WE SUMMIT - Destination Business Media Summit 2015, the mega show of Kerala’s women entrepre-neurs organised by WE Mission Kerala - a Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation

Call this a giant leap in pro-moting women entrepre-neurship in Kerala. WE Summit 2015, the mega

show of Kerala’s women entrepre-neurs organised by WE Mission Kerala - a Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) initiative, is set to give women-led ventures the much-needed push to attain the next level of growth. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the one-day event, the first of its kind, on the occasion of International Women Entrepreneur-ship Day, at Bolgatty Convention Centre in Kochi.

Since mid 1990s, Kerala has been witnessing a surge in women en-trepreneurship initiatives as part of various women empowerment pro-grammes set in motion by successive governments. As per reports, there are at least 70,000 enterprises run

by women under Kudumbashree, a women-empowering project run by the Kerala Government. Accord-ing to the Economic Review 2014, 25 per cent (58,562) of the 2,34,251 functioning units under small-scale industries and micro small and medium enterprises (SSI/MSME) in the State are run by women. “It is high time these women-led enter-prises were given the support to

scale up. KSIDC will take the lead in handholding the high-potential women-run ventures to scale up their business to a much higher level. Women Entrepreneurs Summit (WE Summit) will act as a catalyst in this process. It will instill confidence among women entrepreneurs that

they have the strong backing of the State Government in the growth of their ventures in a competitive mar-ket,’’ said KSIDC MD Dr. M Beena IAS.

According to Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson IAS, the ultimate goal is to inculcate spirit of entrepreneurship among women in the State. “Any initiative for the empowerment of women will have a cascading effect in society. Through initiatives like WE Summit, the government aims to nurture enterprising attitude

among women and introduce before them different avenues of doing business and measures to sustain their ventures,” he said.

KSIDC has shortlisted close to 1000 women entrepreneurs, who have the potential to upgrade their ventures, as participants of the event.

KSIDC

WE SUMMIT2015

KOCHINOVEMBER

19, 2015

SHOWCASING KERALA’S WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

CELEBRATINGWOMEN

KSIDC WILL HANDHOLD THE HIGH-POTENTIAL WOMEN-RUN VENTURES TO SCALE UP THEIR BUSINESS TO A MUCH HIGHER LEVEL

KOCHI | 19 NOVEMBER 20152

The State Government, through initiatives such as WE Summit,

wants to give women entrepreneurs the support and confidence to scale

up their venturesOOMMEN CHANDY, CHIEF MINISTER

In a major initiative to spread the spirit of entrepreneurship in Kerala, KSIDC has launched WE Mission Kerala, taking a cue from

the success of Kudumbashree, to help women entreprenuers scale up their business ventures.

Executed in asso-ciation with Kudum-bashree, Micro Small or Medium Enter-prise – Department of Industries and Com-merce (MSME-DIC) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), it is expected to provide a complete range of support for women entrepreneurs.

Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty officially launched the initiative at a function in Malappuram in May, 2015. The website of the WE Mission initia-tive - www.wemissionkerala.org - was launched by Industries and IT Principal Secretary P H Kurien IAS later in Au-gust. WE Mission aims to identify, pro-mote and provide support to prospec-

tive women entrepreneurs from concept to the commissioning of their business venture. The mission targets to develope a new culture of entrepreneurial think-ing among the women in Kerala.

“Kerala has already made major headway in the economic empower-

ment of women by cre-ating a proper ecosystem for them to thrive upon and flourish. Against this backdrop, KSIDC has embarked on a path-breaking initiative, the WE Mission Kerala, which aims at triggering the growth of women-

led enterprises through comprehensive support measures,” Kunhalikutty said.

Focusing on scaling up the entrepre-neurial talents and enterprises, WE Mis-sion has lined up five strategies - offer-ing continuous mentoring by successful women entrepreneurs; taking women on regular exposure visits; how to raise fund for the venture; incubation and infrastructure support; and developing networks for marketing.

‘WE MISSION’ TO PROMOTE WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSMARGARET ALVA

Former Governor & Union MinisterARUNA SUNDARARAJAN IAS

Secretary, Ministry of Steel Govt. of India

SURENDRA NATH TRIPATHY IASAdditional Secretary (SME)

Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Govt. of India

P JOY OOMMEN IASCMD, Kerala Financial Corporation

T K JOSE IAS Chairman, Coconut

Development BoardPATRICIA BARANDUN

Dy. Representative UN Women - IndiaDR. PRATHAPAN

Director, State Horticulture Mission K VATSA KUMAR

Dy. General Manager, SIDBIUSHA RAMESH

Dy. General Manager, NABARD DR. CHOWDAPPA P

Director, CPCRISRINIVAS A

Head of Department, CFTRIRAJNEESH KUMAR

Vice President, Walmart IndiaSHALINI WARRIERCOO, Federal Bank

SARALA DEVIAsst. General Manager, Canara Bank

SHIVDAS B MENON MD, Sterling Group

SHEELA KOCHOUSEPHMD, V-Star Creations

PAMELA ANNA MATHEWMD, OEN India (P) Ltd.

SHALINI JAMESOwner & Creative Head, Mantra

SHERLY REJIMON MD, Milan Design

SUDEEPA PRABHALCo-Grower, Daksh Farms

NOORJAHANMD, Falcon Garments

SANTHI PMD, Deepa Garments, Thrissur

GRACY THOMASMD, Mahila ApparelsSHAFFEK A SHIHAB

Technocrat

KEY SPEAKERS

THE INDUSTRIES MINISTER

LAUNCHED THE INITIATIVE AT A FUNCTION IN

MALAPPURAM IN MAY, 2015

KSIDCSHOWCASING KERALA’S

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

KOCHI | 19 NOVEMBER 2015 3

WE Mission Kerala is KSIDC’s path-breaking initiative, which aims at creating a proper ecosystem for women-led enterprises to thrive upon and flourish P K KUNHALIKUTTY, INDUSTRIES MINISTER

There were hardly any lingerie brands in Kerala when Sheela Kochouseph Chittilap-pilly entered the field and launched her own brand. She is one of the senior most success-

ful homemaker-turned-entrepreneur in the State. “I became an entrepreneur because I thought I had some potential and wanted to develop it.” The turning point in her life came when she decided to enter the under-garments business, she says. “There was hardly any competition when I started.”

She points out that thorough knowledge of the industry was inevitable. “One should be ready to face challenges. Never expect any encouragement from any corner. Never start a business thinking that your friends and relatives will buy your products. Try to be a moti-vator to your employees and retain good people,’’ she said. Sheela underscores that an entrepreneur should never ignore negative feedback about their product. Each customer is your bread and butter, respect them and value their criticism, Sheela says. “As an advice to young entrepreneurs, Sheela adds, ‘‘please find out your passion. Have some experience in that business. Study the pros and cons. Learn about sourcing of raw materi-als, production, marketing, selling and HRD, and only then think about starting your own business.’’

Dr. P A Lalitha, MD, Malabar Hospitals, Kozhikode is a leading gynaecologist, a fighter, survivor and a leader all rolled into one. Battling cancer twice, she has become

one of those rare women of power who inspires her colleagues, juniors and patients alike. “I had a small child when I came to Kozhikode. I took the decision to start this hospital after working in a few private hospi-tals. There were no entrepreneurs in my family at that time and it was not something in my blood,” she says. Now, after 35 years into business of healthcare, she says one of the key things she learned was the importance of maintaining good relations with the staff and being honest and genuine. “Both my husband and I are work-aholics and that was the main reason why I thought this would become successful. I realised the importance of the role of employees in a business venture like a hospital. Your staff is your asset. Never belittle them just because they work under you,” explains Dr. Lalitha. As an advice to women entrepreneurs, she says one has to be hard working, “If you are a woman entrepreneur, you may need to work doubly hard. Having good public relations is important. You have to prove your worth as a woman and as a good entrepreneur and, above all, you must enjoy what you are doing,” she sums up.

THE PIONEER OF BRAND BUILDING

HEALTHCARE BUSINESS TIPS


WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

DR. P A LALITHAMalabar Hospitals

SHEELA KOCHOUSEPHV-Star Creations


Nutan Manohar, the founder of Me Met Me, describes her venture as more than a yoga studio. “It’s ‘Yoga, Food and Fun’ for those who want to experience joy over consumer-

oriented happiness.” Till 2010, she had been handling the Asia-Pacific brand strategy and advertising opera-tions for global brands from over 11 countries.

In 2013, she started Me Met Me after someone blatantly copied her work. Nutan realised she’d rather use her energy for something she was always passionate about. Her stint in Pure Yoga (a Hong Kong-based pre-mium yoga institution) as teacher and marketer proved helpful as she realised that per-square-foot revenue is low from yoga. To offset that, she conducts workshops and residential retreats. She recently organised a work-shop for Malayala Manorama and a three-day residen-tial retreat at Puducherry. Along with clear vision and passion, Nutan lists exit strategy as key to a business plan. “Many of us don’t want to accept when things start going downhill. We need to read the signs and decide whether to stay put, move ahead or move out.”

“If yoga can be successful, any other business can be. Just don’t push unnecessary products because people are gullible.”

‘‘Recently, we served food for a 90-year-old’s birthday. The client called us raving about the mutton curry, ex-claiming that the meat was so tender

that even the ‘birthday boy’ ate it with no effort,” Harsha Thachery relates one of the many happy customer ex-periences. Her website, Masalabox, serves as a platform for home cooks to reach a wider clientele in Kochi, and now in Bangalore too. “We sought to solve the inherent problems faced by commercially active, yet unorganised, home-based caterers,” Harsha says matter-of-factly.

Entrepreneurship runs through Harsha’s veins. She had started a brokerage firm and helped her husband set up a gaming company before moving on to Ma-salabox. When she was carrying, and later when she started feeding her new-born, Harsha noticed the lack of availability of home-cooked, preservative-free food in the market. In August 2014, along with her friend Liya Verghese, she started the company offering two dishes in Kochi. In just one year, Masalabox has expanded to Bangalore, served around 50,000 meals and now offers around 18 meal options in Kochi and Bangalore combined. She swears by the importance of a strong advisory panel, understanding of one’s product/service and hard work. “There’s no substitute for it.”

PUSHING YOGA WITH PASSION

GIVING E-FACE TO HOME COOKS


WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

The ultimate goal is to inculcate sense of entrepreneurship among

women in Kerala. Any initiative for the empowerment of women would

have a cascading effect in societyJIJI THOMSON IAS, CHIEF SECRETARY

NUTAN MANOHARMe Met Me

Yoga Food & Fun

HARSHA THACHERYMasalabox


The Govt. will offer mentoring support and provide industry-specific infrastructure aid to emerging women entrepreneursP H KURIEN IAS, PRINCIPAL SECRETARY, INDUSTRIES & IT

Malayalis welcomed her home with Kerala’s first-ever women’s talk show, Akathalam. Now, Ranjini Menon, a psychologist by profession and with over 18 years ex-

perience in the media, plays host to travellers at her homestay, Wayanad Coffee County. In 2013, she and her husband Rajagopal opened the doors of their over 90-year-old heritage bungalow, situated in a 12-acre organic coffee plantation nestled in a 300-acre tea plantation, to tourists. “I thought the time had come to practise the social development and sustainable living I had been preaching for years”.

People’s participation, especially women’s, is an in-tegral part of her venture. ‘Stage Pragathi’ is a platform where local artists perform for the County’s guests. Ranjini also markets heirloom rice varieties cultivated by Edanadan Chettis - one of the first people to culti-vate rice in Kerala - and has set up Wayanad Initiative for Sustainable Tourism and Agricultural Services along with local beneficiaries. “For an entrepreneur, every step is a new journey and every smile a new relation-ship. When a woman does something, she does it with her heart. Imagine the possibilities of social media network for women entrepreneurs,” Ranjini said.

Tina Thomas loves stories and storytelling. Her own story began as a BTech graduate who counted down every minute of her working hours in an IT company for five years. To

her rescue came her future husband Pratheek, with his shared passion for tales. A TV anchor and a writer, Tina initially helped Pratheek with his Manta Ray Comics. In 2013, they started Studio Kokaachi (named after a monster), and soon got their first project – animation for Aashiq Abu’s movie ‘Gangster.’

“When you follow your passion and work hard wholeheartedly, everything falls in place. We never thought our first project would be a film. Within an-other three months, we got to work with Mani Ratnam for OK Kanmani,” Tina says of her journey.

She feels that the joy of working for oneself over-shadows the small struggles that they face, especially in a niche market like comics with hardly any reader-ship in Kerala. Starting with just one project, Tina and Pratheek, along with Aravind Jose and Prabha Mallya, now have a few film projects and two book releases in the pipeline, and a new comic every month. Tina is also working on a screenplay for a movie.

STORYTELLING AS FORTE


WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

RANJINI MENONWayanad Coffee County

TINA THOMASStudio Kokaachi

PROMOTER OF ECOTOURISM


Besides fostering the growth of entrepreneurship among women, WE Mission will support business ventures by offering platforms for

collaboration and networkingDR. M BEENA IAS, MD, KSIDC


WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

‘‘To become a good business person, one should shed their ego,” Janaky Sreekumar follows this statement of hers to the core. She is one of the

pioneers of mushroom cultivation in Kerala, and her company, Swadishta Mushrooms, is also into produc-tion of mushroom spawn (largest in South India), value-added products and organic manure. Yet, she modestly says that she doesn’t deserve the help and “promotion” she has received. An English literature post-graduate, Janaky started mushroom cultivation in 2000 in a two-room facility. She had the support of her husband, who retired as Deputy Director from the State Agriculture Department. Saying that she never planned to be a businesswoman, Janaky credits lack of competi-tion and society’s unrelenting support for her success. “We Malayalis do not lack ideas, what we lack is the ability to let go of our ego and promote our own work.”

She advises young entrepreneurs not to have too long a vision as the market and its needs change fast. “If something is not your cup of tea, quit and start afresh and take calculated risks.” She is currently marketing her latest value-added product – frozen mushroom cut-lets. Mushroom curry meals and food trucks are what she plans next.Shalini James and her brainchild ‘Mantra’ are

names that people across the country recog-nise today, thanks to her brilliant and creative designs which are a blend of modern and

ethnic fashion mantra. Speaking about her journey as one of the most successful young female entrepreneurs from Kerala, she says: “At a very young age, I started working in my mother’s design studio. The early expo-sure to textiles and textile crafts inspired me to start my own enterprise. There were challenges and obstacles in my journey. Big and small victories along the way keep me motivated. Mantra’s route to success was a long winded one, having deliberately steered clear of short-cuts. Participating in the Amazon India Fashion Week and receiving the TiE Kerala Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award were the memorable milestones in this journey,” Shalini says. She says that sacrifices are part of the journey. It takes strength of character to keep going.

Shalini, who has been finding time to learn Kuchi-pudi in between her business and parenting responsi-bilities, says she hopes to see Mantra as a recognised national brand in the next two to three years.

FASHION AS NEW MANTRA

JANAKY SREEKUMARSwadishta Mushrooms

SHALINI JAMESMantra

FINDING MARKET FOR MUSHROOMS


It is an excellent opportunity for Kudumbashree women to showcase their products as well as to learn from other successful entrepreneurs K B VALSALA KUMARI IAS, FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, KUDUMBASHREE


WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Business was not an unfamiliar turf for Parveen Hafeez. She was destined to be an entrepreneur and sparks of entrepreneurship were visible in her since childhood. “I was

a very active and energetic youngster. Growing up in a business family, I learned that it was team effort and a woman needed all the support to start a business,” says Parveen. After getting married to Dr. Hafeez Rahman Padiyath, they planned to step into healthcare business. “Any entrepreneurship requires good planning and immense amount of hard work and persistence. It’s a continuing journey, the more hard you work the more successful you become,” she said.

Sunrise Hospital currently has three units in Kerala and branches in Delhi, Mumbai, Sholapur, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and a sister concern in Congo. “We started our first project in 2005. This is our 10th year and my dream is to open 20 hospitals in 20 years,” she says.

“There is more to being an entrepreneur than just money or fame. Being a woman, I believe there is much more contentment in the healthcare business, where we can bring together our motherly instincts and entre-preneurial skills,” says Parveen. She advises upcoming entrepreneurs to keep dreaming, be committed to their business and honest.

Homemaker-turned-cookery expert Sumaija Asghar from Mahe never imagined that she would one day be teaching foreigners how to prepare wonders of Indian delicacies,

especially healthy food. Sumaija’s passion for cook-ing started when she was just 10 years old and like any other member of traditional Muslim families in Mala-bar, expert cookery skills came to her naturally. But her culinary skills were first identified by her husband, an ayurvedic doctor who owns ‘Greens Ayurveda Centre’ at Azhiyur. Speaking about how she got into teaching cookery to foreigners, Sumaija says: “A chef from out-side India visited the Ayurvedic centre one day. He was very keen to know more about our cuisine and I began imparting small lessons. This is how the journey began.” She now has a large number of students who come to learn not only about the typical Indian dishes but also about healthy ayurvedic food throughout the year.

Clubbing her entrepreneurial and teaching skills is not something she imagined she would be doing. “I always think about coming up with new flavours which are not just tasty but healthy as well. It is always a plea-sure to share whatever knowledge I have acquired about cooking good and healthy food. And by god’s grace a supportive family adds to good workmanship.’’

PROMOTING HEALTHY CUISINE

PARVEEN HAFEEZSunrise Hospital

SUMAIJA ASGHARGreens Ayurveda Centre

FIRM STRIDES IN HEALTHCARE


Kudumbashree has already proved that women can be successful

entrepreneurs. Now, it is time for the Govt. to strongly support them

to reach next level of growthHIBI EDEN, MLA


WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Milan Design which started in 2010 became a popular brand in a very short time. Such out-standing success in such a short span can only be attributed to the foresightedness and leadership

of Sherly Regimon. What inspired her to become an entrepre-neur was her passion for designing and desire to bring about a change in attitude of fashionable women. There was no place for failure in her mind. Speaking about the success of her com-pany, she says: “It is indeed providential that from day one, I knew that Milan Design is going to be a great success.” When asked what she learned as an entrepreneur, she replied: “As a designer I have to think one step ahead of the latest trends in fashion and use all my potential for imagination for the same.” Sherly has plans to set up an exquisite fashion school for young designers. To the young entrepreneurs, she says, ‘‘my advice comes in just three key words - patience, integrity and commitment.”

SETTING NEW FASHION TRENDS

SIBLINGS SHOW THE WAY

SHERLY REGIMONMilan Design

TENAZ RAFIQ AND FIDAN RAFIQHead over Heels

Edited, Designed and Produced by Destination Business Media Pvt. Ltd., Thiruvananthapuram for WE Summit 2015Phone: +91 471 2306643, +91 94955 06643 | Email: [email protected]

CONTENT CONTRIBUTORS: ARCHANA JAGANNATH AND DEEPTHI SREENIVASAN

For sisters Tenaz and Fidan it started off as something to kill boredom. ‘‘The truth is that we had never thought of becoming full-time entrepreneurs. We never imagined that our

store ‘Head over Heels’ will become so popular and turn into a brand before even us realising it. But three years, three stores and 47 interviews later, we have decided to continue doing this for the rest of our lives,” says Tenaz with confidence. “We knew that we had done it rightly and differently the day we launched Head over Heels (HOH); that was the day we launched our Facebook page. The response of women from all over the State and outside was tremendous,” they said.

‘‘We have also learned that employees are our biggest asset. Treat them like family members and cultivate in them a sense of belonging,” Tenaz says. The sisters have become an inspiration for quite a good number of girls in Kozhikode and across the State. “Do what you love and love what you do. Identify what you are good at and go for it,’’ is their advice to young aspiring entrepreneurs.

Documents

WE SUMMIT - Destination Business Media Summit 2015, the mega show of Kerala’s women entrepre-neurs organised by WE Mission Kerala - a Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation