Anamika Pandey, aged 24 years, an engineer is from Uttar Pradesh. She dropped out of MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business to pursue a career as Subscription Head, Bigbasket’ s new venture- BBdaily to only quit later to launch her own food product startup Naario to help her mother and some other mothers to fulfill their dreams. Used a model similar to BB daily’s to run a pilot on Naario in late 2020. Launched Naario officially in early 2021 as a solo female founder with 2 people in the early team. Anamika has been awarded the youngest business icon by Dainik Jagran in 2021. Her biggest purpose and success mantra behind Naario – every single product launched under Naario solves her and her family’s problems, to begin with. Only once Anamika is satisfied with the solution does she launch it. It’s no wonder that Naario is currently growing at 40% month on month, with a target of 6X growth trajectory.
Any business needs a plan but to sustain that business one needs a lot of general as well as creative support. This includes internal and external motivation. And it’s a cherry on the cake when you get the right perspective, motivation and direction from your own network. Keeping the same in perspective, there are several ways in which women entrepreneurs can support their fellow entrepreneurs:
- Making investments in the business owned by women: To motivate more women entrepreneurs to start their own businesses, it is important that we (female entrepreneurs) invest in women-led businesses. This investment is required not just in terms of motivation, directional guidance but most importantly in the form of right funding at the right time. As of 2021, only 2.3% of venture fundings went to female entrepreneurs. One can agree to the fact that businesses do not run-on gender biases but one cannot deny the fact that businesses do need gender equality. Not just for a fair and better economy but also to ensure better societal development.
- Never letting a woman business owner’s voice go unheard: The journey to become an entrepreneur in itself is not just challenging but more complex for a woman. Starting up does not mean she can shrug off the household responsibilities. On top of it, there are a lot of stigmas in society which a woman needs to face throughout her journey. Therefore, an occasion to voice out and support a female entrepreneur’s business or remove impediments in her journey should be taken seriously. By doing so one woman entrepreneur can be a huge support for her kins.
- Becoming an integral part of one another’s success stories: While we think of celebrating the success of women entrepreneurs, it is also considerate to think of doing something with a personal touch. Of course, taking out some time to share and appreciate women entrepreneurs over various social media platforms is a great initiative. But dropping a personal note for boosting the confidence of these female entrepreneurs can do wonders. Any entrepreneur would love to hear a word of praise for her hard work.
- Sharing your wisdom with one another: As a women entrepreneur the best way to help other women entrepreneurs is by sharing your own experience in the form of knowledge. By letting a newcomer know your own story, you can provide great help in making them understand balancing work-life, taking calculated risks and being patient and open for criticism while standing true to herself.
- Helping carve the right pitch: Mainer times a lot of people have several great projects and ideas to work on though assured references. All it needs for new women entrepreneurs to be trusted for getting new business opportunities and assignments. Hence as a women entrepreneur don’t just try to put an introduction for other women entrepreneurs in the basic way. Try to make an impactful pitch for these women entrepreneurs that might take them places and help them grow through you.
- Educating oneself on women issues: To be able to understand the gaps and help other women entrepreneurs grow, it is necessary to get yourself aware of the issues being faced by fellow women entrepreneurs. Once you are aware of the wrongs that need to be worked upon it becomes easy to connect with other women entrepreneurs and work in the same direction. Awareness drives empathy which can be very helpful for women entrepreneurs.
- Connecting them to fellow women entrepreneurs: Sometimes there is a lot to talk upon and find solutions for, not just professionally but also personally. But unfortunately, women entrepreneurs have no idea whom to connect to and brainstorm with on such issues. Having a close connected circle of women entrepreneurs can help fellow women entrepreneurs when needed.
Women entrepreneurs have proved themselves well worth that cheque that investors cut for them. Yet there is still a long way to go. A good first step can be one where their kin from the business world understand and uplift them. Kyunibadlogetabhitohbadloge!