Women and Entrepreneurship

Introduction Contd...

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.

Successful Women Entrepreneurs

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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1] BTL was set up in 1994. It is a major content provider to a number of prominent channels like Star Plus, Zee TV, Sony Entertainment Television, etc.

2] Zee Telefilms Limited is promoted by Subash Chandra, one of India's leading entrepreneurs. It is India's largest vertically integrated media and Entertainment Company.

Case Details

Case Code : LDEN013
Themes: Corporate Social Responsibility, Woman Entrepreneurs
Case Length : 13 Pages
Period : -
Organization : Mahila Griha Udyog, Balaji Telefilms Limited, Biocon
Pub Date : 2003
Teaching Note : Available
Countries : India
Industry : Varied

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