Breaking Barriers to Business Growth , will enable women entrepreneurs to strengthen their business. Organised by Women’s Web, a fast-growing online community for women, Breaking Barriers… is part of an ongoing series, Step Above .
Six women entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs will share their insights into their journey as pioneering entrepreneurs. The list of speakers include Apurva Purohit, CEO of Radio City, Nandini Hirianniah, a serial entrepreneur and curator of the Morpheus Gang, Neha Behani, founder of Moojic, one of the hottest start-ups in India, Vineeta Singh, founder of Fab Bag and a pioneer in subscription-based services, Tina Garg, CEO of Pink Lemonade, a fast-growing digital media agency and founder-editor of Women’s Web, Aparna Vedapuri Singh.
“The first half of the day will be the workshop and the second half will be the event, in which the speakers will speak of their respective journeys as entrepreneurs,” says Aparna.
The workshop will be conducted by lead speakers Bhavna Toor, who runs Sheronomics, a mindful-leadership coaching platform for women and Raghavendra Badaskar, AVP consulting services at Intellecap.
Aparna says that according to a Sheroes Report and an independent study by Women’s Web, an estimated 15 per cent of the global entrepreneur ecosystem is women-led businesses. Most of these ventures are small-scale. Why is this so?
“There are a number of reasons,” says Aparna. “It is easier to enter certain businesses if you have the professional skills needed and networks. Even knowing if or how to seek funding doesn’t come instinctively to everyone. A lot of women start their own venture after some years of working or after a break, sometimes to look after their families and children. Very often, they start home-based businesses. Sometimes women have certain questions about what might be at stake if they have to scale up.”
It is believed that self confidence is required to start a business, but Aparna doesn’t think so. “Confidence is a lesser issue. Once women are clear that this is a worthwhile goal, they pursue it. And over time, they acquire the necessary skills.”
The study by Sheroes and Women’s Web states that Bengaluru leads all cities in having the most women-led businesses. “Entrepreneurship has always been seen as a borderline dangerous profession. It is only in the last ten years that entrepreneurship has become socially acceptable. The very presence of so many entrepreneurs in Bengaluru gives you the confidence to start your own business.”
Breaking Barriers to Business Growth will be held on March 14, from 10 am to 3.30 pm at The Country Club, No.55/1, Near Vrindavan Tech Village, Marathahalli Outer Ring Road, Deevarabeesanahalli, Bengaluru. It will also be held in Mumbai on March 21.
For registrations visit >bit.ly/break-barriers .
