Does gender play a role in entrepreneurship? Women have faced challenges of gender bias — both conscious and unconscious — for centuries. And they continue to build, facing these challenges. And that’s where I see the difference between men and women entrepreneurs.
Among start-ups, women-led are at a low 4 per cent! Another 20 per cent have a mix of male and female co-founders. This leaves a huge chunk of 76 per cent to male founders, according to a report by Kalaari Capital.
Rising against odds
But before I delve further, I would like to clarify that not all entrepreneurs are start-up founders. Many run small businesses or trade, and women are in larger numbers here, especially home-preneurs — running a business from home. The challenges here are different too.
Recently, chatting with women entrepreneurs for a retail pop-up hosted by us at the Bhartiya Mall of Bengaluru, in the run-up to Women’s Day, I got a first-hand view of the challenges they face.
Take Rashi from Kashi (as she likes to call herself), who has been running a Banarasi saree business for over 20 years. Her initial hurdle was responding to family members who questioned, “Are you a banjaran (gypsy) that you run from one city to another with a suitcase of clothes?”
Or Bhoomika, an introvert, who was conditioned to believe she could not run a business. But one retail pop-up, where she earned a net profit of ₹10,000, left her with oodles of confidence to continue with her candle-making business.
The start-up world isn’t any different.
Full of purpose
In my conversations with entrepreneurs, men and women, I notice a distinct trend — men are looking for gaps in the market that remain unfulfilled. Perfora is one such brand, which saw that the oral care industry had not innovated for decades and legacy brands ruled the market. Same with Bombay Shaving Company, which entered an almost monopolistic category as a challenger brand.
On the other hand, many women-led start-ups arise from a need to solve their own problems and, in the process, cater to more women like them. That’s when a brand takes seed.
In the personal care category, a majority of the new-age D2C brands are founded by women — Mama Earth, Deconstruct, Foxtale, Moxie, Fix my Curls, and more. They set out to find answers to a personal challenge — whether skin, hair or other problems that no big FMCG brand was able to address.
The curly-hair care category is a great example. Men with curly hair manage by keeping it short. But curly-haired women like me struggle with unruly, unmanageable hair, which the world tells us isn’t fit to crown our heads. From Asha Barak, who started AshBa, to Ashrita Mehrotra, who spun her need to “Fix My Curls” into a brand, there are at least half a dozen brands today — including Moxie, Manetain, and Curl Co — launched by curly-haired women. Today data shows that, surprisingly, more than 50 per cent of women need these products. (I could think of only one male-founded brand in this category, Arata, which again seemingly set out to fill a market gap rather than meet a personal need.)
Look at the kids’ categories. Young mothers looking for healthier or traditional food options for their children have ended up launching brands like Slurrp Farm. Founders Shauravi Malik and Meghana Narayan have co-created a range of millet-based pancakes, food mixes and more, as these were not readily available in cities.
In baby care, Riddhi Sharma looked for chemical-free traditional products beyond soaps and shampoos, leading her to launch Baby Organo, an ayurveda-anchored baby-care brand with products such as a hing-based roll-on to ease colic.
Making a better world
What do these examples prove? Women, as caregivers, use this conditioned gene to improve the world. For themselves. For other women like them.
In the coming decade we will see many more such purpose-driven brands from women entrepreneurs. Homepreneurs, too, will continue to thrive as they build their identity within their micro-communities. Some even spread beyond the micro-community with family support. Much like Rashi, who is no longer looked down upon as a travelling “gypsy”, but an entrepreneur with sought-after products.
(Jermina Menon is Brand & Marketing Strategist, Bhartiya Urban Pvt Ltd)