Some Truths about Women Entrepreneurs

It is important to understand that today there is an unprecedented emphasis on the concept of self worth and one's individual identity. These concepts cannot be traded by any self respecting and aware woman. And but obviously financial independence is the foundation for one's self esteem and sense of self-worth to grow and thrive

In recent years India has seen a heartening surge of women entrepreneurs. While in the yesteryears, mostly women from wealthy family backgrounds used to embark on entrepreneurial ventures, today the average middle class woman is not shying away from starting her entrepreneurial journey. One sometimes does wonder how and why this sweeping change in terms of mindset has happened.

"While this change can largely be attributed to the fact that most women today are more educated than their mothers and grandmothers, I would refrain from saying that education is the only cause. Instead I would say that today irrespective of their degrees and level of education every or rather most women consciously desires and even craves for financial independence," says Suman Rohtagi, a career counsellor based in Gurgaon. "It is important to understand that today there is an unprecedented emphasis on the concept of self worth and one's individual identity. These concepts cannot be traded by any self respecting and aware woman. And but obviously financial independence is the foundation for one's self esteem and sense of self-worth to grow and thrive," she explains.

While this is very simple and easy to understand one immediately wonders why in the quest for financial independence many women today are very consciously and strategically opting for entrepreneurial ventures instead of jobs (even the high paying and stable ones).

"Jobs come with their own set of restrictions and even baggage. Also actually and quite interestingly while most jobs might and do translate to full-fledged financial freedom they do not necessarily translate to self-worth and satisfaction. Jobs might well fall short of defining a woman whereas her entrepreneurial venture (irrespective of its challenges, failures and successes) will atleast reflect the true essence of the woman," says Rishika Das, an investment banker who today runs a flourishing costume jewellery business in Bangalore.

Explaining further she says, "Well jobs are fairly shackling and sometimes even draining in terms of the rigid working hours. In jobs, there is always a constraint (that manifests at some point or the other) in terms of implementing one's original ideas. And this is nobody's fault really as office work is ultimately team work and hence needs a broad consensus on most matters. And above everything else a job rarely stays with a person for a lifetime whereas an entrepreneurial venture done well and successfully can be cherished for a lifetime. It can be a legacy for the future generation too."

Agreeing to all the observations shared by Rishika, Nivedita Basu, who used to once work in a senior position at a leading production house of Mumbai, says, "In those days I used to take decisions only per the mandate of our founder and director. Also while I learnt a lot I did feel at times that I was working for a corporate setup instead of a creative firm. Since I have a post graduate degree in mass communication this environment had stifled me a little. I wanted to be more actively involved with casting, scripting and the harcore creative aspects of making serials. I must mention that in the later years of my professional tenure I did get the opportunity to do more of this too. However, I could never really experiment with script ideas and many other creative nuances of production." Today Nivedita has her own production firm and is soon launching a series on Netflix.

Needless to say, the flexibility of work hours while pursuing entrepreneurial ventures is a huge positive for women who are invariably juggling their work with the expectations of their family and other social obligations.

According to industry experts, the other major reasons that are leading to more women choosing entrepreneurial ventures in our country are the advancements in the digital world and the proliferation of both government aided and private groups that lend finance by way of loans. Many of these groups are also doing a yeoman service in terms of skilling and mentoring services. On the other hand the role of digital sophistications in ushering an entrepreneurial ecosystem for women cannot be exaggerated. "After all from sourcing raw materials, to managing logistics and inventory, to networking and marketing to finally selling the finished products and services there are simple solutions available at a click of a button," concludes Rohtagi.

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