Get All Access for $5/mo

Celebrating the Rise of #Shepreneurs As a country, India has unique traits and opportunities for women entrepreneurship to proliferate and these initiatives need to be encouraged in their own turfs instead of trying to push them into a definitive style and scope of starting a business

By Ritu Marya

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Shutterstock

In my editorial role, I get to attend and speak at many conferences and business meets both in India and abroad. It gives me great opportunity to meet and observe women entrepreneurs and study their behavior, leadership styles, which often do not get highlighted. As a country, India has unique traits and opportunities for women entrepreneurship to proliferate and these initiatives need to be encouraged in their own turfs instead of trying to push them into a definitive style and scope of starting a business.

FAMILY BUSINESS

According to National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) around 14 percent businesses in India are run by women entrepreneurs but I feel the figure is much more than that. It does not take into account the family business cult in India where the millennial women are today contributing informally to the business in many ways. They may be handling many functions of the business from finance to marketing but they may not necessarily be counted in the ranks of entrepreneurship. These women have a sense of ownership, which is very big and that shows in their performance. After gaining enough confidence, a majority of them also launched their own ventures and make them a success. In India, we would probably see more women entrepreneurship off shooting from the family roots than pure play — do it my own way style of building a business. Here age, skills and learning curve is not the main concern but learning on the job teaches one a great many things.

CONSUMER AND LIFESTYLE BUSINESS

Over 60 percent of women-led ventures come from the lifestyle and consumer-facing segment largely in fashion, wellness, food, healthcare, education, and interior decoration. A majority of tech ventures too have these sectors as the foundation. Paired to this, there are very limited entrepreneurship education opportunities and case-based learnings that exist within these segments. It also gets reflected in the ratio of the number of investors willing to invest in women-led companies as opposed to those led by men. It is naturally very low. It is thus, creating women entrepreneurship cells at the government level won't be enough. It calls for a deeper understanding of women occupations in India and building accelerators around it.

STARTUP ENTREPRENEURSHIP

It is wonderful to witness a significant rise in the number of women who are building their own startups. Most of them are professionals who saw an opportunity and built a startup around it. They are becoming successful but we need more women to go through a complete lifecycle of entrepreneurship: starting a venture, raising money, exiting it, giving in to healthy returns. Unless this happens the ratio of investments in female- and male-led ventures won't change. Indian women entrepreneurs have been traditionally working either for necessity or for keeping themselves occupied. There is very less evidence and successful case studies around women entrepreneurs who have built large enterprises. Scalable entrepreneurs are the ones who foresaw opportunities five years before they were visible to the common people. This issue is dedicated to shepreneurs who are changing the self-belief system for women entrepreneurs as a whole. The women who are featured have been there and are ready to do whatever it will take to reach the infinite.

Ritu Marya

Editor-in-Chief, Entrepreneur Media (APAC & India)

News and Trends

India's Data Center Capacity to Reach 2,070 MW by End of 2025: CBRE

Cumulative investment commitments in the data center sector in India to cross USD 100 billion by 2027. Mumbai, Chennai, and Delhi-NCR to lead data center supply addition

News and Trends

Former Cleartrip CEO Ayyappan R Eyes Quick Commerce with FirstClub

After stepping down as Cleartrip's CEO earlier this year, Ayyappan brings his expertise from leading positions at Flipkart, including his role as chief business officer at Myntra.

Business News

These Companies Offer the Best Work-Life Balance, According to Employees

The ranking is based on Glassdoor ratings and reviews.

News and Trends

AWE Funds to Scale Women-Led ClimateTech Initiatives with CGEF Grant

The grant will empower AWE Funds to expand initiatives, invest in women-led climate companies, enhance accelerator programs, and launch a fellowship nurturing young women professionals in climate and sustainability.

Growth Strategies

Amazon To Improve Services In Tier II, III Cities: Samir Kumar, Country Manager

The bigger share of our business is coming from Tier II,III and beyond, says Samir Kumar, country manager, Amazon India