterprises owned by women around the globe whereas 10% of formal enterprises in India are being operated by women. Let us look at why a rapid growth in women entrepreneur in India during last few years. Better education leads to broad mindset. Availability of finance give you that courage and comfort, advanced technology to make things easy and fast, better support system at home front. I come from a family where my parents and sister all are double graduates. I have seen my mother doing a full time job and running a house and taking care of kids. She is my role model. Women Entrepreneur are incredible because at work you are business owner which means you are either doing or monitoring Business Development, Operation, HR, Accounts, Admin, IT and R&D. Each of these portfolios is challenging. At home you are a wife, mother, daughter, sister, daughter-in law. You have lot of social commitment to meet. So whether your Work is full time job or at home it’s a full time job it is difficult to decide. Thanks to advance trend of outsourcing all functions like Accounts, HR, dispatch, at times Production at work and getting right kind of maid and cook or care taker for kids are blessing. I would also appreciate rental car services
™
May 2018|
to save on your travelling exertion with either self drive or public transport. Directly and indirectly these are the reason for growth of women entrepreneur in India. All women have inherent quality of fighter. They have a never give up attitude. They are best as Binding force at work and at home at the same time Best Managers to get the work done at both places. Setting priority, system and process-driven approach both at work and home, discipline in whatever you do and finally a task master. A new paradigm shift especially in Women Entrepreneur is that they are very clear about their Vision, Goals, Business Plan and strategy and Review Mechanism. They can be soft or strict as per need of the hour. Identifying right talent at right place and utilizing the resource at its optimum is key factor for their success. The future looks bright for the segment this year. The number of female entrepreneurs is set to rise, with the government announcing Rs 5000 cr”re credit guarantee fund under the “Stand Up India” scheme. Under this scheme, says Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, banks will provide loans at the “least applicable rate of interest”. He further noted, “Every bank branch, including private sector, will give loans between Rs 10 lakh and 1 crore to at least one SC/ST and one woman entrepreneur under the scheme”. The Stand Up India scheme, which was launched along with Startup India scheme on January 16 2016, will be implemented through 1.25 lakh bank branches. Gone are the days when women are only good at designing, fashion and handicrafts industries, it is proved that women are tapping all the industries that come their way. Women are no more a Weaker Gender but a successful & always a sparkling star in the country.
27
T
Aditi Chadha Innovative Connected Device for Women’s Safety
he staggering growth of the Internet of Things and number of connected devices is driven by emerging applications and innovative business models. IoT devices offer greater control over appliances, gadgets along with streamlining business processes, improving connectivity and a better environment. Independent researchers suggest that IoT market will garner about six trillion USD worth of investment between 2015 and 2020. The Plethora of information, services, and resources on the Internet is assisting the entrepreneurs to make their own space in the market. Erudite of DAZL One such women entrepreneur who has not only managed to survive the competition but has flourished to create her own identity as a successful entrepreneur is Aditi Chadha. She is the Founder and CEO of DAZL – a company that is embracing technology to develop connected devices (IoT) and ensure the safety of women. Her exposure to manage different engagements like finance and accounting at the start of her career assisted her to outshine as a future entrepreneur. Prior to DAZL, she has worked with prominent companies like Deloitte and Grant Thornton. Living and working in the USA for more than a decade has further strengthened her thought process and honed her entrepreneur skills which she convincingly utilized at DAZL. Talking about the core idea and inception of DAZL, the constant thought of her safety during her tenure in the USA as an international student was the top priority for Aditi and her family back in India. This thought gave the birth to the idea of having something innovative which can assist and ensure the safety of women, especially when they are alone or in an unfamiliar place. Anu Chadha, her mother, Co-founder of DAZL is a serial entrepreneur. Her deep business acumen in design, manufacturing, and supply chain management has assisted DAZL to emerge as a well-known name in its industry in such a short span of time. This mother-daughter duo has struck the right chords and they both complement each other quite well. Their competitive nature and strategic thinking have set DAZL to success.
Aditi Chadha Founder & CEO 28
Women Safety - A Global Concern The objective is to enhance the safety measures of women; however it also helps in managing May 2018|
™
10
The
SuccessfuL Business
W MEN To Watch In 2018
emergency situations. DAZL is quite effective in situations where a woman requires immediate medical assistance due to an accident or a fall. In future, this connected device can also be used by men and elderly people in case they need help. Sharing a report published by the United Nations, Aditi asserts that thirty-five percent of women experience assault at least once in their lifetime. Women’s safety is a massive problem which is not limited by any geographical boundaries. It’s a global issue as often women find themselves in a compromising and unsafe situation. This bothers Aditi and this drove her determination to build a secure and safe connected device (IoT) for women which can protect them across the globe. The Journey of DAZL DAZL puts in serious effort to build confidence and fearlessness among women so that they can embark on new journeys which can make them liberated. DAZL inspires every woman around the globe to come forward and break the inhibitions which have restricted them to follow their pursuits. Whether it’s travelling, attending college, working till late hours, this gadget is helpful in many ways. Founded in 2015, DAZL is a tiny and discrete device based on proprietary technology. It allows a person to transmit an SOS along with their location details to their family with just a touch of a button. Additionally, it also has the option to initiate a loud alarm to diffuse an uncomfortable situation along with locating your keychain or smartphone. The tiny device enables the user to carry it by tucking it in their keychain, bracelet, and purse or can simply keep it in the pocket. It can also receive notifications from phone calls, messages and emails on the device. The DAZL platform makes intelligent decisions which assist you to take control of the situation and act with confidence. To build the platform, Aditi has worked with engineers and designers across the Silicon Valley, China, Malaysia and India. Learning the cultural skills was a daunting task for Aditi as it required working efficiently with the team across diverse fields such as product design, industrial design, embedded hardware, and software. Key Challenges It was a hard task for Aditi, who is also the Chief Product Officer, to find talented engineers especially for designing the hardware of the device. The second biggest hurdle was to find a contract manufacturing partner who was competitively priced and who has an expertise in his job. ™
May 2018|
DAZL is a technology company on a mission to create a community of confident, fearless, & powerful women while leveraging cutting edge technology
Also convincing the person that she had what it takes to lead a venture of this volume and complexity, along with managing product management, and earning their trust was a challenge. But with perseverance, Aditi managed to successfully build a team of hardware and software engineers, as well as sign a contract with one of the best contract manufacturers in this field. Awards and Achievements As an evolving contributor in the IoT market, Aditi’s domain expertise has won her various awards and recognition. Aditi was sponsored by UNDP (United Nations Development Program) Thailand to speak at the Financial Times Investing for Good in Asia event. She received ‘Seed’ awards from Vodafone and Government of India, and an investment from SOS Ventures from Europe. Aditi successfully got selected in the top ranked HAX accelerator program focused on hardware technology, out of San Francisco. Additionally, she also received a merit scholarship from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for their Global Entrepreneurship Boot camp and earned a Certificate in New Ventures Leadership.
29
I
n 21st century the world is moving at a lightning speed. Be it technology, Artificial Intelligence or the drastic change in the Business Industry, everything is constantly on the move. One such revolution is the rise of women in the business world. Women today are fearless, determined and are not afraid to voice their opinion in the society. The society has always been of a critical and adamant opinion, but over times, the mindset and opinions of the people have become more open-minded. Gone are the times when women were expected to live a confined domestic life and struggled to get rid of the restrictions. Shattering the barriers of social discrimination, intolerance and gender bias, today women are finally respected, applauded and appreciated for their new roles of ‘entrepreneurs’. Women entrepreneurs are exploring unknown territories undauntedly and fearlessly. Proving their creativity, skills and hard work, they have conquered the sections of education, fashion, retail, fitness, technology, social
in the Business World
30
May 2018|
™
Chalk Talk work, sports, retail and ecommerce. They are setting trends to change the world around them, making a difference with their views, resolve problems with great solutions, fighting diseases and social norms, run successful enterprises and generate employment for lot of people, and build a new sustainable ecosystem. Women are narrating their remarkable stories in today’s world and influencing people all around them.
the workplace before their rise to success. Many women have successfully climbed up the corporate ladder and have soared from personal struggles and tragedies. Fighting the various odds and rising above all is a quality often seen among some of the most influential, successful and famous women in business. Today, women are in leading positions and are becoming the most powerful and influential leaders of our times.
Influential Women Empower other Women
Leadership Qualities
Influential people are always considered to be strong minded. They have great convincing powers and deep knowledge related to the topic of their concern. These women influence other people to play a key role in order to run a successful business. In business, one should be able to convince others that their ideas or point of view makes sense and are worth pursuing. It is often seen that people do business with people they trust, know and like. Women have different tactics and strategies to run their business. To be a women entrepreneur, she should create a unique opportunity to influence the future of many other women .They can make an impact by creating a safe workspace. Women-centric businesses are more likely to create a womenfriendly business environment. They can give priority to women in recruitment and structure benefits around their needs. By building an atmosphere which encourages women to participate in the workplace that will help them succeed in their field of work. Many women who have become are powerhouses in the business world, have come from humble backgrounds and face significant discrimination in
™
May 2018|
Leaders are very intellectual beings. Leaders are well experienced and have great decision making skills. To become a successful leader requires qualities. Some of these qualities in women include:
trust their instincts and take decisions accordingly. They should always strive to inspire and radiate positivity around them. Perseverance The business world is a highly uncertain and tough environment. It is all up to a particular individual to survive in their positions and achieve their goals despite the uncertainty around them. Every woman has a work ethic and some protocols which they strictly follow even in the phase of difficulty. One should always have attitude to move forward, an inner drive to not give up. Perseverance is crucial, because everyone is going to get tested. The spirit is to always be on the go and when you fall, the important thing is to get up.
An Optimistic Approach Vision The tendency to look at the positive side of events or situations helps in keeping a confident outlook. With an optimistic perspective, one forecast favorable results for the future and they are most likely to achieve it. To be optimistic is to have confidence in the future, which often leads to positive approach both about the successful outcome and about one’s sense of self. One should always learn from bad experiences and use them as leadership qualities. Strength Strong women have the strength to take risks, rise up from failures, deal with insults and have the nerve to fight for what they believe in and have a never give up attitude. It is a challenge to be a female leader in a male-centric business world; it requires strength, confidence and the ability to overcome all hurdles successfully. Women need to have strength to believe in their self,
A good leader is not just an expert in their business, but knows the current scenario, and understands their role in the bigger picture. Leaders need to believe in change and be able to convey the message to others in a way that has meaning. This quality is known as vision. A leader should always have the vision to see the path ahead and inspire others to turn their dreams into reality. These leadership qualities are the need of the hour for most emerging businesses. With changing times, women have significantly marked their remarkable position in the business world. They are here to stay and evolve as great personalities.
31
Leading a Mission to Serve
Meghana Kambham Co-founder
W
omen who are independent, healthy and confident are either running businesses, social enterprises, organizations or a part of the workforce of the country are equally contributing towards the growth of the society as a whole. We have come a long way from crossing the confinements of our households to receive best of education and employment to in fact creating jobs. Whether entrepreneurs are born or made, is an unending debate that everyone has a different opinion on. Regardless of where you stand, it is clear; entrepreneurs strive to help humanity and make the world a better place. One such influential woman who is an entrepreneur at heart is Meghana Kambham, Co-founder of CarenGrow. As an entrepreneur, it gives her immense satisfaction to work with so many talented women who are equally passionate about their work, and we all collectively stand for what modern-day India symbolizes, i.e., tremendous strength and power. Modern, Educated and Self-reliant Women Meghana is an award-winning medical graduate, and a social entrepreneur witnessed many people diagnosed with diseases and conditions that were preventable. Moreover, she noticed that parents lacked the commitment or even the knowledge of getting health checks done for children. The outlook is for corrective healthcare – take the children to a doctor when they are unwell. Many conditions are attributed to the child being disobedient, indiscipline or merely notorious. Parents being ignorant about the hidden conditions that may be causing the problems, harm children even more. It was more devastating to look at the statistics of the children-pediatrician ratio of 3000:1 in the country. She realized that the doctors and nurses were just not well equipped or prepared to manage the healthcare of children of the nation correctly. She understood that the Indian healthcare system was more of “Sick care” system. 32
May 2018|
™
10
The
SuccessfuL Business
W MEN To Watch In 2018
Thoughtful Measure for Developing an Application Meghna turned to technology to build a platform for preventive screening and behavior change. CarenGrow was born as a fruit of thoughtful analysis of the social health condition of the Indian community as a whole. She designed this from ground-up to empower teachers and parents to take charge of monitoring children’s health. The Apps are simple to use and requires minimum training. She is determined to have the CarenGrow System is operational throughout India having run successful test runs for over 6000 school-going children. The auspicious nature of the System has recently brought to it “Patent Pending” status with the support of Microsoft’s #MakeWhatsNext program. “In my opinion, a right businesswoman is a woman who is confident and unshakable on her path towards excellence. Her purpose is her strength, and she walks alone. She leads and also creates the way for many other fellow human beings empowering them with her vision. Moreover, providing not only means of sustainable livelihood but also impacting the lives of people who are in its dire need,” asserts Meghana. About CarenGrow Headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana, CarenGrow is a unique venture aiming to create healthy nations by seeding in the holistic development of children. With its yearlong health protection program for the children in the schools, it provides the urgently required essential preventive health care services for every child, thus bridging and integrating health care with education. The best part is that it attains its goal without any deviation from the school’s existing schedule by their flexible methods. Profound Services CarenGrow meticulously delivers on all the four fundamental aspects of preventive health care for school going children, i.e. •Screenings: Biannual screenings of children done by trained healthcare Coordinators based on 30 essential health parameter with the help of a 100% digital safe & data secured app. •Treatment Plans: They provide both short term and long term treatment plans, with the support of digital and physical health report cards and a parent app that notifies them about their ward’s health, behavioral patterns, required diet plans and other conditions health in children by systematically notifying on health behaviors, nutritional programs, and customized solutions. •Health & Behavioral Change Activities: They also conduct positive health & behavior change activities on a school ™
May 2018|
Our mission is to enable healthy growth of children to build robust communities, healthier nations; augment well-being of humanity by inculcating healthy & positive habits in children
campus with the help of teachers targeting nine essential health habits, well integrated into the school timetable. •Community Health Engagement: Since achieving the best of children’s health cannot be done in isolation, and a collective effort from the parents, as well as school, is utmost necessary. Hence the final step is community engagement delivered by their health workshops and assemblies for parents, teachers, and students including health champ - the competition to make this endeavor engaging and fun! Future Plans CarenGrow envisions to impact the lives of all the 315 million children of this country and beyond by making healthcare affordable and accessible to all. They strive to make good health ‘a way of life’ for the children who are the most valuable assets of the nation. When everyone expects their kids to do his or her best in studies, sports, co-curricular, why not provide them with a level field to do so by giving them the physical and mental capacity by being health ready! CarenGrow will roll out to bring the health insurance component profusely into vogue. Digitize the complete health record system in India as schools where one can roll the right place to start the universal health record creation and make lifestyles and health conditioning through mobile a way of life for India’s and worlds workforce. Also, the company is bringing in game-changing analytics to healthcare data which they collect for grander customized automated treatment plans &lifestyle and wellness advice for health conditioning soon. In a nutshell, CarenGrow will leave no stone unturned to halve the factors limiting their reach and double their impact on health in the lives of people.
33
Women Breaking Stereotypes & Creating Milestones in the Dawn of Entrepreneurship
About the Author
Dr. Rashi Agarwal Director
Dr. Rashi Agarwal, Director of Praxis Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. is also the founder and driving force of the company. She has a rich experience in the healthcare management domain in India and internationally in countries like USA, UK, Africa, Gulf, and Sri Lanka. She and her team have completed projects with several hospitals across the world in setting them and running them successfully. She is also a keen academician and is a visiting faculty for several healthcare management programs within the country and has also helped in setting them up. She has received her Masters in Health Administration from Washington University, St. Louis, USA.
E
ven as India continues its rapid economic growth, women in several parts of the country struggle against discrimination and inequality. In this rising world of women entrepreneurship, the question is why is it so surprising that women entrepreneurs would do well? Women are great at multi-tasking and juggling various roles, at the same time being caring and empathetic to fellow colleagues and people who work for them and have every bit of intelligence and intellect to run a successful business. Given the earlier generations ran houses full of large families in a given budget, a woman has maintained household accounts for over decades now, ďŹ nancial calculations and budgeting is a part of their DNA. 34
May 2018|
™
From the Desk of Leading Women Entrepreneur Given that 2018 has been cited as the ‘Year of the Woman,’ it’s clearly time for women to break the gender blocks and the sterotype to lead businesses successfully creating a niche in several industries for themselves.
their contribution to entrepreneurship. And today when you modernize that role, give it the kind of shape of entrepreneurship and give it the facilitation; a woman entrepreneur emerges.
Women-founded businesses in the formal sector represent approximately 37 percent of enterprises globally making it a market worthy of attention by corporates and policy makers alike. These entrepreneurs have cross the spectrum of micro to high growth, they have moved from supporting life to creating wealth. They include women running fashion houses, to pharmaceutical conglomerates and everything in between, all making critical economic contributions.
There are several challenges a woman faces in the work environment, time being the biggest one. However, a woman entrepreneur overcomes all of these hurdles through her innate qualities of multi tasking, perfection and focus. The desire to achieve beyond the homeground, to be happy doing things other than cooking and cleaning, to look forward to another challenging day are the fuelers to women entrepreneurship.
Women have always held a very important social, political and economic role in India and encouraged women like Indira Gandhi, or showcased the talent of several Bollywood actresses. Traditionally women dominated industries like media, communication and education. However, now with an easier business environment with favorable policies has led to an increase in women entrepreneurial leadership in the country. Entrepreneurship has witnessed a tremendous metamorphosis. Earlier, it was restricted to the educated upper class men who invested their own fortune to build their empires. Then educated women started out with opportunities to make a significant mark as time progressed. However, what has remained unnoticed is that many uneducated women are also enthusiastically raising family incomes through micro ventures E.g. food tiffins from home for offices around, making papad and pickles, stitching clothes for their locality or running tuitions from home. These women are also making ™
May 2018|
I am a women entrepreneur who has juggled work meetings with pick up and drops of my 2 kids aged 3 and 4, fed food while finishing my presentation, gone over with worksheets and activities, kissed them good night to sleep, and squeezed in time to write this article. However, no successful working woman, especially running her own business, can have it all without the fabric of female support system to fulfill her dreams as an entrepreneur. A mompreneur- is a common term coined these days and consists of a big chunk of the women entrepreneur circle today. These women entrepreneurs have the toughest time to create the right work life balance between the work place, home responsibilities and time with children. The few factors that help them tide over this smoothly are time management and the art to prioritize between work and family over the course of the day. They invest in relationships around them, whether it is within the family, amongst other mothers of their
children at school who are sailing in the same boat as her, with colleagues at work, and even with the domestic staff at home who are eventually going to be her household backbone while she is at work. It is a known fact that the success of every enterprise depends on its workforce and investing into the right manpower and relationships. A company cannot sustain and achieve its vision and without an excellent human infrastructure. It’s this art of people management that women have a gift for and the ‘male world’ is recognizing it. This quality of building and maintaining relationships is evident from the percentage of human resource departments run by women in most large corporates. Another fueling factor is paradigm shift in the mindset of most women which is that “It’s important to be happy with oneself”, “It’s important to find time for yourself” and ‘It’s ok not to be perfect’. In the midst of living for others, women never thought what is perfect for them. They never had the time to go out and use their mind and capabilities to the fullest and achieve their dreams. But the image of the perfect woman evolved with time. She finds it now ok to be out there to achieve her goals and her dreams and giving it as much as importance as the aspirations of her husband and her children. This acceptance has lead to happier women who are going into the world and starting phenomenal innovative businesses and creating a mark in the sand. Entrepreneurship is a great equalizer. Business does not care whether the entrepreneur is male or female; all it wants is sales to fuel its growth. A great idea, hard work and salesmanship are all that one needs to set up a world class venture. So I think this is the time to ride the wave now and make it happen! 35
Minnat Lalpuria An Inspiring Women who Takes Wedding Services to the Higher Edge
W
omen are creating groundbreaking accomplishments in every sphere of life. The successful women entrepreneurs in the current socioeconomic era have shown a huge surge in their numbers entering into the economic wave of the country. With their vigorous paces, the confidence radiated by them brings in the new wave of development. Nowadays, women entrepreneurs are spearheading with their sharp management skills to deliver high class services to the society, apparently, leaving a mark of excellence in their work. One such vibrant woman entrepreneur is Minnat Lalpuria who is the Founder & CEO of 7Vachan. She has years of diverse professional experience and has a flawless experience of understanding her clients and offer them the supreme choices within their budget. Minnat is a key person in the company who provides the best online wedding solutions and primarily takes care of delivering all the necessary services like photographers, venues, planners, and decorators for all categories of the clients. Wide Ranging Services and Solutions 7vachan is a complete online wedding solution provider which aims to simplify the concept of destination wedding planning. The organization firmly assures a perfect destination for the wedding in every sense to create an unforgettable experience. It assures the clients to find and book their perfect wedding venue with a short duration of three days. It also provides a shortened venue finalization service which helps its customers to effectively save time and money at the tip of the finger. 7vachan’s user-friendly website allows its customers to connect to thousands of prescreened vendors making its services more interactive.
38
May 2018|
™
10
The
SuccessfuL Business
W MEN To Watch In 2018
A Journey of a Passionate Woman Minnat is born and raised in Mumbai and established the company in 2012. She completed her graduation in IT engineering and pursued MBA from the renowned Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. She belongs to a business background family and her father is the source of inspiration for her. Before starting her own organization, Minnat gave her fruitful contribution to the renowned Tata Consultancy Services which gave a kick-start to her in the corporate career. She then started working for the digital marketing companies like Quasar and The Upper Storey and worked for five years in the same industry.
An inuential woman who delivers astounding wedding solutions and services to her clients
Minnat revealed that her thought process was very simple and crystal clear for achieving success in life. Her passion for doing something different made her to take a break from her job. Then she decided to give complete three years of her peak energy to start something of her own. But, leaving a lucrative job and starting a business from the very beginning was not a cakewalk. Minnat’s family gave a whole-hearted support for her business endeavors which made her stand secured and poised against all odds.
Dubai for the Global Wedding Excellence Forum & Retreat which was organized by Dubai tourism to explore its most recent and diverse wedding venues and services.
While dwelling on the various business ideas she could initiate with, she stuck on the unique concept of wedding consultancy which was the most disorganized sector at that time. Minnat keenly observed the scenario of Indian families, conducted a market study of engaged as well as married couples and found that a destination wedding could be a perfect way to create and celebrate memories for the lifetime. It was then the start of her entrepreneurial journey which introduced the 7Vachan organization in July 2012. The new and unique concept of online destination wedding not only enticed the working couples but also the businessbased families.
Minnat’s Two ‘T’s’ for the Business Morality Trust & Transparency are the two pivotal T’s which has turned out to be the pivotal factors for Minnat’s business achievements. She follows these values actively for her customer’s ultimate satisfaction. She started realizing the importance of these two factors from her childhood by observing her family’s strong support for each other’s accomplishments. She launched the amazing idea of the online destination wedding when it was a very fresh concept in the market. Initially, 7vachan was the only player in the wedding segment which was then followed by the number of competitors but with her solid business ethics, it stood strong among its peers.
A Woman of Values Achieving Colossal Success “We are not wedding planners, we are the wedding aggregators. Initially, wedding planners used to think we are their competitors but now many of them are a part of our network where we book the venues for their clients,” Minnat asserts while speaking on the company’s divine journey. Her splendid management skills have led 7Vachan to have tie-ups with the giant hotel groups such as The Leela, The Lalit, Marriott, Taj, Hyatt, The Oberoi, and more such 6500 hotels. The company’s deliberate partnerships with the top hotels hold heritage properties which assure the families to get the best deal for their wedding venues, be it a palace, beach, or a hill station. She has recently visited
™
May 2018|
Under her brilliant leadership, the company has achieved a roaring success ratio which can be witnessed when Minnat says, “We are growing with each passing day. Starting with 200 weddings in 2012, we have managed 10,000 weddings so far and we manage up to 2000 weddings annually.”
Envisioning a Glorious Future 7Vachan is proficiently planning its future to deliver the wedding services in a convenient and stress-free way. Under Minnat’s dynamic guidance, the company’s amenities are climbing at par with the customer’s needs. Minnat is looking forward for the numerous happy and grand destination wedding projects in the coming years which will surely make a huge contribution to the company’s outstanding success. On enunciating the company’s future, she asserts, “We aim to be India’s top wedding aggregator and foray into international destination wedding market in the future.”
39
The
Dynamic
Women of the 21st Century
T
oday, many women are in the top positions. They run their home in absence of a husband and manage the education of kids. Women of this 21st century have proven that- leadership does not matter of muscle; it is a matter of mind. The quote saying, “Behind the success of every man there is a woman” is really meaningful. She is the one who inspires to take up effective roles in business, entrepreneurship, education, and politics. A survey shows that women’s are aspiring to leadership goal after motherhood too. They have set a benchmark, which is not easy to break. Women are most relevant inaugural resource when it comes to the entrepreneurship. In this man’s world; female entrepreneurship is gaining attention for creating economic growth and development of new business. In today’s world, women are facing exciting leadership opportunities and challenges. “A leader is someone with determination, perseverance, resilience, and merit but is also someone caring, honest and just. I have found that these traits are in women leaders.” A woman leads, inspire, cares, supports, encourages; in difficult times and in happy times. Women have proven their
40
May 2018|
™
Editor’s Pick
worth as supportive and cooperative leaders. Women Entrepreneurial Opportunities Women entrepreneurs believe in making meaningful contributions for the betterment of society. In this modern era, women are performing fantastically as getting many opportunities in entrepreneurship. Women are working successfully in various sectors like Eco-friendly Technology, biotechnology, IT Enabled Enterprises, Event Management, Tourism Industry, Telecommunication, Herbal & Health Care, Food, Fruits and Vegetable Processing, Floriculture. Globally, women are enhancing, directing and changing the face of the business today. Female business owners are ultimately getting recognized for who they are, what they do, and how significantly they impact the world’s global economy. Women have an amazing ability to transform every obstacle into an exciting opportunity. While tackling unavoidable challenges, they have raised the belief; the respect for women, to a very high level. Women Entrepreneurial Challenges Competition against male According to Aileen Lee (the founder of Cowboy Ventures), many organizations lead by a male. Money and the firms are managed by men. The world is no longer male-dominated. The scenario is changing; Women are entering into the various sectors and so the competition is getting tough, dayby-day. Today, one can see that few of
™
May 2018|
organizations and firms are having female partners. Many people are skeptic and have doubt on the capability of women, that whether she can lead an organization. It has become a great challenge today for all women; they are trying overcoming it firmly and smartly. Building a Support Network According to a survey, nearly 48% of female founders experienced that the lack of advisors and mentors are limiting their professional growth. Majority of the businesses still dominated by men, and it is difficult to elite business networks on their own blaze. Because today also most of the businesses are still ring true with the philosophy that ‘It’s not what you know; it’s who you know’ this can be a huge challenge. Limited funding Funding is extremely important part to start any business. Equity funding for women-owned business can be hard to come by. This is because the vast majority of venture capitalists are males; it could hint the fact that males are always willing to support the male business owners. Women, who own and run the business, get a lot less funding compared to men, and hence, funding can be another challenge. Jenny Lefwurt (Partner of Freestyle Capital) says that—“At this position, we women need really need to move the needle forward in having more women partners, into mentoring women who are more junior to come up in venture capital, as well as getting more female founders to receive funding.”
Being Decisive ‘A finely tune your decision-making ability’- is what the something must be gained from the business. As a leader, sometimes, one has to take a comfortable decision with less information. Avoiding ‘paralysis by analysis’ is a big obstacle, but also it is not an excuse. Work-life Balance According to Jass Lee (Partner of Sequoia Capital), lot many things are changing, women are changing, and they are stepping out of the home. They are capable of running massively successful companies. But women across the world are expected to play a crucial role in handling household and taking care of their family. Owning and running the business is really not a joke; it takes many long hours. Thus work-life balance can also be one of the challenges for women. Today, every country boasts of a number of successful women entrepreneurs who have created a successful business across the world. However, the journey has not been easy. Women can shine everywhere in the world including the corporate world, only when the families and the society will support them by changing their mindset. If a woman gets a little support in this developing era, she will definitely leverage that support into brighter future for herself, for her family and for her world, as we all share. May this inspire all, to preserve quests to excel and empower with knowledge.
41
Priya Sachdev Sales Director
A Contributor in Sales Performance Best Practices of World Class Sales Organizations
I
n modern India, an increasingly large number of women are engaged in the informal economy operating in the small scale sectors. With proper governmental and societal support, these women can create sustainable organized and growth oriented enterprises. Nowadays, women leaders are assertive, persuasive and willing to take risks to stand tall from the rest of the crowd in their respective fields. Women entrepreneurship is seen as an effective strategy to solve the problems of rural and urban poverty. This potential is to be recognized and exposed for utilization in productive service sectors for the development of the nation. In a recent survey it is revealed that the female entrepreneurs from India are generating more wealth than the women in any part of the world. One of the women entrepreneurs to survive and succeed in this cut throat competition with hard work, diligence and perseverance is Priya Sachdev, Sales Director of Miller Heiman Group. For the past 26 years, Priya has been a sales practitioner. She began her journey as a field sales professional and gradually moved up to be a sales manager and then as a P&L leader. In 2011, Priya started her own business venture and aligned it to the Miller Heiman Group strategic vision for India in 2017. Today as a Sales Director and being part of the APAC team, Miller Heiman Group are investing in building their presence in India. Words of Inspiration that led to Success Persistence and playfulness are the two things that keep Priya aligned to focus on her goals. Many women feel being ambitious and goal oriented is being masculine dimension but for Priya, there is no other way to achieve the goals rather than having a laser sharp focus. Being a business leader, Priya says “It is important to prioritize and pick 20% of the things that 42
May 2018|
™
10
The
SuccessfuL Business
W MEN To Watch In 2018
Knowing you can’t win all is important, yet chasing what you want to win is need to be done which will give you the key 80% of your results and ensure you stay focused on this.” For Priya, being women has been a secondary dimension in business; the first one is being a effective business leader. Today, her success can be summed up in a single phrase that she believes, is the philosophy of her life – “Gain Mind share, Get Wallet share”. This really defines her work towards keeping the customer at the center and then working on whatever it takes to gain their mind share. While there is always a quota to achieve in business, gaining mind share always gets that result as the outcome, delivering on customers’ needs. It is to work with them to co-create instead of looking at tactics to push just products and services. As one works in a business organizations there will be unconscious and conscious biases by others about the roles women will play and how they play them, yet it’s important to get the things done and not over think the means to the end. The Cornerstone of Sales Growth and Business Transformation The Miller Heiman Group is a sales and service performance management and consulting organization. They partner with several organizations to enable them to sell more and offer services in a better way, by bringing to them globally validated and researched intellectual property and frameworks. At present, they are investing in developing digital and technology tools using AI and Data analytics to ensure organizations can do more with less effort. The firm has been engaged with companies from IT ™
May 2018|
services to Industrial products, Healthcare & BFSI such as GE, Vodafone, ITC InfoTech, Tata Aig, and Mindtree which gave them encouraging feedbacks from their clients in India. With more than 60 offices in more than 40 countries along with nearly 350 full-time employees, consultants and contractors, and more than 70 distribution and franchise partners—the group is growing at more than 2.5x the rest of the sales and service industry. An Entrepreneur’s Passionate Thoughts Priya is engaged with number of women who have started their own businesses and realized that most often they pick something they are really passionate about and miss to act on the basic ground work that is required for setting up a new business. Creating a business plan, identifying the constraints and the differentiators by doing market research around the product and offering is the key to increase the probability of business success. Being smart in setting up a business is a critical factor to success. As one starts a business life, one has to calculate her own salary from the beginning. Only passion driving the business instead of looking out for commercial success is never a good sign for anyone in the business – men or women alike. The biggest challenge in business is to stay true to your positioning and to learn to say ‘NO’ early in cases, if the customer needs are not aligned to their core competence. Many times entrepreneurs get distracted by going beyond their core competence just because the customer is willing to give them a small amount of work in that space. This distraction bleeds on resources and while in short term it seems the right thing to do, in the long term it creates a negative bottom line impact. Priya said “Stay focused and say no if it doesn’t fit your story rather than spread your resources too thin.” Portraiting a Bright Future Building a high performance team is getting tougher in today’s market and she is hoping it is possible to overcome this constraint by leveraging technology and new platforms. Priya claims “We want to become a leader in the space we operate in and getting encouragement from our clients gives me the validation that we are on the right track.” There is validation of this as they are having more engagement on transformational projects where their customers get higher returns of their investments by working with them. Priya works through a vision with the only concern being to find like-minded people who can work within their team. 43
Women
Entrepreneurs Analyzing and Overcoming Challenges in Business
A
lthough roughly the same number of male and female entrepreneurs starts the businesses every year, women are 68% more likely to run businesses out of their homes compared to their male counterparts. This is predominately due to lack of funding women entrepreneurs secure for their business ventures. Lack of funding leads to a host of complications. From finding appropriate office space, to hiring employees, and achieving a semblance of work-life balance, lack of funding means many new women owned businesses are bound to fail. In addition, it is often more challenging for female entrepreneurs to identify and partner with long-term investors and mentors. In last few years the number of successful women entrepreneurs is significant. Women make up for 1/3rd of female entrepreneur globally although the route to envisaging and establishing business comes with unknown hurdles. Enter E2E Research founder, President & CEO, Rupa Raje, who focused less on roadblocks and more on what could be accomplished when she started a global research company in 2010. Rupa’s story
Rupa Raje
Entrepreneurship has always been an important part of my life. From an early age my father played a major role in passing on traits required for managing and driving a successful business. These traits (possessing inner strength,
President & CEO 44
May 2018|
™
Business Talk
self-confidence and marketing skills) were instrumental in achieving success. Other attributes were acquired along the way identifying vision and mission, recognizing, analyzing, and capturing opportunities, embracing change, and finding the courage for persevering in the face of resistance combined to form a strong entrepreneurial foundation for me. As a woman business owner, I have embraced the importance of testing assumptions, calculating loss against risk, asking questions (and becoming more creative in the process), and having the courage required for turning possibilities into reality. For successful entrepreneurs, possessing inner strength, self-confidence, and marketing skills leads to overcoming barriers, and this is particularly true for women business owners. Although women entrepreneurs face common global challenges, some challenges are specific to what I have observed (and experienced) in India: 7Socio-cultural barriers in the form of traditions, customs, and stigmas. 7Male dominated social norms, gender superiority, and inequalities found in social and business interactions. 7Lack of support in managing and achieving work and home life balance. (Specially working late hours) . 7Addressing and overcoming gender-associated tasks and responsibilities. 7Controlling and subverting emotional turmoil. 7Suspicions encountered during travel, including dining alone and renting hotel accommodations on my own. One would think these scenarios no longer exist in 2018, but that is not the case in this world.
the leap of faith towards entrepreneurship and co-establish E2E Research along with Yogesh Rana. Change is not constant and so has E2E also evolved as a Research and Analytics firm over the last 7 years. Technology, Research and data analytics are the core strength and offerings of E2E. The seasoned team at E2E understands that adding value to client experience will keep us in business. E2E takes pride with providing services in technology and analytics offerings to some of the global known names of the industry. The ability to accept change and strategize the business per the demand of the new disruptive world, E2E is thus equipped and shaped to meet the challenges. I am proud to have taken the center stage and address the business in this male dominated and biased world We as a company are now offering solutions which will help clients make appropriate and faster decisions towards their business and at an extremely fair cost and quick turnaround. E2E also has an extremely high level of satisfaction among employees where experienced resources are challenged enough and fresh talent gets the opportunity to learn and excel With this I also urge women to have confidence and take a step forward towards their dreams. There is nothing as failure. Everything is an achievement along with lessons learnt. In this era of superior technology and information availability at its best, women can live their dreams of running their businesses. I made my dream a reality with sheer honesty and hard work, you too can
On a more positive note, I have observed, supported, and celebrated women managing (and excelling at), balancing family and career, overcoming illiteracy, receiving financial assistance, acquiring technical and marketing skills, and achieving new levels of self-confidence and for these successes I will forever applaud and be proud of fellow women entrepreneurs! Having been in the Research and data analytics for more than 15 years my experience gave me the confidence to take
™
May 2018|
45
Rashi Narang
Your Pet Parenting Partner
Aiming to create a true differentiation in the Rashi Narang, Founder
T
Indian pet space and address pet parenting
hey say that if you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life. Rashi Narang, founder of Heads Up For Tails, has related problems decided to do just this. Combining her deep love for pets and her drive to give back to these loving companions, she designed and created her own line of pet products to suit the particular needs of our pets. This was 10 years ago. Fast forward to 2018 and Heads Up For Tails has multiple retail stores all over the country. Besides designing their own products, these stores offer pet parents a collection of useful and relevant pet products curated from international brands. Heads Up For Tails - Committed to Variety and Customization Heads Up For Tails is one of India’s first retail brands tht caters exclusively to all ‘paws’. It was when Rashi hunted for a present for her own dog, Sara, that she realized that pet parents had a limited range to choose from. This inspired her to stock her shelves with as much variety as possible. “Every pet has their own individual needs and by offering plenty of variety, we hope to cater to them,” says Rashi. Heads Up For Tails aims to provide pet parents with everything they could need to make their pets happier. Their product range includes comfy, customized dog beds, chic collars, leashes, fashionable dog apparel and even safe, sturdy, utilitarian products like seat belt harnesses, specific shampoos, special dog food and even raincoats! They hope that with these products, pets’ lives are not limited to staying at home and they can safely take on bigger roles in their parents’ lives – whether it is accompanying them on road trips or going hiking! They sell their products online via their 46
May 2018|
™
10
The
SuccessfuL Business
W MEN To Watch In 2018
website and also have offline stores in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru. A company that hopes to celebrate the lives of pets, their core team is committed to the well-being of all things furry. Being pet parents themselves, they draw on their own experience to create and curate pet products that are useful to strengthen the pet-parent relationship. By providing quality products and services, they also hope to promote responsible pet parenting. The core team keeps up with the latest research in the pet world, so that they can offer their customers products that keep their pets healthier, safer and happier. Heads Up For Tails’ inventory goes beyond grocery-store variety and includes pet products from trusted international brands like Kong, Ruffwear, Orijen and Little BigPaw. Besides sniffing out the best from brands across the world, they have their own ‘Barkery’ which dishes out freshly baked, wholesome and handmade cookies, cakes and cupcakes for pets. Hard Work Pays Off Though there are many special moments that stand out despite the challenges she faces every day, Rashi is truly proud of certain achievements that have been possible thanks to the relentless hard work of her entire team. One of the biggest achievements is winning the Lufthansa Runway to Success 9Season 4 from amongst 60,000 top entrepreneurs of the country. Rashi says “Being grilled by a top jury and investors on live TV over several weeks, and competing with many of the BEST entrepreneurs in the country and WINNING was definitely something that I cherished!” She is truly grateful to be able to reach out to thousands of pet parents and their pets across the country. Heads Up For Tails was also named “Brand of the Year” at the prestigious World Branding Awards - Animalis Edition that was recently held at the HofBurg Palace, Vienna. She was also a recipient of a Women’s Icon Awards, Asia held in Singapore and the Sparks Awards by Your Story. She was one of the 50 Most Impactful Social Innovators by Global CSR Awards in March 2018. Rashi’s Advice to New Entrepreneurs It’s not easy, but with the right idea and a strong mindset, dreams can be made reality. Rashi says, ‘Follow your dreams’ to those who want to start out their own businesses. “What’s important is to have a clear vision of where you are headed, and execute as much as you can. Without execution, an idea just remains an idea. You will never have all the answers, so seek out people who can help and learn every day.” ™
May 2018|
The beauty of entrepreneurship is that everyone has their own story. There is no one path that works for everyone and no conditions that are set in stone. Follow your heart and believe that you are much more capable than people may think. What worked best for Rashi was understanding her customers by putting herself in their shoes, and empathizing with them. This is how Heads Up For Tails is able to provide pet parents with relevant and useful products. It is also what sparks innovation in design that Heads Up For Tails is known for. What does the Future Hold? Scaling up is definitely a challenge for any company and the team at Heads Up For Tails has learnt a lot in the last two years. Now, they are focusing on really growing the company via more offline stores along with their online presence. Over the next twelve months, they are aiming to expand their offline presence with ten stores across the country. They are also focusing on growing their ‘Pet Parenting Partner’ vertical via the content on their blog, social media and YouTube channels. They aim to connect to their customers on a pet parent to pet parent level so they are able to share their experiences, tips and stories of pet parenting. The organization feeds many dogs in need every day so hoping to scale up that effort multi fold with the HUFT Foundation. The company is also working on launching the ‘Heads Up For Tails Foundation’ to help animals in need and to support as many animals as they can. One of the aims of this foundation is to be able to feed over a hundred dogs in need, every day.
47