CHENNAI: It was an afternoon of dialogue, camaraderie and engagement at Influence Transformation, a workshop for female entrepreneurs organised by FICCI FLO and TiE Chennai at the Madras Management Association on Saturday. 

Distinguished speakers spearheading various business enterprises from different sectors imparted their learning and wisdom to an enthusiastic audience that consisted primarily of women from various walks of life. The session began with an address by restaurateur Tarun Mahadevan, who emphasised the importance of branding in business. “An entrepreneur is someone who solves problems for a profit,” he said.

“Earlier, it was about the product but today it is about the best-branded product. It is important to ask yourself who your brand is targetting and identifying your customers... You should exploit stupidity! That is how marketing works. Also, engage, update and innovate your business. And lastly be crisp, clear and cocky.” 

Ahalya S, founder and curator of Kanakavalli, spoke about how finding purpose was ‘crucial’ for all entrepreneurs. “You need to find the reason driving you to do what you do,” she said. “Keep returning to your purpose and you will find the clarity to keep going. For us, the purpose has been to keep the craft at the centre of what we do. This is why we never go on sale at our stores because we feel we are discounting someone’s time and not the material... Making money should not be the focus, but the potential by-product of what you do.” 

She went on to add that entrepreneurs, women especially, should learn to be kind to themselves. “You cannot be perfect mothers and perfect bosses,” she said. “And, always understand that everyone’s idea of balance is different. Let go of the expectation of perfection and do what feels right for your family and company at that time. Mistakes are part of the journey and the way you handle them can be defining moments in the journey.”

During the interactive panel discussion moderated by Arun Natarajan, founder of Venture Intelligence, Kumar Vembu, founder and CEO of GOFRUGAL Technologies, spoke of the importance of happiness when it comes to running a business. “One of the biggest lessons I have learned is to focus on the happiness of everyone who does the work, whether it is a team member or a customer,” he said. “If someone is not happy while doing something or interacting with someone, there is something wrong that needs to be corrected. This has helped me manage 360 degrees of the business.” Raji Raju, joint promoter of Vetri Software, shared her experience of being a young businesswoman who has to hold her own in a room full of more experienced people. “I had to be confident and that was very daunting,” she reminisced. “The journey has been transformational though. My husband is a visionary but he was never part of the implementation. It is important to treat failures as a learning experience, and there is a need to maintain your credibility with your customer no matter what. Expansion should be gradual and should not happen very fast and the biggest lesson is that the customer is king.” 

All the panelists spoke of the need to be self-aware and realise one’s own strengths and shortcomings in order to be able to employ people who will be able to complement your skill set and work towards a common goal. Tina Suzanne George, associate vice president of Muthoot Capital Services, too delivered an insightful and inspiring speech.