GBG Mumbai and Azure Open House - Empowering Women Entrepreneurs through digital media tools

So what if Akancha did not let me speak, that doesn’t stop me from writing – or just coz she was the host, she can? Nevermind. I will exercise my freedom of speech ;)

The Event

Google Business Group Mumbai along with Azure organized this super awesome Open House on Empowering women entrepreneurs through digital media tools.

(P.S: It ran a statement saying that only women will get to speak and men have to listen for a change. For a change? Shouldn’t it be the other way round then? I know I do ask relevant questions, but let’s move on)

The Audience

When you walk in to the auditorium packed with close to 100 people you already know the relevance of the event and what impact it is going to leave behind. And then you feel happy to realize that you are not the only ‘male’ present there (sigh of relief). The audience was a mix of successful entrepreneurs (both male and female), entrepreneurs who have recently ventured out [like me ;)], social entrepreneurs, business women, students, aspirants, mentors, etc

The Host

When you are seated and Akancha take charges of the event, you are already bowled over by her beauty and super confidence. She herself is a successful entrepreneur being a director at Azure, an active RodinHooder,  Founder of Why only Cupid and an Art of Living follower. I don’t think the audience needed an introduction of her because she had touched each one of them at some point in time in some way or the other through one of her acts.

She began with the statement that women don’t need to be differentiated or sympathized for being a woman. There is nothing special about being a women entrepreneur. Treat them as equal in the business world [the feminist in her speaking, just kidding].

She explained that today, to meet your target, it’s all about Branding and marketing yourself in the right manner.

She showed examples of how digital media changed the way her ventures or activities functioned and a RodinHood OpenHouse went on to be attended by 200 from 10, how people from 100+ countries did a google hangout with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji, why she took why only cupid to facebook from just a website.

Glimpses of the Tank Man, Yemeni girl (who was going to being forced to marriage), the Kolaveri Di make you realize the actual strength of Digital Media. The world is connected online today, make use of it.

The Speakers

Priyanka from Wishberry

What would you do if some stupid law prevented you from being part of the core team that co-founded a company in US? And after returning to India you get an update that the company has raised Series A round of funding? You would want to strangle the lawmaker’s right?

What these incidents make Priyanka do – she quit her job and co-founded Wishberry (after all business is in marwadi blood). Wishberry is a crowd funding platform which enables people raise funds for various ideas and projects, market validation of the idea, initial sales and most importantly brand awareness.

She claims that she has not spent anything on print media or marketing. Everything has happened online through digital media. People would promote their ideas online through social media and blogging and the word about Wishberry spread around. Again those people who used a video to broadcast their project claimed to reach their targets more often than not. She says that in her field, it’s all about making maximum use of the digital space and you could do wonders with that.

Swetta Mam from Barclays

She spoke about her journey at Barclays and how digital media can play an important role in today’s fast paced life. She spoke about how Art of Living has sharing at the centre of its values and that one should you digital media to share and exchange knowledge (cannot agree more).

Sonakshi from Theek Kar Do

She was at her best from the word go (yeah yeah, she is our co-founder). She began with how a journey of providing basic necessities at a school few kilometers away from Mumbai changed her attitude towards work and life and how that instigated her to quit her cushy corporate job and take the plunge at entrepreneurship and what led to the founding of Theek Kar Do (a one stop repair destination).

She stressed on the fact that being a young team, with limited budget, digital was the only way to go and how the team tried their hands at print media, social media, Google Ad words, YouTube, Blogging etc and how each of these activities help them garner more visibility.

Deepali Mam from L&T Insurance

An experienced Branding and Media professional, the first thing she asked her new boss was why she was being hired when her experience was all around non-financial sectors. She did not let the company down when she helped L&T meet their targets of a new product launch at half the ad spend of a competitor just by the use of digital media (Mind it, the amount runs to crores of rupees). That is the power of digital media.

Gargi from the Playce

She began with a quick puzzle to help her get the right attention. Her venture, ‘the Playce’ is a co-working space which comes handy to start-ups in a city like Mumbai where rentals are sky rocketing. And while sharing space you also give and take a lot of information and learning’s (the best way to barter you see).

She admits that she has not been able to make much use of digital media and it’s a very limited way that they currently do but welcomed suggestions from the audience to help her exploit the maximum potential out of digital media.

Several other Women

Several other women from different walks of life, different backgrounds shared their experiences and journey and admitted that the world is huge and there are infinite possibilities to achieve if one can take the courage to venture out.

Some Men as well

Kanchan Sir, Rohit, Sreeraman and a few others were the privileged men who were permitted to speak in women’s forum. Kanchan Sir spoke about how TiE uses only digital media to connect across different chapters across the country and Rohit mentioned how taking his quizzing stuff online helped him reached millions of people in one go. Sreeraman spoke about how various Google business applications and general tools can help ease the day to day functioning of a start-up.

Conclusion

At the end of the day all present unanimously agreed that they took back much more than what they shared and that’s what such events are all about.

Kudos to Team GBG Mumbai, Azure and our special Akancha.

We want more. :)

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Mumbai's Local Fixers

Theek Kar Do was covered by Outlook Business in July 2013. Have you read what they had to say?

True to its name, Mumbai-based repair firm Theek Kar Do offers to set your household appliances right — from faulty air-conditioners, refrigerators and televisions to ceiling fans and even broken water taps. It was started in November 2012 with a seed capital of Rs 5 lakh, by Sonakshi Pratap, 22, and Hardik Shah (L), 23, chartered accountants from Ernst & Young and KPMG, respectively, along with Bhavishya Pratap, 18, and Shantanu Kamath, 17.

Wary of unreliable repairmen fixing their out-of-warranty items, they decided to come up with a more professionally-delivered alternative. “We started Theek Kar Do as a solution to our own problems,” says Shah. Customers can register complaints on the firm’s website or call its helpline. A fee of Rs 250 is charged if the customer doesn’t avail of its services, but this is waived if the technician reaches more than two hours after the complaint was registered. Bills vary from Rs 750 to Rs 3,000 and products are returned within three days with a 90-day service warranty.

Shah says conversion rates are as high as 85-90% for direct calling customers, and 20% of those are routed through directory services. New employees undergo police verification and are trained in soft skills before being assigned work. It plans to service cellphones soon, and extend its coverage to most of Mumbai by the end of this year.

Just log on to our Webportal.

Theek Kar Do - Celebrating Pain at the Mumbai Open House

It was just around a month back or so, when I accidentally logged into The Rodinhood 
web-portal where a friend of mine had posted his start-up story. I have been hooked since then.

On one such browsing occasions thereafter, I came across something titled ‘OpenHouse in Mumbai’ and that got me interested since I had an opportunity to make a presentation (just the second time till date that I have presented Theek Kar Do before an audience). But the theme was a bit different – ‘Celebrating Pain’.

So what, I still wrote a mail to Asha and she shot back, ‘stick to the template’. And after certain to and fro, we finally had an acceptable presentation (the selection process was still pending). Then suddenly she dropped in an email to me and Akancha that this is Hardik’s presentation. I was not sure what did that mean – do I present or not. Another email exchange confirmed my doubts – it was a Yes [obviously for the presentation ;)].

From then onwards till the Saturday of the openhouse, I would make small pointers for the best way to get the point across and try and remember them (unfortunately I haven’t developed a habit of writing it down on a piece of paper) and forget them after a while. Saturday morning, I realized that I know what I have to speak only to forget a part of it when my name gets called out to begin the presentation. Not blank really, I can manage impromptus, but being just a 6 month old entrepreneur asking to address 200 RodinHooders was a big thing man.

And by speaking earlier, Alok and Sushrut (from Hammer and Mop) had already raised the bar. But when you speak to peers, all inhibitions are laid to rest.

So what is Theek Kar Do all about?

Theek Kar Do, a one-stop repair centre for electronics, laptops and home appliances, not only claims to fix devices after their warranty period is over but also guarantees prompt service within two hours and tops it with a three month warranty.

All you need to do is call us on 80-80-TKD-TKD (i.e. 80-80-853-853) or fill up a form onwww.theekkardo.com and we will take care of the rest. The service provider of your area who specializes in that particular product is sent to your house. We make a unique 3-2-1 promise to all its customers; three months warranty, two hours service at your doorstep and one stop repair shop. Besides, all the technicians that are sent to you undergo a background check.

So, moving back to the theme, we were ‘Celebrating Pain’ at the open house.

# 1
We all co-founders (Sonakshi, Bhavishya and Shantanu are like below 22 when we started working on the project around a year back. Of which, Bhavishya and Shantanu were not even 18. To run a business in a city like Mumbai, we knew we needed capital. And we did not want to borrow from our parents. That clichéd hindi dialogue is there to suit the situation – ‘khud kuch kar dikhaane ka junoon’. Sonakshi and I are chartered accountants by qualification so we estimated our capital requirement, worked in a corporate for a while, got the salary and once we met the requirement, we called it quits. At a personal level, to ensure that I could contribute enough capital, I have not seen a movie (in theatre) since almost 6 months now (and Saransh I am a big movie buff just like you). Have given up on small things and luxuries to save the capital and invest in the business. I know I will recover it with interest over time. Today, the only suggestion I could give - it’s ok to beg, borrow or steal (strictly avoid the last one). Ask your family, friends, and relatives to invest in the start-up pool – it’s all cool.

# 2
Another issues is, the more qualifications or degrees you hold, the more difficult it gets to start-up. Being a CA, eyes would pop out when I would tell people that I want to quit that job which pays me lakhs a year and start a repairing business. It’s nowhere connected. Then, the other major problem was that my parents reside abroad, so they expected me to complete my education and head back home. I was the perfect example of reverse brain drain. Came to Mumbai to pursue my graduation and now not willing to go back. Another major obstacle. But all said and done, ask them to believe in you just like always and tell them all you need is a year or two and I am just 23 today (not 13) – age is on my side. It will take time, but as you do well, they will be your best support system.

# 3
If you are planning to work with a co-founder who is not of the same gender as you, then personal relationship (current or past) helps a lot. Unfortunately, I have been single all my life and am totally clueless about the girls nakhras, attitudes and yes – I do not understand obvious, subtle hints (Akancha – no offence). We shared a common vision of organizing the unorganized repair segment and that’s all that mattered. We used to debate for days on certain marketing promotional activities, creative differences and stuff. But then sit across the table and talking it all out is the only solution. Please avoid the emails, FB’s, BBMs and the whatsapps. You are partners – face each other. All said and done, its because of my co-founder that I can call myself an entrepreneur and I respect her for that.

That’s enough of it. *phew*

At the end of it I feel proud that just been 6 months into the venture, I had a story to tell and if inspired then consider my task done.

And finally was sort of officially inducted as a RodinHooder with the t-shirt. Thanks guys.

Open house - Rodin hood - Theek Kar Do from Hardik Shah

 Originally Posted by Hardik Shah (Co-Founder) at www.therodinhoods.com