16/03/2013
Youngest Woman Entrepreneur...........:)
05/03/2013
TiE Delhi NCR & Mazars presents ‘Creating Better Workplaces for Women'
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01/03/2013
The Best Cities For Women Entrepreneurs? It Takes A Lot More Than Promise
The top 10 cities for women entrepreneurs:
1. San Francisco, CA
San Francisco is well-known
for its entrepreneurial climate, particularly in the technology industry.
With nearby Silicon Valley and a whopping 13.7 businesses per 100 residents,
the city has plenty of fellow entrepreneurs for networking and collaboration
opportunities. The Bay Area is also home to three of the nation’s most
famous businesswomen, Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook), Marissa Mayer (CEO of
Yahoo) and Meg Whitman (CEO of Hewlett-Packard).
2. Seattle, WA
Seattle is one of the most
highly educated cities and has a correspondingly high median income and low
unemployment rate. With 12.5 businesses per 100 residents, the city is
highly entrepreneurial, and women own around 4 of those businesses.
Organizations
like CHEW organize events and panels to encourage
female entrepreneurs to open their businesses in Seattle. Seattle is also
home to one of the world’s most famous and civic-minded businesswomen, Melinda
Gates, as well as rising chef and restaurant entrepreneur Renee Erickson.
3. Washington, DC
Over one-third
of businesses in DC are owned by women, meaning that women in this city can
find plenty of female coworkers and mentors. The city provides plenty of
resources to women as well, such as the Washington, DC Women’s Business
Center. The organization, partially funded by the SBA, offers
trainings, classes and one-on-one consultations.
4. Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis
has the dual benefits of having a very low unemployment rate and an educated
workforce. Additionally, women own almost a third of businesses in
Minneapolis. Minnesotan businesswomen can meet each other and network at
quarterly events at Women Entrepreneurs of
Minnesota. The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) of Minnesota
is very active, providing networking and other events, and nearby twin-city
Saint Paul-based WomenVenture offers
loans and transitional career services.
5. Portland, OR
This
laid-back West Coast city has it all: plenty of businesses, a good share of
which are owned by women, an educated general populace and a low unemployment
rate. Additionally, organizations like Women Entrepreneurs of Oregon hold plenty of
events for women. Intel is
Oregon’s largest employer, and the company has six Oregon campuses as well as a
female Executive Vice President, Renee James.
6. Atlanta, GA
Atlanta
has plenty of businesses, a third of which are run by women, and an educated
population, making it a great city for female entrepreneurs. Plus,
businesswomen can meet at the various networking events and educational
programs run by the NAWBO in
Atlanta. The Georgia Mentor Protégé
Connection assists women in finding mentors, and the state provides
plenty of trainings and networking assistance for women business owners.
7. Austin, TX
Austin
is known for its startups—there are almost 11 businesses for every 100 Austin
residents. Austin has a very low unemployment rate of only 6.2%, which is
one reason we rated it as the number one city for job seekers.
With organizations like Austin Women in Technology,
businesswomen in Austin will have little trouble finding a supportive and
knowledgeable community.
8. Raleigh, NC
Raleigh’s
low unemployment rate and high number of businesses per person make it a great
city for female entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs can check out organizations
like Raleigh Business and Professional Women for
resources. In addition, the City of Raleigh has adopted a Small
Disadvantaged Minority and Women Owned Business Program,
promising to award 15% of the city’s contracts to minority-owned and
women-owned businesses.
9. Denver, CO
Denver
is a highly educated city with plenty of businesses, 30% of which are owned by
women. The Mile High City also has resources for businesswomen
through The Entrepreneur Centerat
the University of Denver, which provides mentorship and networking
opportunities. The city even hosts Denver Startup Week, a week of trainings, office hours,
parties, mentorship and networking events. The week was so successful in 2012
that the city has announced a second year of the program.
10. San Diego, CA
With
an educated population, moderately high median income and entrepreneurial
atmosphere, San Diego is a great city for women in business. San
Diego female entrepreneurs can access mentors, workshops, networking events and
various small business tools through SCORE and the NAWBO. There are also several startup incubators
in the city that help foster entrepreneurs and their ideas, including EvoNexus and the newly launched cybersecurity
incubator CyberHive.
24/02/2013
Women Entrepreneur... New Face of Women
Women constitute almost half of the total population of world. Similarly in India also women constitute fifty percent of the total population.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Till the turn of the century, man has enjoyed a dominant position. But change in position technological innovation and modern way of thinking can reduce the disparity between man and women, and bring about equality and equity between them, the need of the hour in women empowerment both through provision of employment and enterprise creation. Typologically, the former leader to endogenous empowerment and the latter give rise to exogenous empowerment.
Women entreprenurer's have been making a significant impact in all segments of the economy in Canada, Great Britain, Germany Australia and US.
The areas choosen by women are retail trade, restaurants, hotels, education, cultural, cleaning insurance and manufacturing.
It is the group of women or single women running an enterprise or company in order to earn profit. Now days because of women empowerment women are stepping-stone into the industries and are taking the place of men. Now a day's women's are running several business like beauty parlours, switching shops, boutiques, etc.
Women entrepreneurs may be defined as a woman or a group of women who initiate, organize and run a business enterprise. In terms of Schunpeterian concept of innovative entrepreneurs, women who innovate, initiate or adopt a business activity are called business entrepreneur.
The Government of India has defined women entrepreneurs based on women participation in equity and employment of a business enterprise. Accordingly, a woman entrepreneur is defined as an enterprise owned and controlled by a woman having a minimum financial interest of 51% of the capital and giving at least 51% of the employment generated in the enterprise to a woman.
They have made there marks in business because of the following reasons:
- They want to improve their mettle in innovation and competitive jobs.
- They want the change to control the balance between their families and responsibility and their business levels.
- They want new challenges and opportunities for self fulfillment.
1) Imaginative: It refers to the imaginative approach or original ideas with competitive market. Well-planned approach is needed to examine the existing situation and to identify the entrepreneurial opportunities. It further implies that women entrepreneur's have association with knowledgeable people and contracting the right organization offering support and services.
2) Attribute to work hard: Enterprising women have further ability to work hard. The imaginative ideas have to come to a fair play. Hard work is needed to build up an enterprise..
3) Persistence: Women entrepreneurs must have an intention to fulfill their dreams. They have to make a dream transferred into an idea enterprise; Studies show that successful women work hard.
4) Ability and desire to take risk the desire refers to the willingness to take risk and ability to the proficiency in planning making forecast estimates and calculations.
5) Profit earning capacity: she should have a capacity to get maximum return out of invested capital.
A Woman entrepreneur has also to perform all the functions involved in establishing an enterprise.These include idea generation, and screening, determination of objectives, project preparation, product analysis, determination of forms of business organization, completion of formal activities, raising funds, procuring men machine materials and operations of business.2) Attribute to work hard: Enterprising women have further ability to work hard. The imaginative ideas have to come to a fair play. Hard work is needed to build up an enterprise..
3) Persistence: Women entrepreneurs must have an intention to fulfill their dreams. They have to make a dream transferred into an idea enterprise; Studies show that successful women work hard.
4) Ability and desire to take risk the desire refers to the willingness to take risk and ability to the proficiency in planning making forecast estimates and calculations.
5) Profit earning capacity: she should have a capacity to get maximum return out of invested capital.
Fredrick Harbiscon, has enumerated the following five functions of a women entrepreneur's :
- Exploration of the prospects of starting a new business enterprise.
- Undertaking a risk and handling of economic uncertainties involved in business.
- Introduction of innovations, imitations of innovations.
- Co ordination, administration and control.
- Supervision and leadership.
By:
Mrs. Shilpee Adhikari
Sr. LecturerSaroj Institute of Technology and ManagementLucknow
Sr. LecturerSaroj Institute of Technology and ManagementLucknow
07/02/2013
Laxmi Khanolkar
CEO & Co-Founder
Apar Games
Short Description
Entrepreneurs in gaming industry.Dream! Follow it! Make it happen! You’re the one whom people look upto to make their dreams come true!
Brief about company, offerings and foundation of the company
Apar Games was found in May 2007. We have a widespread range of products right from outsourcing art work to conceptualization and developing games on various platforms like PC, smartphone, tablet and social networks. From a 4 member team, Apar games has culminated into a 60 member team with a head office in Mumbai and a support office in Chennai. We work in technologies like Flash, HTML5, Unity 3D, Objective C, Android NDK and Augmented reality games.
Risks involved in business and way of addressing
Information security is crucial , Developing talent is a challenge (not risk really), Retaining skilled talent.While offering game development as a service, as gaming is all about developing experience, every thing cannot be defined in the scope of work. You have to introduce certain features that may not be part of the initial defined scope and yet deliver the product on time. This may hamper your budget for the product and the entire thought process goes for toss. However, we minimize these risks by having detailed GDDs and prototype in the production cycle.Secondly we believe to build a long-term relationships with our clients to get an advantage over the competition.
Some of the difficulties faced while building product/ solution
When we were a 4 member team without any “brand” backup, we faced various issues like attracting talent, retaining them, making the global market believe in us to give us the “First “ chance etc. Only way to tackle it, was the determination of creating a difference.
Different actions if I rebuild my company from scratch all over again
Nothing! Each step in building this company, consider it as a pros or a con, has added to what it is today. ‘Experience makes a man perfect!’ It’s the same here. Every experience in terms of may it be a project, client or resources have been the ladder to Apar Games success.
Motivation and Drives factor
“Creating a GAME”
Unique about my way of motivating troops
Nothing in specific that is individually practiced by only me. I am just passionate about games and I know the idea of creating, designing, talking, playing & living GAMES is what motivates me & my troops both. I believe creative people are motivated to evade into another world by even a ray of light in the dark.
Way of choosing my people
Hiring a talented person is easy but nurturing and creating a cutting edge talent is what a company should look at for every individual they hire since it’s beneficial for both the company and the individual. We at Apar Games believe in the same and hence have always inspired people to take up challenging projects guiding them through the process. With Intel as our partners, we research and keep ourselves and the team updated with the upcoming technology and give them freedom to explore it.
The challenges and lessons learnt to get first customer
When we started the company we all had our share of experience working in the gaming industry. The combined experience and exposure of our team convinced the client that we could deliver the desired product in the said time. Our approach is to “help” rather “service” them in their game development need, gave us the big break.
My role at different dimensions as the company evolved
The journey of starting from scratch and leading the company to this level in a matter of just 5years means you have been through all phases involved in the company. Right from identifying the right talent, to training them in the desired manner to deriving the desired output. Apart from pitching for clients, conceptualizing the game, design, programing, stemming, we also maintain the game till the said time. Initially I was involved in even minute processes rather I would say I still keep a tab of each minute processes but now obviously it has scaled down a lot.
As a leader how I make sure that I am connecting the right dots
A leader is never a one if he/she does not possess the qualities of being one. Being calm, listening and acting at the right time with precision is my mantra. Of course, I have had my share of falls but important is we were able to stabilize them.
Best company I admire globally
POPCAP. They create games to entertain people, do not really go by the set path. But they have a specific goal and follow a specific process, eye for detail. etc.
Advice for fellow entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs in gaming industry.Dream! Follow it! Make it happen! You’re the one whom people look upto to make their dreams come true
Naheed Muqeetulla
VP
Mastibids
Short Description
Naheed Muqeetulla : Naheed Muqeetulla is the Vice President & Treasurer of Imperial Online Services which owns and operates the auction website Mastibids.com.
Company Profile
Mastibids.com, which is owned and operated by Imperial Online Service Pvt Ltd, was founded by Sameer Masarath and Naheed Muqeetulla. We started operations in June 2011. Mastibids is essentially a disruptive startup that aims to revolutionise the E-Commerce sector by introducing an element of entertainment in the users’ online shopping experience. It is an auction website with a twist, where members will have to bid against one another to become the last bidder and get a variety of products for incredibly low prices. We offer a wide variety of products ranging from electronics to accessories and vouchers.
Leadership Quality
Although we have had only a few, our mentors have provided us with invaluable tips on how to efficiently run a business. Perhaps the greatest contribution they have made is on how to go about raising capital and how to scale operations. We have learnt from them to always stay focused, but to allow room for flexibility so as to adapt to changing market conditions and consumer preferences. They have also taught us the importance of execution. Anyone can have a good idea for a business, but only a few can turn a good idea into a great business venture through their skill and dedication.
Getting Customers
The first few customers had signed up with us even before we were operational. Once the site was ready for business, we started an SMS campaign to draw in traffic quickly, followed by some affiliate marketing. Some of the challenges we faced were that the quality of the registrations were not that good. We learnt that targeted marketing would have been more beneficial since that improved our registration to sale ratio dramatically. Customer acquisition, media buying and marketing are very tricky areas of business. It is difficult to determine the right mix when one is starting out and a trial-and-error method is the only way to determine the proportion of funds that must be allotted to the various marketing methods. What we also learnt was that different industries find different media more effective in delivering results. Social Media is mostly for branding and PR while SEO proves more successful in customer acquisition. For quicker results one has to employ Affiliate and PPC campaigns. However, the effect of these will be more short lived.
Work Culture
We encourage a relaxed atmosphere so that each member can work to the best of their ability. We’ve realized that if the work place becomes hostile for any one person, the standard of service we offer to our customer drops. It is important that the work culture is such that there is freedom for each employee to work in a manner most comfortable to him, but at the same time focus should remain on attaining the company goals. The importance of customer service also forms a core part of our work culture. No matter what the issue, no matter how small, the customer should always be made to feel important. It is this attention to customer satisfaction that has helped us become one of the key players in the industry.
Sharing Experience
Never lose sight of your goal. When one starts a project, they will first think of the idea and how it works and why there is demand for it. Once you start working towards that goal, many obstacles and opportunities may come your way and it is very easy to get side tracked. It is best to remember why we started in the first place and aim for that goal relentlessly. Have a clear-cut plan in mind as to what needs to be achieved and in what time frame. Without a proper paln of action and budgeting for different activities, it becomes very difficult to guide an organisation in the necessary direction.
Advice to young entrepreneurs
Trust your instincts! If you think your idea can make you lots of money then it can as long as you put in the work. If you are surrounded by people who have only negative thoughts then it is best to leave them behind. Put in the hard work – It is a pre-requisite for success (and luck).
Source: http://www.siliconindia.com/startupcity/entrepreneurs-stories/Naheed-Muqeetulla-c0taSbn6.html
Source: http://www.siliconindia.com/startupcity/entrepreneurs-stories/Naheed-Muqeetulla-c0taSbn6.html
Meena Shah
Co-Founder
iView Creations & iView Labs Pvt Ltd.
Short Description
She have done bachelors in Computer Science, Have more than 6 yrs of IT experience. Worked with companies like Lionbridge Technologies, Benq India Pvt Ltd and Atos Origin India Pvt ltd.
Company Profile
iView Creations, started in March 2011 with a concept of providing innovative technology solutions for branding which generates a unique experience for the consumer to recall. Soon in six months we realized that the business model, which we had, would not generate the value for thecompany, which we had foreseen. We pivoted and started focusing and building interactive solutions, which engaged and enhances user experience. Our core remains same but our business model and market focus areas changed. We offer touch /multi touch based solutions and gesture recognition interactive solutions. Our prime focus is to get natural interaction in the technology world. We incorporated our new company with this focus as iView Labs Pvt Ltd this year.
Critical Decision
The most critical decision was to pivot and change our business model completely. As when we started we had a picture, which was completely different than, actually what was the fact.Its truly said that business teaches you a lot of dynamics, where every decision is critical especially when you are a startup. Each decision is a make or break decision, which can either, lead you to success or failure.
Doing things differently
If I were to build this again, I found start it from garage ;-), as most of the companies which were built from there became successful. Just Kidding…If I were to rebuild this again, I would choose to start it from a different location.Though my current city has lot of benefits of keeping the cost low, but getting the talent and right customer who values these solutions is difficult.
Motivating Employees
For us, nobody is like an employee and no babu system here. Firstly as the technologies we develop solutions on are very interesting and exciting for them to be motivated to learn about new things. Also we offer solutions like product equity for the right person and right product. (Courtesy Steve Jobs, As I was inspired by this model from his book)Every order we receive we have a party to celebrate that. Though these are few moments ;-) considering a startup.
Making correct decisions
I don’t know whether the dots are right or not. I am just connecting them and realizing it later whether they were right or wrong. In entrepreneurship, there is no full proof system. You have to fall, accept and rise.
Advice for entrepreneurs
•Right team can always make you cross boundaries. So find the right talent for your company. •Don’t look at today’s overheads but look at it against the revenue you could generate out of them, so go ahead and take risks.•Be adaptable for the changes as per the market demands.
Source: http://www.siliconindia.com/startupcity/entrepreneurs-stories/Meena-Shah-iW6zdOfI.html
Source: http://www.siliconindia.com/startupcity/entrepreneurs-stories/Meena-Shah-iW6zdOfI.html
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