Please provide a brief overview of your product/ service?
At present I am working with 3 of my ventures:
Women Empowerment Initiative (WEI): It’s an initiative to help aspiring women with various opportunities to make them self-reliant and financially independent. I have initiated this venture in mid of 2015, and since then I have empowered more than 180 women from different parts of India. We will soon be using this platform to enable women all over the continent to rightly choose their own entrepreneurial & professional path targeting more than 2000 women per month, and providing them with the right tools and handholding facilities which every aspiring women deserve. The official website of WEI is www.EmpowerWomen.tk.
Oriflame: I am the Director at Oriflame, the famous natural Swedish cosmetic brand. Through this venture, I had been lucky to transform the lives of more than 600 women all across India, and made them enjoy a self-sustainable and financially independent life.
AspiringContent: AspiringContent is first of its kind creative, content management, corporate identity and branding platform, having a client base of 350+. At AspiringContent, our focus is majorly on startups, SMEs, SMBs, and existing organizations, who want to scale up their brand and its visibility, but have certain reservations due to short pockets, and our role is to provide them quick and very professional, on-demand branding & content solutions at the price of just a freelancer. The official website of AspiringContent is www.AspiringContent.tk
Women Empowerment Initiative and Aspiring Content both are fully internet/ online based ventures, whereas Oriflame is a hybrid (online+ offline model).
What all challenges did you face and what were your strategies to them?
Its been a habit of mine that my best doesn’t comes out until and unless I face serious (or even worse) criticism, which too happened during my entrepreneurial journey. There had been so many challenges till date, including rejections from my close ones, prospects and everyone who doubted my determination and the will-power. There had been many bottlenecks on my way, but each and every challenge helped me to become a better person and encouraged to achieve my goals in a much sustainable manner.
How has your journey been so far, any plans for expansion?
My journey so far has been quite joyful, challenging and beneficial in terms of learning and earning.
Yes, I do have brief plans to expand my ventures. I am seriously looking ahead to introduce other initiatives that would transform and empower every woman in the country, and help them to become the growth driver in Nation’s progress.
Did you face any specific challenges while starting the venture?
What piece of advice would you like to give to the aspiring youth who wish to pursue their dream of becoming an entrepreneur?
Be mentally tough and physically rough.
According to you, what are the top three essential skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur?
Other than so-obviously-required skills such as hard work, determination and honest efforts, the other skills I would like to highlight are:
How do you protect yourself from the problem of Brain Drain?
Though as of now we are quite a small team, but regular innovation and regular motivation for my work group helps me to sustain and retain the best talent.
How do you manage the work-life balance?
Work-life balance is basically on the self efforts considering one’s current personal and professional dynamics. Until & unless its dearly needed, one should divide at least some time for his/ her personal or family activities from the professional life which is really required for a good health in today’s terribly stressful lifestyle.
What are your views and opinions towards the ambiguous need to promote women entrepreneurship and women empowerment in India?
Women empowerment is the next big thing in India. Today women are playing extremely crucial roles in India, including flying supersonic fighter jets and designing sophisticated defense equipments. Likewise, the direct entry and involvement in Indian entrepreneurship ecosystem shall certainly raise the entire business base of the nation to newer heights.
Words for IWIL
Indian Women Institutional League (IWIL) is one of the few really aggressive platforms in India aimed at fostering women empowerment and women entrepreneurship, and taking the women entrepreneurship ecosystem in the country to an entirely new level. I believe other women progress enabling groups in the nation must take serious inspiration from Indian Women Institutional League (IWIL). IWIL is really doing a really great job and building a solid bridge between Indian women entrepreneurs/ professional’s aspirations and their practical success.
