A large number of women around the world have set up and managed their own businesses

8/7/2019 A large number of women around the world have set up and managed their own businesses

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A large number of women around the world have set up and managed their own businesses. It was not

easy for these women to succeed in business. They had to face a lot of difficulties and overcome a

number of barriers to become successful in their ventures. They had to deal with discrimination and

withstand the skepticism of society, and also put in more effort than men to prove their credibility to

others.

The entrepreneurial style adopted by women was different from that of men. Studies have revealed that

women focus more on intuition and relationships for running businesses, while men emphasize logic

and efficiency. The ability that women have to look beyond the obvious and identify hidden

opportunities sometimes helped them gain an edge over men.

The entrepreneurial style of some of the successful women entrepreneurs of India are featured in this

case All the women featured in this case came from different backgrounds and worked in different

fields. Ekta Kapoor, the daughter of a successful film star, started her television software business at the

age of 19 and became immensely successful by the time she was in her early 20s. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

had no educational qualifications for running a business.

She did not even have an active interest in setting up a business. A chance meeting with the CEO of

Biocon International, however, changed her career plans forever. She became India's first lady

biotechnology entrepreneur. Shahnaz Husain came from a royal family of conservative Muslims. Her

business intention was to draw the attention of the world towards the natural system of ayurveda,

which she managed to do successfully. The women of Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad inculcated a

spirit of entrepreneurship among semi literate women. These women were able to overcome social and

educational constraints to establish an extremely successful business model. By so doing, they set an

example for other women.

Ekta Kapoor

Ekta Kapoor was said to be the face and brain of Balaji Telefilms Limited (BTL)1, and was almost solely

responsible for the phenomenal success of most of BTL's serials. According to Ekta, her childhood was

"materially easy but emotionally difficult." As a child she was extremely obese and suffered from low

self esteem.

She was a poor student and was happy to get by with the minimum pass marks. Even as a child she was

an avid television watcher and spent most of her free time glued to the TV. She felt guilty about letting

her parents down, but was unable to do anything about it.

The turning point in Ekta Kapoor's life came in the early 1990s when a non resident Indian, Ketan

Somayya, approached her father and requested him to make some software for the channel he wanted

to start. Ekta's father asked her to take up the responsibility of making the software. Consequently, Ekta

Kapoor made six pilots, of about three episodes each, at a cost of about Rs 0.5 million. The proposed

channel, however, did not fare well and had to be sold to Zee TV.2

Not wanting to waste her efforts, Ekta

Kapoor started looking for other buyers for her pilots.


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She was not successful in finding buyers for the first pilots, but her father came to her rescue and gave

her more money to make more pilots. BTL was set up in 1994 by her father. Mano Ya Na Mano, (Believe

It or Not) BTL's first serial was telecast in 1995. This was followed by Dhun Dhamaka (Musical Explosion),

a music based show aired on Doordarshan,3

which was moderately successful. The first major success

came with Hum Paanch (We Five), a comic sitcom about 5 girls and their harassed parents, which ran for

5 years on Zee TV. BTL came out with an initial public offer (IPO) in October 2000 to set up an integrated

studio in Mumbai and to buy advanced equipment. A day prior to its listing on BSE, BTL entered into

negotiations with Nine Network Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nine

Broadcasting India Pvt. Ltd.) for a merger in the ratio of 65:200 through an all-share deal.

The merger was later called off. In its first year as a public company, Balaji showed a net profit of Rs 646

million on net sales of Rs.3.45 billion for the nine month period ending in December 2000. The initial

years in the business were not very easy for Ekta Kapoor. There were times when she used to have 5 or

6 pilots ready but none of them would get approval from the channels. People did not take her

seriously. Experienced writers would try to force her to accept sub-standard scripts as they thought she

was the "brainless daughter of a moneyed father."4

She was able to overcome these barriers throughsheer grit and determination. She worked relentlessly, even foregoing holidays, to make a mark for

herself. Her time was completely occupied with thinking out stories, finalizing scripts, deciding on sets,

costumes, casting, etc.

Her hard work and commitment eventually paid off, and by the early 2000s she had two highly

successful serials, Kyunki Saans Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi(KSBKBT, Because the Mother-in-law was also a

Daughter-in-Law) and Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki(KGGK, The Story of Every Home) to her credit. She was

called the lady with the Midas touch as she hit gold with almost all her projects. By the end of 2002, she

had about 35 programming hours per week on television - no mean task for a person in her late 20s.

Her hold on television viewers was very strong. She had shows on almost all channels telecasting Hindi5

programs, as well as some on regional channels. BTL became the biggest name in television and every

offering of Ekta Kapoor was lapped up by eager viewers. Ekta Kapoor believed that her initial failures

contributed a lot to her success at a later stage. As a novice, she made too many presumptions about

the tastes of her audiences. But after her first few projects failed, she became more careful. She started

watching television carefully to analyze the programs that were succeeding and those that were failing

to understand the likes and dislikes of the viewers. She said that her study of TV programs helped her

understand viewers' preferences.

Ekta Kapoor was responsible for introducing a number of changes in Indian television. She was credited

with introducing Indian viewers to daily soaps when weekly soaps were the order of the day. She feltthat weekly serials could not hold the interest of the audience because of the time gap between

episodes. When people missed an episode, they lost interest and stopped watching the serial

altogether. Daily serials, however, not only captured and sustained the interest of the viewers, they

were also more remunerative for the producer. Ekta Kapoor also introduced the genre of family-based

serials in India. She understood that the average Indian was very family oriented and loved to be


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surrounded by members of their extended families. She capitalized on this characteristic by making

serials that showed the life of large joint families.

People welcomed this theme as they were fed up with stories about extramarital affairs. They wanted

feel-good serials with which they could identify, and Ekta Kapoor gave them what they wanted. Most of

BTL's serials featured regularly in the top ten programs and, almost without exception, enjoyed highviewership ratings. Ekta Kapoor managed to change the concept of prime time television when she

made 10:30 pm a prime time slot. When she chose 10:30 as the slot for KSBKBT, Ekta Kapoor did not

expect the serial to become so popular. Till then, prime time on television was between 8:00 and 9:30

pm. After that, people had their dinners and went to bed. But after KSBKBT became popular, people

changed their television viewing habits and 10:30 pm became a high viewership slot. Since Ekta Kapoor

was the creative head of BTL, most of the successes of the company could be traced back to her.

She was a hands-on manager, closely involved with all aspects of the serials from the concept, to the

script, the actors and the sets. She believed she had a knack for choosing the right faces for the right

parts. Since she felt she understood audience preferences, she maintained full control over the

development of serials. She paid a lot of attention to detail and monitored all aspects of BTL's serials for

the first few episodes. After she was convinced that her creative team could manage on its own, she

eased off. However, she still kept track of the ratings and responses. If there was a crisis, like a fall in

ratings, she stepped in again. Ekta was constantly on the look out for new ideas for serials and claimed

to source most of her stories from real life situations or people.

She sourced the concept of KSBKBT from a short story she read in a magazine. BTL productions were

lavishly presented and slickly marketed. Most its new serials could easily sail through on the basis of its

past successes, but Ekta Kapoor ensured that nothing was left to chance. She advertised constantly to

create visibility. In fact, she even made some of the characters in her serials praise other serials. For

instance, some of the characters in the serials are shown discussing her other serials or finishing

housework quickly to catch up with them. Her unique style of naming the serials (all names started with

K and all the titles were structured in a strange manner) also drew the attention of viewers. She was

once advised by an astrologer that the letter 'K' would be lucky for her.

As a result, she started naming all her serials with K. According to Ekta, ninety percent of her serials

beginning with that letter have been successful, so she does not see the need to change the practice. On

the human resources front, Ekta Kapoor seemed to be something of an autocrat. She yelled at her

subordinates as she believed that if she did not shout, things would not get done. She was also

completely indifferent to star status and expected all the actors in her serials to toe her line.

Erring or rebellious actors were replaced by others, or the character done away with in the serial to

dispense with the actor. Analysts felt that Ekta Kapoor was able to succeed because of some of the

shrewd business decisions she took. Firstly, she did not depend on any one channel, but catered to a

wide range of channels. This reduced over dependence on one channel. Secondly, BTL diversified risk by

distributing resources between commissioned and sponsored serials.6

This ensured a good mix of risk


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and returns. Thirdly, the cost of production was kept under control by shooting most of the serials in

BTL's own studios.

In addition, the actors were also employed on a contractual basis which gave the producer more control

over them. This contract system also helped BTL reduce costs. In 2001, Kapoor was selected by the

Confederation of Indian Industries, (CII) to head the committee on entertainment. She also received anumber of awards in the early 21

stcentury. Some of the awards are: One of "Asia's 50 most Powerful

Communicators," from Asiaweek magazine in 2001; Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2001;

"Corporate Excellence" from Bharat Petroleum in 2002; and "Rajiv Gandhi Award" in 2002. The

entrepreneurial style of Ekta Kapoor may smack of authoritarianism, but analysts felt her refusal to

compromise on quality and her attention to detail contributed greatly to her success. Her perfectionism

seemed to have helped make BTL one of the most powerful television software companies of the 2000s.

Shahnaz Husain

Shahnaz Husain (Shahnaz) was another successful woman entrepreneur of India. She popularized herbal

treatments for beauty and health problems. Her company, Shahnaz Husain Herbals, was the largest of

its kind in the world and had a strong presence in over 100 countries, from the US to Asia. By 2002, the

Shahnaz Husain Group had over 650 salons around the world, employing about 4200 people.

The net worth of the Group was $100 million. Shahnaz Husain was born into a royal Muslim family which

originally came from Samarkand (in Pakistan) and later held important posts in the princely kingdoms of

Bhopal and Hyderabad before India's independence. Shahnaz's father, Justice N.U Beg, was a

progressive man who instilled in her a love for poetry and English literature. Shahnaz Husain received

her schooling in an Irish convent. A western education coupled with a traditional family background

gave Shahnaz Husain wide exposure and developed her into a well rounded personality.

She was married at the age of 15 and had a child by the next year. When her husband was working in

Iran, Shahnaz Husain became interested in cosmetology. After she began her training, she realized that

chemical cosmetics had a harmful effect on the human body. As a result, she turned her attention

towards ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of medicine, which used natural substances and extracts to

heal and improve the body. Subsequently, she trained extensively in cosmetic therapy for 10 years in

some of the leading institutes of London, Paris, New York and Copenhagen. On her return to India in

1977 she set up her own salon at her house in Delhi with an initial investment of Rs 35000. Instead of

offering chemical treatments like other salons, Shahnaz Husain's salon offered Ayurvedic treatments.

Shahnaz's custom made natural products for skin and hair problems quickly became successful. Shahnaz

Husain pioneered the commercialization of ayurvedic cosmetics. Until she started her business,

ayurveda was practiced in peoples' homes or by local ayurvedic doctors. The commercialization of

ayurveda was relatively unknown in the 1970s when Shahnaz Husain entered the business. Shahnaz

Husain capitalized on this deficiency. She identified ayurveda as a niche market and catered to it. Her

products gained popularity in India, and her treatments were booked months in advance. Encouraged by


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She said, "I removed the banner and since then I have never advertised. I have let my products speak for

themselves."19

By 2000, Shahnaz Husain had over 650 salons in 104 countries around the world. Using

the franchising mode to expand in India and abroad, she built up a large network of over 600 franchisee

and associate clinics around the world. All the franchisees were required to undergo training in

specialized treatments at Shahnaz Husain's school of beauty therapy. After training, all franchisees

obtained the right to use the Shahnaz Husain name and specialized treatments and were given a 30%

profit margin on the sale of products.

Shahnaz Husain believed that an entrepreneur must have a dream and the commitment to pursue it.

She believed that business was not simply about employing the right management principles. She said,

"I have often gone beyond pure business dealings as such, because for me dua (blessings) is

important."20

Shahnaz Husain believed that a true entrepreneur is a person who has independence of

spirit: "One should be innovative, dynamic and willing to try every avenue towards success."21

She did

not look on her work as a career. It was more like an obsession and the sole purpose of her existence. All

her dreams revolved around her work and she applied herself to it with complete commitment.

According to Shahnaz Husain, a desire to excel, hard work and relentless determination also go intomaking an entrepreneur.

She said, to succeed, one must never give up and never stop trying: "I always feel I have another

mountain to climb and another frontier to cross. I never rest on my laurels."22

She puts in 18 hours of

work and channelizes all her energy into her company. Her commitment and self confidence have made

her company one of the most successful of its kind in the world.

A large number of women around the world have set up and managed their own businesses

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