Session Highlights:

• Self Motivation: Zia started of initially with the challenges that women face in continuing their job after their marriage or after having their first kid. Self-Motivation is the single most important factor in facing these challenges. If you think you can, you will.

• Gender Bias: It is a tendency in women themselves for ‘Gender biases’. By this I mean that women themselves feel inferior to men at work place. Initially I felt the same. This is where self-motivation is important. Your inner confidence must be so strong, as to ward off any inferiority complex.

• Marriage: After marriage, make your ‘Mother-In-law’ your biggest partner in success. Work it out with her. I did. The biggest reason for fights at home is ‘Stress’. Try to make her life comfortable. Remember that inclusion of the inner world around yourself is the most important factor for organizational success. You have to be equally involved at home as well as work.
• Most important lesson from business: Always take your customer along while delivering a service. Keep him in the loop always.
• The decision of partnering in business: In 1994-95, it was an opportunistic decision. There was a proposal to team up with an international law firm. To me partnership is more of heart and less of head. Its more about open mindedness and acceptance of each other’s strengths and weaknesses.  In the advent of confusion always be frank.
• How do you want to see your firm in the next 10 years: I want it to be an ‘Institutionalized Law Firm’.  It should be process oriented and not people oriented. Eventually I want to scale up. For scalability, I think youth of the company should be given responsibility. Empower youngsters with the clients trust. Success will follow.

- Contributed by Abhishek Chande & Avishek Neogi

Soon after TiE Mumbai launched the forum on March 9^th, 2009, TiE Chennai, one of the 15 centres in the country followed with this Special Interest Group Forum.  The Idea to start this initiative was the result of the experience of women members of TiE, as well as the startling facts uncovered by a GEM study headed by Rama Bijapurkar and Ireena Vittal. This study pointed out that about 3 lakh women across 6 cities, wanted to own a business.  With so much potential  remaining untapped and overlooked, TiE  decided to provide these aspiring entrepreneurs the support system they’d require to either grow their existing business or to start one.  Mentoring,  documentation, acquiring finance, networking, are few of the many tools that will be taught to these entrepreneurs.

 In the event held at Chennai, a broad range of entrepreneurial activities ranging from agriculture, manufacturing and service sectors including education were discussed. The participants shared their success stories and also brought out the fact that women entrepreneurs can significantly contribute to family and society in terms of measurable economic activities. Entrepreneurship transforms a woman by imbibing dynamism, innovation and self-confidence. For all members, who know of any women folk who might benefit from the same, kindly forward and encourage them to join. This session is open for all women entrepreneurs from all walks of life.