“Women power can change the future of the country”, declared Gujarat’s Chief Minister when he addressed women entrepreneurs in early April. Narendra Modi, of course, enjoyed a full house.
But why is a nation that has quantum leaped ahead in various sectors over the last 20 years still applauding such banal statements?
Rahul Gandhi, Vice-President of the Congress, also spoke at CII in April calling for a “brave empowered India”. Predictably, most politically motivated speeches are pregnant with platitudes.
And when women come into the picture, even some of our finest orators manage to adopt tones of condescension. While rhetoric about ‘mindset change’ is doled out generously, pitiably, very few idealising this value exemplify shifts in their own thinking.
New ideas are born every day. Women are behind many of the businesses set up today with India’s Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities also generating a remarkable number of female entrepreneurs. Across the world, women are carving out their own realities in spite of prevalent challenges.
MIND DOES MATTER
While global debates over societal attitudes and perceptions still continue, Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In has recently highlighted the only way women can progress. Facebook’s COO calls for women to take active part in their own success. She details how gender stereotypes that are reinforced from childhood and throughout life become, in the end, self-fulfilling prophesy. The underlying wisdom delivered is that if women expect differently they could achieve differently.
Anita Menon, a 30-something entrepreneur, had career breaks due to relocation after marriage and the arrival of children. After numerous years in the corporate world and in teaching at B schools, she set up ‘Its My HR’ in November 2011. Through this platform Anita designs and launches a well-rounded human resources practice in 60-90 days for small and midsized companies that employ 10-300 people. Her methods involve simple cost-effective workflow systems.
Says Anita, “Deep passion to create something new, a strong conviction that it will work combined with a ‘never give up’ attitude are crucial for success. Constantly driving and nurturing your passion to innovate will keep you going”.
LANDSCAPE CHANGES
The California Capital Financial Development Corporation in Sacramento is set to launch its Women's Business Centre in a few weeks supported by a $150,000 grant. In the last two years, the non-profit has also provided 72 businesses started by women with loan guarantees worth $3.6 million. A boost for entrepreneurship in the US, where according to studies, women business owners are still few in number compared to men.
In India, the numbers of women leaders have risen over the years. However, we are nowhere near having men run half the homes in this country and women run half the companies. Women entrepreneurs continue to face roadblocks at various levels. For example, a woman will still be asked for collateral or have to provide proof of her husband’s or family’s backing when she approaches a bank for a loan.
Roopa Venkatesh, now in her late 40’s, co-founded T8 Software Services in 2004 after enjoying a long stint in various leadership roles in the technology industry. Along the way, Roopa also battled and survived breast cancer. Outside of her role as Managing Director of T8 Software, she continues to stand for more leadership roles for women and is an active member of various professional forums. Roopa has seen perceptions change in the last 7–10 years.
Emphasising that women need to be more in number to be seen as making a difference, Roopa adds, “Male chauvinism, the glass ceiling and other impeding factors will continue to exist. Changes will happen, but more by evolution rather than revolution. What I would like to see in 10 years is the complete elimination of the term woman entrepreneur”.
ENCOURAGE SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Knowledge and training for entrepreneurs, regardless of gender, is critical for the start-up sector.
Goldman Sachs kicked off a $100-million initiative in 2008 that has had tremendous global success. The five-year ’10,000 Women’ programme involves 43 participating locations and 89 partners across the world. India, especially, has made good use of the opportunity.
Aimed at under-served women entrepreneurs, the programme is designed to bring about improved business education for women. The Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) drives the ’10,000 Women’ initiative for the Uttar Pradesh and NCR region. Professor K.K. Krishnan, Chairperson – Centre for Corporate Relations at BIMTECH observes, “Although SMEs thrive in the northern regions of India and government schemes to support entrepreneurs are plenty, women have to optimise their energy and efforts between home and running the business. The programme trains them to negotiate policy, regulatory and financial terrains while in business”.
Bangalore-based Acharya Institute of Management and Sciences (AIMS) is another local partner for the ’10,000 Women’ programme providing training free of cost for participants. Professor Rakesh Sud, Director of AIMS sums up, “We’re participating in the enlightenment and growth of women and adding value to them. Their progress as entrepreneurs reflecting in future statistics and success stories is something we look forward to”.
Bottomline: “In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders,” writes Sheryl Sandberg in Lean In . As women in business all over the world unapologetically and confidently rise to their highest potentials, many acknowledge the undercurrent of positivity in these times as a heartening indication of things to come.
Double take
It is important to never think of yourself as a “woman entrepreneur” but as an “entrepreneur”. The core challenges of building a start-up have nothing to do with gender. That said, there’s no hiding the fact that I am different from most of the other entrepreneurs in the market. Even in the US, only three per cent of technology companies are run by women. Being different attracts attention in both positive and negative ways. You must play to your strengths. I focus on the fact that it’s easier for a potential client to remember who I am. As long as you don't get distracted by what's harder, you can go very far.
Valerie R. Wagoner,
Founder & CEO – ZipDial
My experience as a woman entrepreneur in India has been mind blowing, awe-inspiring and totally addictive! I don't know what other country would give you the scope and platform to try out new ideas, push boundaries, learn so quickly and explore options you never knew possible.
One of the biggest rewards I've experienced is seeing something that we worked really hard on (and loved doing) not only come to fruition, but to see the positive impact it has had. Even on the toughest days, it is a joy to be here.
Rubia Braun,
Chief Innovations Officer - Metro Brava
(The author is a marketing communications consultant)