VIA Lady Entrepreneurs Wing (LEW) recently organised an e-session on ‘Women entrepreneurship during COVID: Reflect and Reinvent’ under the leadership of the newly elected Chairperson of LEW-VIA Manisha Bawankar.

Vijayalakshmi Rao, Mentor and Business Advisor, IIT Madras was the chief guest and keynote speaker of the session.

The chief guest, Rao said that women entrepreneurs have the potential to face challenges of COVID-19 pandemic and come out successful if they focus on the 3Cs. The first ‘C’ she explained refers to ‘Connect with Customers’. Women entrepreneurs should communicate with customers and reassure them about getting back to business. She stressed on the importance of restart, recover and revive.

She said, “We need to understand the changing market as this is the best time to diversify and collaborate. Get feedback about the purchasing patterns of customers. Check if the product, pricing, delivery and packaging needs any change. Also, use social media extensively to keep your brand alive.”

She said that the second ‘C’, refers to ‘Conserve Cash’. Entrepreneurs should prioritise spending, cut down all the non-essential expenses and rationalise employee costs. Apart from this, she emphasised on strengthening planning, reviews, monitoring and control.

Rao explained that the third ‘C’ refers to ‘Change in mindset’. “The faster you adjust, the faster you will be comfortable with the new normal ‘work from home’ (WFH), flexi-hours and finalising deals through webinars and video conferencing,” she said.

Accordingly, women entrepreneurs need to learn new skills and upgrade the staff. Accordingly, search websites like NSDC, Startup-India where entrepreneurs can find various free skill development courses, she added.

The programme was conducted by Shikha Khare, Vice-President VIA-LEW. Anita Rao, past President VIA-LEW introduced Vijayalakshmi Rao. Poonam Lala, newly elected Secretary, VIA-LEW proposed the vote of thanks. Present were VIA-LEW EC members Sarla Kamdar, Sarita Pawar, Prafullata Rode, Madhubala Singh, Chitra Parate, Y Ramani, Anjali Gupta, Neelam Bowade, Vandana Sharma, Shachi Malik, Indu Kshirsagar, Rashmi Kulkarni, Yogita Deshmukh and Poonam Gupta.

Suresh Rathi, President VIA and Reeta Lanjewar, IPP VIA-LEW were also present. The programme was attended by a large number of entrepreneurs.