A passion for business

Women entrepreneurs tell Metrolife that they love being their own bosses and in control of their own lives.

Gone are the days when it was assumed that only men possessed an entrepreneurial bent of mind. Over the years, the City has opened up to many young and aspiring women, who have broken away from their nine-to-five jobs and taken the initiative to start something on their own.

They are not scared to take risks, learn from scratch and manage their families at the same time. What’s more, most of them admit that following this passion gives them a sense of peace.

On Women’s Day, six young female entrepreneurs, who have treaded the path not often taken, tell Metrolife how they enjoy every bit of being their own boss.

Pratiksha Sanghani, who started her own set-up called ‘Inspirations’ — where she makes personalised handcrafted cards, scrapbooks and other accessories — says that having a business of her own gives her a platform to express herself.

“It wasn’t difficult to start something at all. With platforms like Facebook and flea markets, it is easy to get the word out and let things fall into place. The biggest advantage of being my own boss is that it allows me the freedom of time, space and routine, which
in turn helps me manage both my personal and professional lives,” she says.

For most of these entrepreneurs, their passion continues to be the biggest driving force. Smita Ramani, entrepreneur and creative designer of ‘Lightin’Up’, that sells
customised lamps and jars, says the first step was the hardest. “That is, the point when you decide that you are going to take something you do as a hobby and pursue it as
a business venture. A lot of research, time and effort did go into the entire preparation process, right from deciding what paints to use, to the best method for lighting, managing the costs and promotion. In fact, the learning is an ongoing process.

But it’s the passion that pushes you over every hurdle,” she adds. Shabari Madappa and Dhanya Menon, of ‘Green Essence’, a garden concept store, say that when they decided to set-up their own business, they had no clue about running something of their own.
“We had to learn everything from scratch but it was not a problem.

The passion for the store helped us pick things sooner,” says Dhanya, while Shabari adds, “For women, more than the money, it is the passion that drives us to start something of our own. But when a man talks to us about our work, the first things he asks is, ‘What are the numbers?’”
Another big challenge faced by Yuvna Damani, who co-owns ‘Spoonful of Sugar’, is handling the staff.

“Especially in the hospitality business, where the majority of the staff is male, there are always ego issues — they take you for granted just because you’re a woman. But now, things are changing and men are accepting and responding to female bosses. Bangalore is a good example of that since it has many young women entrepreneurs,” she adds.
According to Prachi Garg, who runs her own jewellery line called ‘No Strings Attached’, young women entrepreneurs are also better risk takers.

“Since we have age on our side, we have the liberty to take risks in business and handle high levels of stress. But it’s the customer satisfaction that really makes us
overcome all the hurdles at the end of the day,” she
wraps up.