Women Entrepreneurship Forum to help aspiring young business women

Belonging to different age groups these women have struggled to make a niche for themselves in their respective fields. They might not be as big as the Bollywood celebrities but they sure are admired and looked upto by their sub-ordinates, clients and world at large.

Kanan Dhru, founder, Research Foundation for Governance in India, organised a unique forum where women entrepreneurs gathered to share their success stories with the beginners in this field. Veena Parikh who led the finance and production section of her husband's firm when he had a paralytic attack little did she know that one day she would be leading the show.

Post her husband's death in 2011, Parikh handled everything. She said, "It was not a smooth sail for me as not only the banks gave me a tough time running the show but the workers too failed to trust me. They deserted me.

On April 1, my nephew, watchman, a drawing man and myself, all four of us were the only people left in the factory. While bank directors asked me to find my children a shoe-polishing job for them to eke out a living, I was struggling to think how I could sustain my family, workers and the factory."

Parikh revived a dying business which is worth Rs2.5 crore in the market today. She paid all her dues. 60% of Parikh's clients have not met her in person till date but still they continue to work with her. This is because of their belief in Parikh and her work.

Young Anushree Kapadia was born with a silver spoon in mouth, but she chose to carve a path for herself independently. Practicing law since six years, Kapadia has remained a victim of stereotypical views of people around her. "I was extremely lucky to have mentors and guides who helped me carve my own path. Till date I haven't asked my father to pay my office rent and wish I never have to do that.

 Running an associate office was not an easy task especially when you had to struggle to get the clients on the first hand and later win their case in the court."

Explaining the reason behind setting up such a forum, Dhru said, "I have had many young girl students straight out of college approaching me to take tips on how to start a venture on their own. I realised while talking to them that a mentor is required for starting  any capital intensive industry.

"Thus I decided to conduct this forum, which I plan to hold after every two month. Along with this I also intend to conduct workshops and try and negotiate with institutes such as EDI to help such young girls."