Author Rashmi Bansal travelled extensively to find women entrepreneurs who started from scratch, fought all odds and emerged as winners. The inspiring stories of 25 women are a part of her latest book Follow Every Rainbow
When Meena Bindra, wife of a naval officer, started her garment business with some fabric and sewing machines, to use her time more constructively, little did she knew that she will create a successful national brand Biba. Meena today is on the list of most successful women entrepreneurs in India and her story has inspired many women across the country. Meena’s journey and how she went on to create a retail chain without any formal training in design or management is a part of Rashmi Bansal’s Follow Every Rainbow (Westland). The book presents the stories of twenty-five enterprising women who took up a challenge. They raised a family as well as a company, with love, laughter and patience. Managing multiple equations — never giving in or giving up. “These stories say one thing, loud and clear. Women think and act differently than men, but they can be just as successful. What ‘success’ means, is only you can decide,” says the author, whose earlier books were Stay Hungry Stay Foolish, Connect the Dots, I Have a Dream and Poor little Rich Slum.
This is her fifth in the entrepreneurship series and the idea was conceived when after a conference in college, a female student walked up to her to ask, “Why is that we always talk about men entrepreneurs in the country. Why there is so little known about women who crete everything on their own.” It was then that Rashmi, thought to come up with the book that features extraordinary women who have not inherited the business or are not known for being a part of the family business, but have created something of their own. “I was not looking at women in big corporates and MNCs. In the book I have divided the entrepreneurs in three categories. They are lakshmi. It includes women who started something just as a hobby or as a passion and later converted that hobby into a big business. Second is Durga, it includes women who had to take up business because of certain situations in life. It wasn’t their first choice but how they managed to fight against all the odds created a business which is now known far and wide. The well-educated, trained women who left their job or didn’t choose to be a part of the company, either because they wanted more flexible working hours and better control of their lives or because they were not happy with the kind of job they were being offered, come under the title Saraswati,” shares Bansal, who has been a journalist and youth expert as well. For over two years she travelled, met women in various parts of the country and chose 25 women, who she thought fit the bill.
“Each story is equally inspiring. And I am not only talking about women who start something in garments and food industry. I have also listed those who made unconventional choices and made their mark in the field, which is known to be dominated by men. For example, I have featured a women who manages her pharmaceutical company. There are very few women you will find in the manufacturing sector, but she manages everything on her own. Then there is other female entrepreneur who has been running a loan recovery agency, called Vasooli. All the agents are females. Most of the times when we talk of recovery agents they bash people and it becomes a police case. Women are gentle in their approach and can get a work done in a better way,” states the author who has also included women from China, South Africa and Sri lanka. “I believe that women everywhere face same situations and stories from any part of the world can be inspiring. Therefore I have included them. In fact, I also want to talk about women entrepreneurs in small regions of India,” ends Bansal.