US is best for female entrepreneurs, with UK ranked in sixth place

The UK ranks only sixth out of 17 countries for female entrepreneurs, a new study has shown. Computer giant Dell released the results of the first Gender-GEDI female entrepreneurship index at a conference in Istanbul today.

The rankings reveal the US is the best place for ambitious female entrepreneurs, with Uganda rated worst, based on 30 indicators. Chief marketing officer and senior vice-president at Dell, Karen Quintos, said: "The research clearly supports the assertion that key things need to be fixed in order for female entrepreneurship to survive and flourish.

"Increased access to knowledge, networks, capital and technology are critical if countries are to empower female entrepreneurship and create a culture of success," she added.

The index tracks a range of different factors which determine how supportive a county is for "high potential women" – those with proven potential to succeed and a business 42 months old or younger. The study found that economic development and access to eduction is not enough to create a strong entrepreneurial environment, as cultural and societal factors also play a part. This was particularly evident in Japan, which sits in twelfth place, largely due to the low social status of entrepreneurs in the country.

Access to finance is another barrier for many women, with low-performing countries like Egypt, Uganda and India having the lowest number of women with bank accounts, at 7%, 15% and 26% respectively.

The index coincides with the launchof Dell's new competition for university students to come up with innovative ways to empower women around the world. Semi-finalists will be mentored by members of Dell's women's entrepreneur network and the winning team will receive a $15,000 (around £10,000) cash prize.

source:http://www.guardian.co.uk/women-in-leadership/small-business-blog/2013/jun/04/us-best-country-for-female-entrepreneurs

Meena Bindra on Creating a Pan-India Brand Like BIBA

Meena Bindra

She started her designing business with a Rs.8000 loan from the bank and today she has grown it into a pan-India brand. In the last 30 years, Meena Bindra has created a success story called BIBA thanks to her love for what she does.

From a home-based business, Meena Bindra has created a pan-Indian brand of ethnic wear

Interview with MEENA BINDRA: Source: http://idiva.com/interviews-work-life/meena-bindra-on-creating-a-pan-india-brand-like-biba-diva-in-focus/20461 

    Q. How did you set up BIBA? 

Meena Bindra

I was a housewife who had never worked before. I had no knowledge or experience in business and I was not a qualified designer. Also, at that time (the early 1980s), there weren't any courses in fashion design. People usually bought fabric and had their garments stitched because readymade garments were rare. But when I told my husband that I wanted to start designing and making ethnic wear, he was supportive and agreed to get me a loan of Rs.8000 from the bank. I'm not sure why he got me Rs.8000 and not Rs.10000 or Rs.5000, but eight turned out to be a lucky number for me!

I had my first major break when I found a very good block printer. He was an educated young boy who understood what I wanted. Soon I began to spend hours everyday at the factory as I enjoyed my work and also the yummy Gujarati food that he would serve me there. 

I started my business with around 40 printed salwar suits that I had priced at about Rs.170. I was making them for about Rs.100, so I thought I was making pots of money (laughs).

Q. How was business in the initial years?

Meena Bindra

I received a good response from people and gradually started increasing my stock. These were fun years because I got to experiment with various fabrics, cuts, colours and more. A short while after I began, a small boutique in Mumbai began to retail some of my creations and later Benzer came on board too. I did not ever have to do any marketing. People just kept coming to me. 

The market also opened up and there were retail chains like Shopper's Stop and Pantaloons who approached me. That's when I realised the importance of professionalism. From pricing to timelines, I had to be accountable and deliver on time. What's more, they wanted to see different ranges, so I had to be aware of the fashion seasons too.

  Q. What was your vision for BIBA right from the very beginning? Did you expect it to become this big?

Meena Bindra

When I started, I had no long term vision. I simply wanted to keep myself occupied and earn a little extra money. But growth kept happening. Now our vision is to keep growing and of course, enjoy the journey. We currently have about 107 stores over 46 cities but we want to open more stores in certain cities as well as expand to cities where we have no presence. In a year's time, we want to be a 500-crore company.

We also want to launch formal wear, bridal trousseaux and the likes. My aim is to make BIBA the one stop shop for a woman's ethnic wear needs.

Who does BIBA cater to essentially?

Meena Bindra

BIBA has a range for girls from the age of 2 to 12 years and our range for adults can be worn by women right from 20 to 70 years. However, it is most suited for younger women. 

What are some of the ethnic wear trends for the season?

Meena Bindra

I think a lot of asymmetrical cuts are in vogue. They add that bit of edginess to your everyday ethnic wear.Anarkalis are also extremely popular, especially the long flared kurtas that we wore around 15 years ago.

In terms of colours, pastels and bright colours like lime green and fuchsia are the shades to sport this season.

How do you think styles are evolving over the years with the modern Indian woman looking for comfort over tradition?

Meena Bindra

When it comes to ethnic fashion, I have seen all the cycles. Trends keep coming back into fashion with a little recycling here and there. But styles really have evolved in the last 30 years. Today, cuts, prints and fashion accessories are extremely important. But because of the variety available, I think women can have both comfort and tradition!

What does it take to be a successful woman entrepreneur?

Meena Bindra

The most important key to being successful is to enjoy what you are doing. I enjoyed immensely what I did and I wasn't worried about making money. 

For about 5 or 6 years, I worked out of my house and would constantly have people come over. I made a lot of friends too and there was never any pressure on them to buy. In fact, if someone bought something and didn't like it, I'd return the money and maybe even throw in a free dupatta. I just wanted my customers to be happy.

What is your advice to stay-at-home moms who want to start their own business?

Meena Bindra

The opportunities to work from home are endless, so nothing should stop you from venturing into what you love to do. Whether you want to bake a cake or write a book, do what you are passionate about and the results will follow.

Enjoy the fact that you can work. There's always a sense of achievement when you do!

How do you balance work life and home?

Meena Bindra

I make sure that I give equal time to my work and home. Even when I was working from home years ago, I would shut shop by 5 PM. I never extended my work time.

What are some of your hobbies?

Meena Bindra

My hobbies have changed over the years. I love to read but I have got into more serious, spiritual reading these days. I also listen to western, western classical and even Indian classical music. Another thing I really enjoy is meeting up with my friends.                                                                                                                                  

Women entrepreneurs still trail their male counterparts: Report from economic times

Even as Asia, including India, has a higher proportion of entrepreneurs compared to the rest of the world, the number of women business owners is much below the global average, according to a recent report.

"The number of female business owners in Asia is still trailing levels seen amongst their male counterparts and below the global average," says a new research report from Barclays Wealth and Investment Management.

This, it says, is despite Asia having a higher proportion of entrepreneurs (47 per cent) compared to the US (29 per cent) and Europe (30 per cent).

This new report finds that 39 per cent of high net worth (HNW) women in Asia classify themselves as business owners, which is far below the 50 per cent of high net worth men in Asia.

Globally, 44 per cent of HNW women and 49 per cent of HNW men classify themselves as business owners.

It also shows that the gender pay gap is wider for non-entrepreneurs compared to entrepreneurs.

Non-entrepreneur women earn significantly more than non-entrepreneur men, while male entrepreneurs make slightly more than their female counterparts, it shows.

However, this trend is reverse globally, where among the high net worth female entrepreneurs earn 14 per cent more than their male counterparts.

In contrast, the average income of a high net worth woman who does not own her own business is 21 per cent lower than the corresponding average male income, it adds.

For the research, more than 2,000 high net worth individuals were interviewed and in Asia 500 respondents were surveyed, of which over 200 respondents were entrepreneurs.

The report further says, a higher proportion of entrepreneurs in Asia value the role of failure in contributing to future success more than their global counterparts.

Only 60 per cent of male entrepreneurs and 51 per cent of female entrepreneurs agree that past failure in entrepreneurial endeavours increases their chances of success in a new business, it points out.

However, the Barclays research shows that globally female business owners tend to value past failures less than their male counterparts.

While 70 per cent of male business owners agree that past failure in entrepreneurial endeavours increases the chances that a new business will succeed, this figure falls to 65 per cent for female business owners.

"Today women are at a threshold where they are moving from being a back door decision maker to board room decision maker. The present generation is supportive of women actively being engaged in family business, starting their own entrepreneurial ventures and acquiring professional education," Barclays, Wealth and Investment Management Chief Executive (India) Satya Bansal said.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/women-entrepreneurs-still-trail-their-male-counterpartsreport/articleshow/18865585.cms

Youngest Woman Entrepreneur...........:)

Shreelakshmi Suresh, at 14 years is the youngest female web designer and CEO in the world. She designed her first website at the age of 7 and started her first company ‘eDesign’ in 2009 along with designing 80 websites and making name for herself in the field of computer technology...!! Hats off to her!!!

TiE Delhi NCR & Mazars presents ‘Creating Better Workplaces for Women'

While there may be extraordinary professional opportunities for women, issues remain on a daily basis. Large numbers of ambitious young Indian women will be blocked in their ascent up the career ladder because of safety, security and other concerns at and on way to work. It is more than evident that women fail to emerge in any consequential numbers on the top of the professional pyramid. This is true for women treading the entrepreneurial path as well. Smart companies will do more to safeguard their talented women. What are the best practices, followed and possible? Speakers – Muriel de Saint Sauveur Director, Mazars Group Saloni Malhotra Founder & Director, Desicrew Solutions Pratibha Jain Partner, Nishith Desai Associates Preet Dhupar Chief Operating Officer India BBC Global News Rachita Sehgal Director, Learning & Dev GE Global Date: 8th March, 2013 Venue: Jacaranda Hall, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi Time: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm Contact: Upasana Sharma upasana@tienewdelhi.org +91 9810078395 Paridhi Goel Thakur paridhi@tienewdelhi.org +91 9811774173 Annual Partners Global Partners Copyright © 2012 TiE Delhi Design by i2k2 Networks Pvt Ltd

Unit No.1102, Tower-A, Advant IT Park, Plot No.7 NOIDA, 201305 India

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.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2013/02/27/nerdwallet-best-cities-women-entrepreneurs-more-than-promise/2/ 

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.

Role of women as an Entrepreneur's:

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.

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.

In nutshell, women entrepreneur are those women who think of a business enterprise,  initiate it organize and combine the factors of production, operate the enterprise,  undertake risk  and handle economic uncertainties involved in running a business enterprise.

By:

Mrs. Shilpee Adhikari
Sr. LecturerSaroj Institute of Technology and ManagementLucknow

Source: http://www.indianmba.com/Faculty_Column/FC801/fc801.html

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

Source: http://www.siliconindia.com/startupcity/entrepreneurs-stories/Laxmi-Khanolkar-hUQRDwAl.html

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

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