This year’s theme for International Women’s Day – “DigitALL” Innovation and technology for gender equality” is in line with the ‘Digital India’ vision of the Government of India that has been consistent in supporting efforts to bridge the gender-digital-divide to create a truly inclusive and empowered nation.
The tenacity, adaptability and entrepreneurial ingenuity of women entrepreneurs has put them at the forefront of economic growth. As per the NASSCOM report 2022 – in collaboration with Zinnov on India’s start-up ecosystem, 18% of startups in India are led by at least one woman founder or co-founder and the role of women in India’s economic growth story has the potential to be one of the biggest forces.
Here are some inspiring stories of women entrepreneurs from across the country who have successfully built thriving businesses using simple technology solutions like the manual -WhatsApp Business app-an app, built with the small business owner at the centre. It is free to download and benefits a micro-entrepreneur with smart features, besides providing her with a professional digital identity and offering the efficiency of better customer service. Alongside, are also some useful tips for aspiring women entrepreneurs who can start building and scaling their business today, from anywhere, anytime – and all -right from within WhatsApp:
Build your Business profile like Dipti Shah has done.
Dipti is a Khakhra business owner, from Gujarat, and promotes her business using the WhatsApp Business app. As a cancer survivor, when she was confined to her household, she struggled to manage her door-to-door business. By creating her profile on the app, she has been able to reach out to her existing and potential customers from the comfort of her home.
Dipti’s pro tip on growing your business: Build your business profile:
Create a virtual storefront with helpful information for your customers like your logo, business description, hours of operation and address and/or website to inform consumers about your products and service, operational hours, and suchlike.
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Stay connected to your customer like Kavita Mithai of Mumbai does.
Kavita owns a Naturopathy food company and has benefitted from the ‘away message’ feature. She is able to keep her customers engaged, updated and connected at all times.
Kavita’s pro-tip to a thriving business: Stay connected to your customer:
With WhatsApp Business app’s auto-reply features, respond automatically to frequently asked questions or messages received outside your business hours to not only set customer expectations on your availability to respond, but also present yourself as a professional digital business.
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Showcase your business-products as Kuhoo Chandra does. Kuhoo’s ‘ShopKuhoo’ of Dehradun specialises in fossilised flower jewellery
Her Catalog features the entire range of products along with descriptions and price details. The Catalog feature saves time and provides more convenience to her customers as they can simply get all details in one go.
Kuhoo’s protip to growing a business: Showcase your products on Catalog:
The Catalog offers a distinct title along with additional details for each product like price, description, website link, product code, etc. Businesses can showcase all their offerings by simply uploading multiple images at once through this feature while customers get an option to browse through it and select what they need.
Sustain your brand’s presence like Durga Lakshmi does Durga, a bag manufacturer based in Chennai, is known to make customizable jute bags, cotton bags, cloth bags, and nano bags. With the Status feature, Durga’s business on the WhatsApp Business App, regularly uploads product pictures and keeps their customers apprised of their new product range/price. This has helped them attract potential buyers.
Durga’s protip to sustaining your brand’s presence: Use the ‘Status’ feature:
The Status feature will help to easily communicate information to your customers on ongoing deals, the latest features, and more.
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Use ads that click back to WhatsApp just like Geeta Kundel does. Geeta’s NM Pickles used Click to WhatsApp Ads to attract new customers. With an investment of merely Rs. 1500/- in these ads on other social surfaces like Instagram and Facebook, NM Pickles was able to secure sales from a new set of online customers who got interested in the product and messaged them on WhatsApp to understand more. Geeta believes that ads that click to WhatsApp are useful to promote business and gain an incremental audience.
Geeta’s protip to make your brand more discoverable: Add a call-to-action button:
The ‘call-to-action’ button on your Facebook and Instagram ads when clicked, opens a conversation-thread with your business from a new and interested customer directly on WhatsApp.
