Meet these 5 women changemakers who have created successful brands of India
Earlier this year, YourStory, in association with Ministry of MSME, presented MSME entrepreneurs with the first-ever Brands of India Awards. Here are five women changemakers who won the awards.
With millions of men and women entrepreneurs leading businesses, India's MSME ecosystem is vibrant and full of innovative ideas and solutions to a number of problems.
However, only 13.76 percent of the total entrepreneurs in India are women, according to data by Startup India. But even with these smaller numbers, women entrepreneurs are proving their mettle and taking on challenging roles.
To recognise some of these inspirational women changemakers, YourStory earlier this year presented 41 entrepreneurs with Brands of India Awards, which was hosted in association with the Ministry of MSME, Government of India.
Here are the inspiring stories of five women entrepreneurs who won the first-ever YourStory Brands of India Awards.
Bhavna Anand Sharma - Cureveda
Bhavna Anand Sharma, Founder, Cureveda
When Bhavna Anand Sharma was meeting stakeholders in the pharma industry, she saw an opportunity to address common ailments holistically.
Bhavna wanted to create a brand which prioritised the use of standardised herbs, substantiated with clinical validation, to create a premium range of supplements.
With this objective, she launched a premium range of herbal, organic, and nutraceutical remedies under the brand Cureveda early in 2019. Its popular products are the ones that address common ailments.
“For instance, our diabetes, thyroid, and heart health products are more popular since these are common issues,” Bhavna explains.
Cureveda also has around 5,000 doctors registered and ranked on its portal, where consultation is free. Customers can also use Cureveda's online forum to post questions and have them answered by the doctors.
Mariam Mohuideen - Baker's Treat
Mariam Mohuideen, Founder, Baker's Treat (right) with Giriraj Singh (centre), former Union Minister of State, MSME, and Ram Mohan Mishra (left), AS and DC, MSME
When 48-year-old Mariam Mohuideen moved to Mangalore from Dubai, she didn't find many business opportunities in the coastal city. But one day, she observed that millenialls in Mangalore craved cakes, burgers, pizzas and pastas.
This made her feel it was the right time to tap into her baking skills to start her own business. So in December 2014, she started Baker’s Treat -a bakery that sold home-baked goods.
“It was a small, 200 square feet space from where we made and sold baked goods,” Mariam tells SMBStory.
The business thrived and Mariam invested almost Rs 20 lakh to turn Baker’s Treat into a full-fledged restaurant for cakes, cupcakes, burgers, pastas, and shakes.
Today, Mariam’s business is a 19-member, 2,200 square feet, 90-seater restaurant on Mother Teresa Road, Mangalore. It sees a daily footfall of around 150 customers, who mostly flock to Mariam’s Oreo nutella cheesecakes, brownies, and cupcakes.
Divya Jain - Safeducate
Divya Jain (centre), founder, Safeducate, with her team
Divya Jain was working in her family-run business, Safexpress, one of India’s leading logistics companies, when she noticed a huge gap in the sector: lack of skilled workforce in logistics. Divya then started Safeducate in 2013 to address this gap.
Divya Jain's Safeducate is now providing training to truck drivers and other workers in the logistics and supply chain management sectors by working in skill development, and livelihood creation.
"I want each truck driver, delivery guy, warehouse operator, and logistics accountant to envision what more they can do,” Divya tells SMBStory.
In a span of almost six years, Safeducate has trained around 50,000 people from 153 centres across India, including Allahabad, Chapra, Madnapur, Deogarh, and more. The company clocks Rs 30 crore turnover.
Manisha Bhati - Dreamhunt India
Manisha Bhati, Founder, Dreamhunt India
When Pune-based Manisha Bhati was working in Deutsche Bank, she knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur.
“I saw there wasn’t a platform where people could address the lack of soft skills in a personal way,” she says.
So, she wanted to start a counselling and development company to help people with career counselling, personal and professional development.
Finding it challenging to raise funds, Manisha one day she decided she would sell off her jewellery to fund the business. Though it was a tough decision, it was one which bore fruit. She was able to raise Rs 4 lakh by selling her gold and start Dreamhunt India in 2017.
Today, Dreamhunt India does one-on-one counselling and development sessions where they go with clients for movies, walks, and other fun activities. It has made revenue of Rs 20 lakh in under two years.
Bhojpur Mahila Kala Kendra
Anita Gupta (right), Founder, Bhojpur Mahila Kala Kendra
Hailing from Arrah, Bihar, Anita Gupta was just in her 20s when she took a bold step to stop gender-based violence. In 1993, she founded the NGO Bhojpur Mahila Kala Kendra with a mission to empower rural women by providing education and employment training to them.
Anita and her brother then went around Bihar and created awareness among women in villages.
"The men did not allow me to speak to the women from the villages. These men did not want their women to earn a livelihood or create their own identity. They used to warn us, ‘hamari auratein ghoonghat nahi hatayengi’ (our women will not remove their veil)," Anita says.
Through sheer hard work and perseverance to change this mindset, the NGO created around 300 self-help groups (SHGs) for livelihood promotion, health check-up camps, adult education, vocational training, and more.
Today, Anita has trained 20,000 women in handicrafts, jewellery making, and sewing as a means to empower them against gender-based violence.
