WOMAN ENTREPRENEUR SPECIAL - The bold road to success

WOMAN ENTREPRENEUR SPECIAL - The bold road to success





Three young women entrepreneurs are making unconventional business moves and, in the process, rewriting social mores

Tanvi Malik and Shivani Poddar never followed what was `expected' of girls of their age. When her friends used to play with Barbie dolls, nine-year-old Tanvi would be sweating under the sultry sun, chasing leather with a faint hope that her brothers might give her a chance to bat if she fielded well. And that did happen.

Ditto for Shivani. Being the tiniest person in her class never deterred her from standing by her friend who would be bullied by the big boys in the school. Though she would take some blows, the boys would think twice before messing with her next time.

Tanvi and Shivani, both 29 now, still don't follow what is `expected' of girls of their age.In January this year, the co-founders of FabAlley, an online fashion portal dealing in private labels for women, rolled out a social media campaign--#Unfollow--featuring stand-up comedian Radhika Vaz in the buff.Yes, in the buff.

The young girls typify the new-age women entrepreneurs who are breaking stereotypes, defying conventions, shedding inhibi tions and daring to tread the unusual path.“Urban society today makes it possible for young women to be bold if they choose to be so,“ says professor MS Rao, chairperson of Center for Entrepreneurship at Mumbai's SP Jain Institute of Management and Research.For an entrepreneur, being bold--with innovative and disruptive ideas--gives that crucial first-mover advantage in the startup stage, he contends.

The nudity in the video is not sensationalized or meant to titillate, says Poddar, who was first in her traditional Marwari family to `unfollow' the age-old thinking that women are supposed to get married at a certain age and pursue work, if at all, as a hobby. “The `Unfollow' message needed to be conveyed with a bang and there was no point in being squeamish about it,“ she adds.

FabAlley was started as an accessoriesonly brand in 2012, but moved quickly to introduce clothing within six months. The move seemed to have paid off as from a paltry 50 orders to begin with the startup now gets over 800 orders a day, and 90% of them are for clothing. The co-founders are now scouting for funds to expand their operations.

The duo, friends since 1998, knew the campaign would be disruptive and there could even be negative reactions. But the risk was worth taking. “No great business was ever built by playing safe,“ says Malik, who along with her friend overcame the temptation of a good salary package and the perks of being an `overpaid corporate slave' to start their own venture.

Being bold and gutsy should be second nature for all entrepreneurs, especially those starting up, she says.

Malik exhibited streaks of rebelliousness from an early age. She would refuse to pay at tention in most classes, bunk some of them, disrupt a few of them with her pranks and would never finish her homework on time.But somehow she was always academically brilliant. “From very early, I learnt to separate the important from the irrelevant,“ she contends.

Poddar, on her part, discovered her leadership traits when she joined B-school. The college committees were “all boys clubs“ with no woman ever getting elected. In spite of discouragement from her seniors and friends, she mustered courage to stand for elections and became the only woman member to join the board.

The gusty duo is not the only one break ing stereotypes. Zivame's Richa Kar too is doing her bit. Early last month, the 33-year old founder of India's largest online lingerie brand did something unprecedented in India. She rolled out a `Fit is my Right' of fline campaign to connect with over five lakh women over the next 12 months, teaching them about their right bra size.

In a conservative country like India where women still don't openly talk about lingerie, it was a bold leadership move which could have backfired. And the fact that nobody has ever done this, made the idea all the more challenging. However, it did not deter Kar.

“We want to make lingerie mainstream and acceptable, and not something women have to feel ashamed about,“ she says.Launched in August 2011, Zivame has raised over $9 million from investors like IDG Ventures, Kalaari Capital and Unilazer Ventures. It logs a daily shipment order of over 2,500 and is growing at 300% every year.

There is a lot of social discomfort associated with buying lingerie due to unavailability of sizes, poor market penetration and lack of education. While retailers stock only fast moving sizes, tail ends of sizes remain under-served. Sales personnel too only push sales, rather than providing consultation on the right fit, she says.

Richa has been trying to change the perception as well as attitude. “Entrepreneurs have got to be bold because solving big problems demands the ability and courage of conviction to think and act boldly,“ she says.And women entrepreneurs, for sure, have been working as hard as men, and maybe even more, to realize their dreams.

However, there are not many women who are taking entrepreneurial plunge. “Once they (women) cross this mind barrier, nothing can really stop them from achieving their dreams,“ says Kar.

By Rajiv Singh

CDET rajiv.singh