Some businesses in food, fashion and other “typically female” areas have an interesting story to share, one with a slight twist from the norm.

By Kiran Manral

What can a woman do if she decides to turn entrepreneur? She can cook, bake, stitch, embroider, design or teach – so go the “traditional” accomplishments that women usually turned into a livelihood. While they bring in much-needed income, a few women have reinvented these skills into something unique and far-reaching than your neighbourhood boutique or catering business. Here we bring you some ‘women’s businesses’ with a difference.

Two tables and four handblock printers: Ritu Kumar

She started off wanting to revive textiles and dying traditional weaves and embroideries, got into designing and never looked back. Ritu Kumar, the doyenne of fashion in India, draws on her training in art history and museology to redefine ancient textiles and weaves into contemporary fashion. “I started with two tables and four handblock printers,” she laughs, thinking back to the early days.

Today she has a brand that is renowned globally, has taken Indian candidates to Miss Universe and Miss World titles and a boutique chain that started the concept of boutiques here in India. The boutiques happened by chance. “I had the textiles and the garments, but couldn’t find an appropriate space to retail them, and knew that if I had to showcase them appropriately, I would need to get into the retail space on my own. There were no retail spaces which were focused on ethnic fashion,” she says.

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On International Women’s Day, we bring you 3 inspiring stories of mother-daughter duos who have created a successful and satisfying business together.

By Jaya Narayan

We are used to hearing of fathers grooming their sons or these days, daughters to take over a business, but mother-daughter pairs working together? Those are rare to see! For me, writing this article has been an enriching experience, as it allowed me to interact with three very interesting mother-daughter duos – of Under the Mango tree, a restaurant and cafe in Bangalore, of Vibha, a designer textile boutique at Chennai and Chocoholic, which offers homemade chocolate delicacies and bouquets in Mumbai.

Nirmala Balakrishnan Martin, 32 and Rishika Bhatia, 24, the founders of ‘Under the Mango tree’ and Chocoholic respectively, asked their mothers who were playing a passive role in the business to formally come on board. Vidya Balakrishnan, 49 joined her mother who was running Vibha, an established family business instead of going in for a salaried job.

A common thread in their story has been to work towards common goals keeping each others’ interests in mind, and with a strong focus on making customers happy.

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Moving from being an employee, self-employment took me a lot of ‘un-learning’ and a fundamental change in mindset.

By Jaya Narayan

Today I complete 3 years of being a self-employed freelance professional. I would like to share my experiences to help others learn from my journey. Before I became a freelancer, I was considered a successful HR professional. I was in a leadership role, with international exposure, working on challenging assignments – everything to get that adrenaline rush! I was considered a workaholic. I was proud and passionate about what I had accomplished. It was always difficult say no to the extent that work crept in even during my maternity leave.

The ‘aha’ moment happened on a regular working day, seated in my office staring outside the window, sipping coffee and watching children in the play area. Looking at the children playing there and the joy on their faces, I asked my self – is this job worth it? Can these moments ever be re-lived once my children grow up? It became clear to me that I needed to invest my time on enriching the early childhood experiences of my children and focus on work that gives me that flexibility. That was it. Many well wishers tried to deter me but I had made up my mind.

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Can a couple be effective business partners? We bring you real-life stories from couples who’re going through that journey.

By Aparna V. Singh

It is hard enough to work in the same company as your spouse, but at least you can make comfortable arrangements like opting for different divisions; what happens when a couple decides to run a business together?

Two factors are leading to more couple-run businesses in India. First, entrepreneurship as an option is becoming more acceptable than ever before, and at younger ages. Secondly, more urban Indians are now marrying within a similar educational or professional background as opposed to marriages in earlier generations where women tended to be non-working or less qualified. Couples with shared interests are setting out boldly to make their ‘big idea’ work.

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Many of us plan to be entrepreneurs “one day”. Plan your transition to being a business owner while you’re still an employee. 

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The most visible entrepreneurship stories are those in big metros. Yet, in many smaller Indian cities, women are starting up interesting businesses. 

By Melanie Lobo

It is true that in large cities, capital is easier to raise, support networks exist and women are more likely to have worked in large organizations that help them acquire the skills and contacts needed to start-up. Yet, women in smaller towns and cities are not lagging behind – with businesses often in unlikely sectors and against heavy odds.

Aurangabad, Mangalore, Jaipur and Allahabad – these are the places our search led us to and here are the four extraordinary women we spoke to.

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Entrepreneurs cannot avoid making mistakes, but it helps to learn quickly – from your own mistakes and that of others.

By  Aparna V. Singh

The first year of starting a new business is like a roller-coaster ride. Being your own boss with ultimate responsibility for everything that goes right (or wrong) can be exhilarating. At the same time, the realization that the buck stops with you can be terrifying.

Which is why, we spoke to a few entrepreneurs to see how they can help us avoid making the same mistakes that they did!

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Freelance writing seems a fun and easy career. Here we burst the bubble and offer help for would be writers.

By Aparna V. Singh

Many women who take a break from their careers to care for children consider freelance writing as a possible work-from-home job. Project boards like Elance and Guru make it appear as though clients are just waiting to hire you. It sounds fun. It sounds easy. Well, we hate to be the bearer of bad news, but – it isn’t. The competition is tough and writing as a hobby just isn’t the same as writing to specifications.

When Women’s Web previously interviewed Dr. Nishi Viswanathan, Director, Chillibreeze (Chillibreeze is a writing services firm and writers network), she agreed, saying, “Today, almost everyone wants to work from home and write for the web. No wonder there is a lot of competition on project boards with dozens of writers from all over the world bidding for projects, which in turn reduces the amount a writer can charge for any project.”

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Do you run a small business? Read more on the value of intellectual property, and why you shouldn’t ignore it.

By Dr. Ritu Mehdiratta

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are critical to any economy – they are the catalysts behind a large number of innovations, they create employment and drive investments and exports. However, few SMEs realize the potential offered by the intellectual property (IP) system to enhance their competitiveness. For many, IP is legal jargon and best left to those specially trained in this field.

In this article, my aim is to highlight the value and benefits of IP for small and medium-sized enterprises. (Regardless of what product an enterprise makes or what service it provides, it is likely that it is regularly using and creating a great deal of intellectual property.)

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Not finding the right employees to support your business growth? Here are some tips to help you hire great talent. 

By Rashmi Vallabhajosyula

Rashmi Vallabhajosyula is the founder of Altius Consulting. Altius is a consulting practice that creates innovative marketing solutions for business challenges.

As a small business owner, one of my constant challenges has been recruiting, enabling and retaining talent. Since I run a service business that is completely dependent on the knowledge and skills of our employees, ensuring that we have great talent is indispensable. In this article I would like to share some of my experiences and learnings at Altius Consulting. I hope they prove useful to you.

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