It is difficult to run a startup which is not selling a commercialized product. For example, selling dresses, books, electronics, groceries might not be easy but still they have a wider customer segment since a large number of people need it. The customer base is strong in these kinds of websites and hence are the opportunities. However, it becomes a little difficult for the companies that cater to a narrow customer segment.
It is strange to know that there are more women in less commercialised segments as compared to the commercialised ones. These women have strongly displayed their leadership skills while getting success in the fields which were supposed to be unsuitable for business. In the present scenario, women are coming forward to take initiatives that not only represent a good business case but also solves social causes.
People say that women are emotional, and there are women who have proved that they can use these emotions to create a niche in the business world as well. They are risk takers, can work on multiple tasks and are more concerned towards the causes that are mostly ignored and this makes them work in the areas which are not conventional. They prove a real power of women entrepreneurship.
There are several big names of women entrepreneurs who have become an indispensable part of the startup industry. They build their career slowly but strongly while working in unconventional fields and they set new parameters for women in the society with panache.
Sairee Chahal, the founder of sheroes.in and fleximoms, represents a remarkable career start for working women. She started Sheroes when it was a common perception of families and women themselves that it is difficult for women to continue their career life after marriage and if they have taken a sabbatical, then it was considered to be almost infeasible for them to start over again.
At that time, while breaking all the conventions, Sheroes gave a platform to women who wanted to work and explore opportunities for themselves. The motto is to provide work for each and every type of job seeking women whether she wants to work at home, part-time or full-time job, freelancing jobs, flexible timings, mentors, interns or as an entrepreneur. Her initiative for working women has given rise to more than 10,000 women’s career in diverse fields.
Sairee kickstarted her career as a journalist and was also nominated for editor’s award for L’oreal Femina Women’s Award. Young Turks, Pioneering Spirit and What Women Want are some of the biggest shows in which she set a different prospect for women in the society.
Surabhi Dewra, another big name among women entrepreneurs, she started her career as an engineer but soon realised that something had to be done for the youth of India who were taking wrong career decisions and that too at such a high rate. She observed people in her surroundings and their behaviour and left her well-paying job and stepped forward in this initiative with all the savings she had. She is the founder of careerguide.com and works as a career counsellor. Her award-winning deeds, “best career counselling initiative (given by Ministry of Human Resource & Development)” put her at the acme of success in her field.
She also worked with NGO’s with the objective to provide education to students to fulfill their dreams. Her web portal collaborated with more than 1100 career counsellors across the nation along with students and parents to sort all their queries regarding their education and academics. Her experiences and knowledge as a career counsellor shows the right path to students towards their bright future career.
Richa Singh, owner of YourDost, help people through her psychological and emotional online counselling sessions. When the Prime Minister of the country himself has quoted at different instances about the mental problems through which the country’s youth is going through, then it is far clearer about the gravity of the subject matter.
Richa Singh realised it much earlier and started her web portal through which psychological counsellors can connect and provide free of cost service to those in need. Anybody can talk to an emotional counsellor at any time of the day and it’s no surprise that several young people have been saved from the trauma that mental depression brings along. Her conversational distressing techniques help millions of people to overcome their stress and give a new direction to their lives to live happily.
Sruti Harihara Subramanian, owner of an upcycling company GoliSoda, gives wings to the upcycled, eco-friendly, and organic products with an innovation such as waste seeds transformed into jewellery, milk packets into bags and purses, cork into notebooks and lot more. Hathi art, home décor, stationary products, infant clothes are some of the products that her company is selling and the surprising factor is that all these products are made out of the waste, unused and old material. Her efforts is not only helping the environment but also giving life to several of those artists who are expert in designing such products. Now, these artists can earn much better for their efforts and lead a graceful life.
Shefali Walia, CEO of Wetravelsolo, turned her passion for traveling and love for nature into an exciting travel startup. How often it happens that when a girl asks her parents to travel, she gets an instant no as an answer? It was clearly due to less safety for girls in the country while girls in other countries are travelling all over the world and are gaining experiences. She took it as a responsibility and started a platform through which solo people can make a group and travel together while making new friends. Her company provides them all the assistance for travel. She started her business without any funds and now her company gives funds to the people who want to join their community. Her remarkable progress in the travel industry is an inspiration for everyone to come forward.
Aakanksha Aggarwal
