When Paru Jaykrishna was elected president of the Gujarat Chambers of Commerce earlier in 2007, it was more than a personal achievement for this 64-year-old lady. This was the first time a woman had entered a male bastion in a state that has spawned hundreds of entrepreneurs and innovators.
But importantly it was symbolic of the coming of age of Indian women in enterprise. "I knew that where I was venturing has been a male bastion. But that didn't deter me. Women in India are today equal partners in business, aren't we?" she says.
Even as the corporate world celebrates the rise of women in its ranks, thousands of women entrepreneurs are working hard to prove that even when it comes to starting and sustaining a business, they are second to none. Says Anil Bhardwaj, secretary general, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), "When it comes to success, they are as good as men, if not better."
Bhardwaj estimates women entrepreneurs at a tenth of the Indian entrepreneur universe — currently there are 1.3 million SSIs and 9.1 million registered SMEs — in India, with the percentage growing every year. It isn't an easy journey, as any entrepreneur will tell you.
But for these women, it has also been about breaking tradition and overcoming long-held socio-cultural mindsets. "Life is not worth it if you have not unleashed the entrepreneur within you," says Archana Bhatnagar who runs Jabalpur-based Haylide Chemicals, a personal products company whose products you get in hotel rooms, among others.
Jaykrishna came from one of Gujarat's leading business families. With a downturn in the textiles industry in the late '80s, Jaykrishna's family business was forced to close down. Faced with having to support and secure the future of her children, she started her own business at the age of 48. "I started at an age when most people begin to think about retirement," she says.
Jaykrishna founded Asahi Songwon Colors, a colour pigments and intermediates manufacturer that now has an annual turnover of around Rs 200 crore. Her Ahmedabad-based company exports to countries like the US, South Africa, Australia, and Canada and some parts of Europe. "You've got to follow the muse within, and chase the right dreams," she quips.
For Bhatnagar, the experience of starting her own business had its own share of roadblocks. "My journey into the world of entrepreneurship began at a time when the word 'entrepreneur' was hardly associated with women," says Bhatnagar.
With no formal training in business and hardly any capital to start with, she recounts her struggle to raise money and get her idea off the ground: "When bank managers refused to cooperate, I had to mortgage my husband's house worth Rs 15 lakh for a meagre loan of Rs 15,000 to kickstart my venture."
Today, Haylide supplies personal care and cleaning products to corporates, the hospitality, pharma and retail sectors, with clients like Le Meridien, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Apollo Hospitals. Bhatnagar is also president of the Mahakaushal Association of Women Entrepreneurs (MAWE) in Jabalpur.
"Entrepreneurship is not all that tough if you have the right aptitude," says Sudha Prakash, president, Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka, adding, "Women entrepreneurship is more common in smaller towns compared to metros."
à Women entrepreneurs constitute a tenth of the Indian entrepreneur universe.
à Currently there are 1.3 million SSIs and 9.1 million registered SMEs in India.
à There are more women entrepreneurs in smaller towns compared to metros.
à Women find it easier to start up but equally difficult to grow and access venture capital.
Agrees Bhardwaj, "The larger the enterprise becomes, the smaller the chance for women owners to succeed." However, those with grit and energy sustain themselves and make a mark.
Rama Devi, who is currently president of the Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of Andhra Pradesh (ALEAP), says she was pushed into her current business — which was initially started by her husband and ran into huge losses — although today she can claim to have revived Shivani Engineering Industries.
Without any prior business experience, Devi today heads a company with a headcount of 50. "It is great to provide employment to so many people," says the English Literature graduate, confessing that her biggest challenge is sustaining and growing her company.
Like their corporate counterparts, women entrepreneurs struggle to strike the right balance between family and business. As they do their best to succeed in their businesses, any failure tends to make them risk-averse and, more often than not, renounce the business.
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