It’s Not Business as Usual for Her
Be it in the entrepreneurial heaven that is Silicon Valley or the rough and tough terrain of India, some notions die hard. Indian women entrepreneurs still battle prejudices and stereotypes that their male peers don’t have to endure
India
Can You Manage Business & Home?
Stymied by orthodox views, some women are taking charge
Can You Manage Business & Home?
Stymied by orthodox views, some women are taking charge
When
Avneet Makkar and A Saraswathy decided to raise funds to scale up their
education technology start-up CarveNiche last year, being a woman appeared to
be a liability. Venture capitalists doubted their sales strategy even though
they had paying customers. “It took us some time to realise the doubt was not
about the strategy, but about two women man aging sales,” says Makkar. “One
potential investor asked us directly how we will manage family and business.”
This February, angel investor Mumbai Angels invested Rs 1 crore in their firm
While women entrepreneurs say their commitment to their enterprise is still
questioned, VCs and consultants ET spoke to say women entrepreneurs do not seem
to be breaking self-imposed barriers in spite of there being more
opportunities. Very few women are even turning the ignition key. “In our
experience, not even 5% plans come from women. We see great ideas, but most are
not even ready for the first round of VC funding,” says Sasha Mirchandani,
managing partner of Kae Capital and co-founder, Mumbai Angels. “We need to go
deeper and ask, ‘Are women more risk-averse? How can we push them over the
border’?” Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw,
India’s
bestknown woman entrepreneur, agrees. “There are enough opportunities, but many
women are content running small, boutique businesses,” says Shaw, chairman
& managing director of biotechnology firm Biotech. “If they think big and
have a strong business plan, they will get funding. Women cannot blame society
and others.” In the tussle between managing a family and a business, the family
often wins, says Aditi Balbir, who runs Bliss Inns, a resort-managament
company. As the CFO of her company, Balbir has often been asked to take over as
CEO, but says she would be happy to hire someone for the post simply because
the job requires a 16-hour commitment everyday. “If I could reschedule a
meeting to attend to a family need, I would. A man wouldn’t,” she says. There
are others like Makkar and Saraswathy who are willing to go the extra mile to
build businesses of scale, but are stymied by outdated views on women
entrepreneurs, especially from the investment community.
Overcoming Barriers
It is here that “tangible barriers” come up, says Anjana Vivek, founder, VentureBean Consulting and guest faculty at IIM-Bangalore. Questions like whether women can travel, whether they’d be able to spend money or commit enough are asked. “This is a lens that belongs to the traditional manufacturing business,” says Vivek. “Today, there are intangibles like how people use technology to work from home, or what women bring to the busi ness that is different. These need to be looked into as enablers.” Many women are even asked if their husbands or fathers will be the guaran tors, whereas men are not asked similar questions, says Zankhana Kaur, programme director of Stree Shakti, a dedicated platform for women entrepreneurs started by TiE (formerly The IndUS Entrepreneurs), one of the world’s largest entrepreneurship organisations. Vrinda Rajgarhia has experienced many shades of being a woman entrepreneur in India in her 10 years as one. “For a woman to be taken seriously, she has to work harder than the average man,” she says, adding it is women who set limits on what they can or cannot do. In 2002, Rajgarhia started Sweet World, a chain of candy stores that has 40 outlets today. “The buck stopped with me,” she says. “For the first two years, I put in over 18 hours a day. Even while on vacation, I had to be on call.” If, all those years ago, she listened to the people who discouraged her, “I would never have had the business I have now,” she says.
Overcoming Barriers
It is here that “tangible barriers” come up, says Anjana Vivek, founder, VentureBean Consulting and guest faculty at IIM-Bangalore. Questions like whether women can travel, whether they’d be able to spend money or commit enough are asked. “This is a lens that belongs to the traditional manufacturing business,” says Vivek. “Today, there are intangibles like how people use technology to work from home, or what women bring to the busi ness that is different. These need to be looked into as enablers.” Many women are even asked if their husbands or fathers will be the guaran tors, whereas men are not asked similar questions, says Zankhana Kaur, programme director of Stree Shakti, a dedicated platform for women entrepreneurs started by TiE (formerly The IndUS Entrepreneurs), one of the world’s largest entrepreneurship organisations. Vrinda Rajgarhia has experienced many shades of being a woman entrepreneur in India in her 10 years as one. “For a woman to be taken seriously, she has to work harder than the average man,” she says, adding it is women who set limits on what they can or cannot do. In 2002, Rajgarhia started Sweet World, a chain of candy stores that has 40 outlets today. “The buck stopped with me,” she says. “For the first two years, I put in over 18 hours a day. Even while on vacation, I had to be on call.” If, all those years ago, she listened to the people who discouraged her, “I would never have had the business I have now,” she says.
Help From Outside…
Having a mentor makes the struggle a little easier. Vidya Nataraj, co-founder of the company that runs online jewellery retailer Bluestone.com, has a strong retail pedigree. However, she says, more than this, it was her association with Meena Ganesh, co-founder of TutorVista, that helped her. Nataraj, an INSEAD graduate, was involved in her family business, the retail chain Landmark, before it was acquired by Tata Trent, and is married to Ganesh Narayan, the joint managing director of Bangalore-based jewellery retailer, C Krishniah Chetty & Sons. “We were able to pitch to a number of VC firms, thanks to her (Meena Ganesh),” says 30-year-old Nataraj. The company, which launched operations in January, raised $5 million from Accel Partners, Silicon Valley Bank and from Meena Ganesh and her husband, serial entrepreneur K Ganesh. Besides funding, women entrepreneurs need guidance on other business aspects of business too, and a number of educational programmes aim to fill this gap. The Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at IIM Udaipur started a management development programme for women entrepreneurs this year. In April, 21 women, 18 of whom were from Rajasthan, spent four weeks on campus fleshing out ideas, setting goals, understanding a business plan and sharing their concerns. An all-woman group made it easier for them to air personal problems, says professor Janat Shah, director, IIM-U. A similar programme changed the way Neelam Chibber, who co-founded Industree Crafts in the mid-1990s, looked at business. Hers was a small exportoriented venture till, in 2007, she undertook a scale-up study programme for social entrepreneurs conducted by Dasra Social Impact, a non-profit and social business-focused initiative. By the second week, she had a plan. “I knew I needed a steady domestic market and could not depend on just exports,” says Chibber. She raised funds from Kishore Biyani, whose Future Ventures holds 53% in the company. Besides hands-on training, women need, Chibber says, a supporting ecosystem.
…And From Inside
Women entrepreneurs are now coming up with solutions for their problems. Ruche Mittal, founder of design consultancy ideaPerfect, started Her Enterpreneurial Network (HEN) India in 2011 to build a support system. Mittal had started her company in Kolkata, but had to shift the business to Bangalore in 2010 after marriage. She did not know anyone in Bangalore and was also unsure of how to expand. She tried TiE, but says she did not get the mentorship she was looking for. She joined the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Entrepreneurs Certificate Programme, at ISB, Hyderabad. Mittal set up HEN to stay in touch with other women in the programme. The network has over 1,200 members now. “We use social-networking platforms to collaborate on projects, help each other with contacts, share knowledge and inputs, and also meet in various cities for workshops,” says Mittal. The network has moved beyond being a support system and has become a market for each other. Mumbai Angels’ Mirchandani says if women persist, they will find enough people willing to guide and help them. “Today, there are no excuses—there is enough capital, and people are evolved enough to focus on the business and the opportunity,” he says. Mirchandani says he would any day bet on women entreprenuers, “because they are very focused on goals, and less political. They also need to prove a larger point.” Biocon’s Shaw says women should stop thinking of themselves as ‘women entrepreneurs’ and think as just ‘entrepreneurs.’ “To be a successful entrepreneur, you have to be willing to struggle and sacrifice and take risks.”
Having a mentor makes the struggle a little easier. Vidya Nataraj, co-founder of the company that runs online jewellery retailer Bluestone.com, has a strong retail pedigree. However, she says, more than this, it was her association with Meena Ganesh, co-founder of TutorVista, that helped her. Nataraj, an INSEAD graduate, was involved in her family business, the retail chain Landmark, before it was acquired by Tata Trent, and is married to Ganesh Narayan, the joint managing director of Bangalore-based jewellery retailer, C Krishniah Chetty & Sons. “We were able to pitch to a number of VC firms, thanks to her (Meena Ganesh),” says 30-year-old Nataraj. The company, which launched operations in January, raised $5 million from Accel Partners, Silicon Valley Bank and from Meena Ganesh and her husband, serial entrepreneur K Ganesh. Besides funding, women entrepreneurs need guidance on other business aspects of business too, and a number of educational programmes aim to fill this gap. The Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at IIM Udaipur started a management development programme for women entrepreneurs this year. In April, 21 women, 18 of whom were from Rajasthan, spent four weeks on campus fleshing out ideas, setting goals, understanding a business plan and sharing their concerns. An all-woman group made it easier for them to air personal problems, says professor Janat Shah, director, IIM-U. A similar programme changed the way Neelam Chibber, who co-founded Industree Crafts in the mid-1990s, looked at business. Hers was a small exportoriented venture till, in 2007, she undertook a scale-up study programme for social entrepreneurs conducted by Dasra Social Impact, a non-profit and social business-focused initiative. By the second week, she had a plan. “I knew I needed a steady domestic market and could not depend on just exports,” says Chibber. She raised funds from Kishore Biyani, whose Future Ventures holds 53% in the company. Besides hands-on training, women need, Chibber says, a supporting ecosystem.
…And From Inside
Women entrepreneurs are now coming up with solutions for their problems. Ruche Mittal, founder of design consultancy ideaPerfect, started Her Enterpreneurial Network (HEN) India in 2011 to build a support system. Mittal had started her company in Kolkata, but had to shift the business to Bangalore in 2010 after marriage. She did not know anyone in Bangalore and was also unsure of how to expand. She tried TiE, but says she did not get the mentorship she was looking for. She joined the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Entrepreneurs Certificate Programme, at ISB, Hyderabad. Mittal set up HEN to stay in touch with other women in the programme. The network has over 1,200 members now. “We use social-networking platforms to collaborate on projects, help each other with contacts, share knowledge and inputs, and also meet in various cities for workshops,” says Mittal. The network has moved beyond being a support system and has become a market for each other. Mumbai Angels’ Mirchandani says if women persist, they will find enough people willing to guide and help them. “Today, there are no excuses—there is enough capital, and people are evolved enough to focus on the business and the opportunity,” he says. Mirchandani says he would any day bet on women entreprenuers, “because they are very focused on goals, and less political. They also need to prove a larger point.” Biocon’s Shaw says women should stop thinking of themselves as ‘women entrepreneurs’ and think as just ‘entrepreneurs.’ “To be a successful entrepreneur, you have to be willing to struggle and sacrifice and take risks.”
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