INDIA’S NEED FOR GREATER WOMAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Are you a woman who’s tired of hearing the annoying “Pammi Aunty” next door ceaselessly suggesting to your parents, “Ab toh ladki badi ho gayi… Ladka dhundhna shuru kar do”, while the only plans you presently have for the future are those of staying independent on your own hard- earned money?

If so, we have a little inspiration for you to keep your ambitions upright, coupled with facts that will make you feel why dreams like yours do not need to end within societal boundaries; why the country needs women like you to come forward and be a strong individual, rather than a submissive bahu.

       To begin with a positive note and a high dose of inspiration, no one would have realized that having a penchant for tea and an acquired knowledge of spices could get one in the limelight until 26 year old Indian- Australian lawyer UppmaVirdi won the “Businesswoman of the year” award in Australia for her tea- business named “Chai Walli”. Citing another example, who would have thought that a woman’s outrage and frustration over the society’s tabooed idea of menstruation could compel her to build a website that aids women through “that time of the month” and busts the ignorant myths that revolve around menstruation. But Aditi Gupta, a girl from Garhwa (Jharkhand) did exactly that.

Talking about the statistics though, any enthusiast for women empowerment in India would light up at the fact that about 30 % of the corporate senior management positions in the country are held by women, which apparently happens to be higher than the global average of 24%, according to Forbes India. But what would seem discerning is that when overall workforce in terms of gender gap is taken into consideration, India sits at an embarrassing 113^th position- out of 135 nations. To add to this woe, only 10 per cent of women contribute towards the total number of entrepreneurs in the country.

Factors that account for such sorry state of women entrepreneurship in India are obvious and are something that most of us are already familiar with. It is apparent that the Indian society has traditionally been patriarchal in its approach, creating barriers and restrictions to the development of the feminine population by setting up societal norms, crude and devoid of logic for the fair sex. Although, over the years the society has evolved into a sensible one, but only to a certain extent, as imprudent stereotypes still exist deep within its roots, patronizing women to not venture into the realms of business and corporate sophistication. Owing to this, many women have accepted their fate of dreamless living and surviving without unique and promising ambitions, never allowing the seed of an idea to even grow in their potential minds. Another factor that contributes to the poor statistics mentioned earlier is the lack of mentors and role models for the Indian women who can possibly come up with a great business venture. The reason for this could possibly be the low numbers of woman- owned businesses to start out with.

Having said this, it also becomes important to know why India needs more women entrepreneurs. First, it would do a great amount of good to the national economy. Second, it would do an equal amount of good to our nation’s contribution to the global economy. Third, because women cancarry out business.Period. In support of the last argument, I have here some statistics that show thatfor start-ups with more female executives, there is a higher success-to-failure rate. 

Moreover, as put forward in Forbes India, “women control the vast majority of household spending… and are more likely to better understand customer perspective.” They are also more careful about taking risks, and don’t generally give way to knee- jerk financial and business decisions that could prove dangerous for their own business.

Also, when it comes to India’s women making it to top managerial positions, we have names like IndraNooyi , CFO and President of Pepsico; Indu Jain, chairperson of India’s largest media group, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd; KiranMazumdar Shaw, founder Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Biocon Limited. All of these women started somewhere, and perhaps their circumstances would have been as rigid and restrictive as those of an average girl in this country. What made them stand apart was a strong will to move beyond a mere shout for equality; they believed in doing something unique to win the equality and non- discriminative treatment every woman deserves, and somewhere in their endeavours they made it clear that women can undoubtedly run the world.

And... If you're a woman entrepreneur, waiting for an opportunity to take the next step, well, guess what! -->   

The hilarious ordeal of advertising alcohol in India

Connoisseurs of alcoholic drinks may call liquor as the seductress among all beverages, and rightly so for the impact it has upon anyone who gets familiar with a drop of it. However, the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Act of 2000 decided to put some restrictions upon those responsible for brewing up this rich ale.

The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Act of 2000 came down as a whiplash to all those who thrived on advertising alcoholic drinks in the country. The Act banned advertising of any alcoholic drink in the country with sanctioned penalties for those who would be found guilty of any such marketing.  Advertisers however found a very subtle means of continuing with their advertising campaigns for whiskey or beer brands, and have surprisingly been active on the television till date. What they did was to advertise a product other than an alcoholic drink, but under the original brand’s name. For instance, Haywards came up with their club soda advertisements while the brand recall factor was helpful in selling the brand’s beer too. The commercial focuses on giving hope by running along the lines of “Hausla Ho Buland”.

Nowhere in the commercial was the word beer mentioned, but the wise know the best….

Kingfisher is yet another example of innovative advertising of beer with their commercial promoting either their airlines or their packaged drinking water. In this ad for instance, Kingfishers chose the most influential faces to promote their “packaged drinking water”: players of the most popular sport in the country. Add to that a catchy jingle that one can hum even at work!

Fosters had a pretty chilled down method of promoting their alcohol with their “Daaaaaaamn Cold Refreshment” Ad, which like Kingfishers promoted packaged drinking water through three friends who gulp down packaged water and are immediately transferred to some snow-covered Himalayan region where they dance lethargically (but happily) among a troupe of pretty ladies.

Another brand that knew where it was going with its advertising was Seagram’s who came up with the “Men will be Men” advertising campaign to promote their “superhit music CD’s”. Their commercials have a hilarious take on how men will always have a soft corner for beautiful women. Watch the compilation here:

So, despite a legal act refraining beer and whiskey companies to advertise within the country, the television is still bustling with the surrogate advertising these brands have come up with. One might also be amused to know that some companies even faced legal action for advertising products that do not even exist! Others have however outlived any such jurisdiction and continue coming up with wild, innovative and hilarious ideas to promote their brand’s name time and again.