Positive Bite: Women lead, turning challenge into opportunity following covid-19 outbreak
Coronavirus outbreak has changed the way people lived, travelled and shopped. Starting with masks becoming an essential of our attire to how we buy and sell has seen drastic changes in some industries.
Indore being a booming hub of start-ups and entrepreneurs saw many changes in business. Some of the prominent changes were undertaken by women entrepreneurs in the city, who motivated youngsters and men also to join the ‘new business style’.
FICCI FLO, the women wing of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), led by chairperson Riya Chhabra in Indore undertook task of supporting the women members by guiding them the new business style after coronavirus outbreak with webinars and guidance from experts.
Picking out some women, who have turned challenge into an opportunity during covid-19 by sustaining their innovative ideas in difficult times, we bring this positive bite to your breakfast today.
The inspiring women entrepreneurs of Indore suggested youngsters to lead their start-ups to new path of innovation to win the battle of business challenge following coronavirus outbreak.
Product marketing: focused positioning & following feedbacks
Whatever the situation is, life doesn't stop & we learn new things to face the challenges posed by the current pandemic. With that, 40-year-old entrepreneur Sarita Mundra took the challenge and transformed her business of natural skincare products by adopting the new generation ideas and marketing practices.
“Due to covid-19 outbreak, traditional marketing practices like in person selling and exhibition stopped abruptly, leaving a lot of business in a confusing state,” Mundra said. Instead of being scared, she felt motivated.
“I looked at the challenge as a way to broaden my horizon and expand to the world instead of my exclusive circle,” Mundra said. Taking her products online, she held online exhibitions and reached out to audience throughout the world.
“Now it is irrelevant whether my customer is in Palasiya in Indore, Punjab or Gujarat, because we have been able to position ourselves in a unique way even online,” Mundra said. She added that Whatsapp & online payment gateways helped in efficient & seamless transaction.
Advice: Position your products precisely to your target audience. Take care of feedbacks, they will come from wider customer base, might be challenging but it is extremely helpful in adding value to your products.
Skill Sharing: Expand audience & be ready to learn
While kids are tech-friendly, transferring the entire module of education online proved to be an initial challenge for those working in education. One such English trainer and counsellor 46-year-old Sweta Khandelwal took on the task by taking one step at a time.
“Switching to online mode of learning was easy for me as most of my students are techno savvy rather natives. But the challenge was to shift all my modules online and upload the study material,” Khandelwal said.
She started by conducting sessions online and eventually picked up on technology with practise.
“The positive aspect is that I am able to connect with people / students from other cities whom I have never met in person. So in a way it has made my learning world a smaller place,” Khandelwal said.
Advice: Working online, we must never fear learning even from students
Creativity must in Customisation Business
Running a packing and customisation business, 38-year-old entrepreneur Gunjan Bhargava faced a challenge as suddenly her business came to a standstill following coronavirus outbreak.
“I had worked hard to earn some goodwill, but when suddenly, everything stopped, it took a few months for me to understand and jump back to restart,” Bhargava said.
She feels the time down from business helped her explore more creative themes and ideas. “When we develop something new, then social media audience accepts, adopts and even promotes us,” Bhargava said.
Advice: Creativity essential to survive on competitive social media platform
Customising courses to new customers
One of the businesses that saw a boom following coronavirus outbreak is digitalisation. Making the most of opportunity, 34-year-old entrepreneur Devika Madhok running digital marketing courses expanded and created the course tailoring to different people.
“For students, holding classes in the comfort of students home kept us going for a while,” Madhok said. She added that what gave her the necessary jump was creating and offering courses to working professionals and small business owners.
Advice: Convincing and customisation for best understanding is the key when working in services
Custom products: Be available with personal touch
Stepping into challenging times after coronavirus outbreak, this woman entrepreneur took on the challenge to change her communication channels and began a new trend.
“Until now, some concepts remained exclusive for us reaching out to our target audience only, but with the outbreak, we had to find those customers online,” 46-year-old entrepreneur Trupti B Parekh said.
She runs a business of conceptual gifts and wraps. “To reach out to our target audience, we created a website, configured payment methods and began selling on social media,” Parekh said.
Advice: Customisation and personal touch became our strength online as well. When reaching out to a particular audience, our products must match their ideas and needs.
Coronavirus outbreak has changed the way people lived, travelled and shopped. Starting with masks becoming an essential of our attire to how we buy and sell has seen drastic changes in some industries.
Indore being a booming hub of start-ups and entrepreneurs saw many changes in business. Some of the prominent changes were undertaken by women entrepreneurs in the city, who motivated youngsters and men also to join the ‘new business style’.
FICCI FLO, the women wing of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), led by chairperson Riya Chhabra in Indore undertook task of supporting the women members by guiding them the new business style after coronavirus outbreak with webinars and guidance from experts.
Picking out some women, who have turned challenge into an opportunity during covid-19 by sustaining their innovative ideas in difficult times, we bring this positive bite to your breakfast today.
The inspiring women entrepreneurs of Indore suggested youngsters to lead their start-ups to new path of innovation to win the battle of business challenge following coronavirus outbreak.
Product marketing: focused positioning & following feedbacks
Whatever the situation is, life doesn't stop & we learn new things to face the challenges posed by the current pandemic. With that, 40-year-old entrepreneur Sarita Mundra took the challenge and transformed her business of natural skincare products by adopting the new generation ideas and marketing practices.
“Due to covid-19 outbreak, traditional marketing practices like in person selling and exhibition stopped abruptly, leaving a lot of business in a confusing state,” Mundra said. Instead of being scared, she felt motivated.
“I looked at the challenge as a way to broaden my horizon and expand to the world instead of my exclusive circle,” Mundra said. Taking her products online, she held online exhibitions and reached out to audience throughout the world.
“Now it is irrelevant whether my customer is in Palasiya in Indore, Punjab or Gujarat, because we have been able to position ourselves in a unique way even online,” Mundra said. She added that Whatsapp & online payment gateways helped in efficient & seamless transaction.
Advice: Position your products precisely to your target audience. Take care of feedbacks, they will come from wider customer base, might be challenging but it is extremely helpful in adding value to your products.
Skill Sharing: Expand audience & be ready to learn
While kids are tech-friendly, transferring the entire module of education online proved to be an initial challenge for those working in education. One such English trainer and counsellor 46-year-old Sweta Khandelwal took on the task by taking one step at a time.
“Switching to online mode of learning was easy for me as most of my students are techno savvy rather natives. But the challenge was to shift all my modules online and upload the study material,” Khandelwal said.
She started by conducting sessions online and eventually picked up on technology with practise.
“The positive aspect is that I am able to connect with people / students from other cities whom I have never met in person. So in a way it has made my learning world a smaller place,” Khandelwal said.
Advice: Working online, we must never fear learning even from students
Creativity must in Customisation Business
Running a packing and customisation business, 38-year-old entrepreneur Gunjan Bhargava faced a challenge as suddenly her business came to a standstill following coronavirus outbreak.
“I had worked hard to earn some goodwill, but when suddenly, everything stopped, it took a few months for me to understand and jump back to restart,” Bhargava said.
She feels the time down from business helped her explore more creative themes and ideas. “When we develop something new, then social media audience accepts, adopts and even promotes us,” Bhargava said.
Advice: Creativity essential to survive on competitive social media platform
Customising courses to new customers
One of the businesses that saw a boom following coronavirus outbreak is digitalisation. Making the most of opportunity, 34-year-old entrepreneur Devika Madhok running digital marketing courses expanded and created the course tailoring to different people.
“For students, holding classes in the comfort of students home kept us going for a while,” Madhok said. She added that what gave her the necessary jump was creating and offering courses to working professionals and small business owners.
Advice: Convincing and customisation for best understanding is the key when working in services
Custom products: Be available with personal touch
Stepping into challenging times after coronavirus outbreak, this woman entrepreneur took on the challenge to change her communication channels and began a new trend.
“Until now, some concepts remained exclusive for us reaching out to our target audience only, but with the outbreak, we had to find those customers online,” 46-year-old entrepreneur Trupti B Parekh said.
She runs a business of conceptual gifts and wraps. “To reach out to our target audience, we created a website, configured payment methods and began selling on social media,” Parekh said.
Advice: Customisation and personal touch became our strength online as well. When reaching out to a particular audience, our products must match their ideas and needs.