4 JUNE2022Editor NoteIndian Women Entrepreneurs' Success Story has just begun Rachita SharmaSpecial EditorWomen form roughly 50 percent of the world's entire population today. However, their involvement in different sectors is shockingly low when compared to men. While there has been a monumental improvement in women receiving education and joining the labor market, yet they face an uphill battle when looking to establish and run a business. This is a universal challenge. Looking specifically in the Indian context, women entrepreneurship has a long way to go. We often hear people say that they were `born entrepreneurs', yet the truth is far removed from that. Becoming an entrepreneur is no cake walk; and becoming a successful entrepreneur is even tougher. It requires one to work extremely hard, learning, unlearning, and relearning several aspects of running a business and management of several responsibilities. People require specialized guidance to cultivate and nurture the right entrepreneurial skillset. When it comes to starting a business women have fewer resources as compared to men. Although the government has introduced regulations and programs to female entrepreneurship engagement, yet women remain a minority in the entrepreneurial world, specifically in the high-growth areas. Consequently more women foray into business fields such as retail etc where costs are low. Unfortunately such fields also have a lesser growth potential. In order for women to realize their true potential as entrepreneurs, avenues such as accelerators can be of great help. Women specific accelerators have been gaining momentum lately; they empower & guide women in realizing their entrepreneurial potential. In a world where women entrepreneurs have it much harder when it comes to developing an idea and raising venture capital, accelerator can be the right guiding light to help women entrepreneurs develop and scale their ideas. Another important factor for women to gain success as entrepreneurs is the presence of strong role models. We are happy to report that the last two years have been monumental when it comes to creating formidable women leaders in the Indian startup ecosystem. The ceiling was shattered first by Falguni Nayar, the founder of beauty e-Commerce platform Nykaa. She not only became the first Indian woman to lead her startup to gain Unicorn status but also became the richest self-made women after Nykaa's bumper IPO in 2021. Her success has since been followed by the rise of entrepreneurs such as Garima Sawhney, Co-Founder of Pristyn Care, RuchiKalra, Co-Founder of OfBusiness, Ghazal Alagh, Co-Founder of Mamaearth, SmitaDeorah, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of LEAD School to name a few. As is evident, Indian women entrepreneurs have come a long way. But we still have a long way to go. The journey has just about started. Do let us know your thoughts.
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