School where women hone their business skills

Vineeta was teaching in a college in Bangalore after her design studies from Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Canada. Although she was thinking of starting a business, she was not sure how to start and where to arrange for the funds.

At this juncture, she came to know of the management programme for women entrepreneurs (MPWE) being offered by the N S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (NSRCEL), the entrepreneurial arm of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB).

Soon after completing the course in 2005, she started her own design studio Apala Creations, in partnership with Sachi, a fellow student. Sachi, a product of NIFT, Mumbai, was a freelance designer before joining the course.

"Now we have our own identity and apart from holding exhibitions in various parts of the city at regular intervals, we also supply garments to boutiques and showrooms," Vineeta told Business Standard on the sidelines of her exhibition in Bangalore.

Vineeta and Sachi both feel that the course has helped them become entrepreneurs. "First of all, we learnt how to start a business, how to get it registered and how to go for a bank loan. This apart, when we put forward our business proposals before the expert team at NSRCEL as part of the curriculum, they helped us find the scope of the segment and the market viability of the products," said Vineeta.

"Even a year after completing the course, though we have started a design studio, the faculty is continues to be supportive, providing regular advice whenever we knock on their doors during any need," she added.

The MPWE programme which was launched by the NSRCEL in 2003, has succeeded in nurturing many budding women entrepreneurs by providing them specific skills in finance, marketing and strategy.

Said N Nagaraj, the COO of NSRCEL, "During the last three years, many women from diverse backgrounds; from those looking to start enterprises like schools, beauty clinics, lifestyle stores and boutiques, to women who came from family-run businesses, had availed of the programme."

This had helped them with a clear-cut vision of building, expanding or taking charge of their family business as well as taking up a fresh initiative, he added.

Suja Issac, executive director of Soukya, a holistic health centre in Bangalore said, "Going for the MPWE programme helped me fine-tune various aspects of running a business-like financial management and HR practices."

Besides, the programme, which is not just simply theory but involves a lot of field work, interaction with successful women entrepreneurs, helped boost the confidence to manage a business, she added.

Soukya, being run by Suja and her husband Issac Mathai, a holistic health consultant, offers different systems of medicine like ayurveda, homoeopathy and naturopathy with a range of complimentary therapies like yoga, acupuncture, reflexology and accupressure.

Participants in the MPWE programme are expected to be graduates or diploma holders in any discipline with a good working knowledge of English, said Anjana Vivek, the course co-ordinator of MPWE.

"Over two modules, the programme we offer comprises 80 classroom sessions, covering relevant topics for women entrepreneurs,'' she added.

According to Ganesh Prabhu, course director of MPWE, the topics included in the programme are marketing management, marketing research, sales management, accounting, funding sources, legal aspects, financial projections and management, taxation, productivity and quality management, industry analysis and business planning and, negotiation and networking skills.

Each participant is required to work on her own business plan and present it for feedback to the IIMB faculty during the second module of the programme. Handholding and guidance is then undertaken on a need basis, he added.

For outstation participants looking for accommodation during the training programme, NSRCEL is providing single-seater semi-furnished accommodation at the IIMB students' hostel. Air-conditioned executive accommodation is also available at a higher price.