For women entrepreneurs, going online is the most promising road ahead

“I learned about 26 different aspects of entrepreneurship, including market acquisition, branding and marketing of products, and setting up a private limited company. It helped me develop as an entrepreneur.”

It all started in 2008, when a young Kanika Talukdar’s husband died in an accident. She was saddled with the responsibility of her 4-month-old daughter. She confronted the darkest and most struggling phase of her life due to a financial crisis and not being able to find any job because of a lack of education, as she could not complete her schooling and had insufficient vocational skills. Because she didn’t want to be a financial burden on anyone, Kanika started vermicomposting with an investment of only Rs 500, for which she got a five-day training at Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Nalbari, Assam.

Despite numerous sleepless nights, scarcity of funds, failures, and rejections, in 2015, she produced 100 quintals of vermicompost, which brought her an annual income of Rs one lakh. The figure went up to Rs 1.70 lakh in 2017. This was very encouraging for a women entrepreneur from rural India with limited education. A lot of women entrepreneurs like her gave spark to their business ideas through digitalization. One example is Richa Singh, who established a successful business empire through digitalization. She is breaking the stigma of mental illness in society by spreading awareness and providing help through her digital platform. Understanding that most people are scared to talk about their mental condition despite being crushed by stress.

Digitalizing your idea

In the modern and rapidly changing business era, going digital can get you really big opportunities standing at your doorstep. We are all aware of the benefits that entrepreneurs get from realizing and unleashing the power of digitalization. Insights show that the reach of the business and sales can rise two times when digital channels are adopted. A woman entrepreneur from a small district of Haryana achieved a massive increase in sales and revenue by promoting her wooden products on Facebook, Instagram, and Google. Hence, it could be a brilliant idea to use technology in your business, whether you want to start it or expand it.

Your idea is great, indeed !

If you’re thinking that your idea is too small to establish an entire business from it, you must have a look at all those women entrepreneurs who started their businesses by selling air-fried panipuri and even coffee. The main thing is to believe yourself and do the experiments because life is all about learning. We must focus on encouraging and supporting the women entrepreneurs around us.

This is an unhidden fact that an individual needs to struggle and confront a lot of challenges while executing the business idea and making it real. However, there are many government schemes to support the startups financially. Also, we are able to see a positive change and a shift in mindset, which is achieved due to the constant efforts of young entrepreneurs in India.

Achieve heights everyday

The pandemic impacted every business, no matter if it was a small-scale or large business. Everybody could clearly see a decline in the performance charts in almost every business; however, there are still many businesses that performed really well even during that pandemic time that became possible through technology. COVID taught all of us a lot of things, and some entrepreneurs took it to the next level by leveraging the advantages of technology along with their managerial skills.

Insights show that, in 2020, women entrepreneurs raised funds twice as much as men did on Facebook. Also, 64 percent of the total funds raised were contributed by women entrepreneurs. We can clearly see in many national reports that small and medium scale businesses are contributing nearly 30 percent to the GDP of India. Indeed, these numbers are mind-blowing but we still need to work hard in order to make this situation better by providing more opportunities to women at the workplace.

Author's Note

“I learned about 26 different aspects of entrepreneurship, including market acquisition, branding and marketing of products, and setting up a private limited company. It helped me develop as an entrepreneur.”