Women power to the fore

Women constitute about 50 per cent of the world’s population, perform 66 per cent of the global work, but receive only 10 per cent of the total income and sadly, own just about one per cent of property! “On the contrary, women-owned businesses represent 32-39 per cent of all businesses across the globe,” pointed out Virginia Littlejohn, advisor, WEConnect, a corporate led non-profit organisation that helps women entrepreneurs succeed in the global market.

Comparing Indian women-owned businesses to that of the global companies, she said, “Honestly, the data recorded by the Indian government over the number of similar registered groups is not very clear. It shows only 7.5 per cent of the total ones registered. I believe, if we get the statistics updates, tap the market, India will do wonders.”

She aired her views at an exclusive round table conference on market opportunities for women-owned businesses held in the city on Monday. Representatives from the respective groups came forward to know how their firms can achieve more profit. WEConnect is formed jointly by many MNCs such as Ernst & Young, Coca-Cola, Accenture, IBM, Marriott, Dell, Microsoft, Motorola, Pfizer and others. “They all together represent $700 billion annual purchasing power,” informed Sucharita Eashwar, Executive Director India, WEConnect International.

When a women’s enterprise is certified by WEConnect, the companies outsource some of their products or services from it. “Women make over 70 per cent of consumer purchase decisions and impact over $12 trillion. But woman is invisible in the global value chain as a supplier. We will together change this,” she said.

WEConnect will be in India for six months and will focus on 10 major cities. It has partnered with CII, eMARG, MAWE, NASSCOM, SEWA, COWE and the World Bank. Globally, WEConnect has certified 673 women business enterprises across 34 countries, of which 136 are from India, and just one from Andhra Pradesh, Vision 2K+ Inc. Specialising in offering strategic medical business solutions, the company became Andhra Pradesh’s first WEConnect certified women-owned enterprise. Run by P Soudhamini, the company offers services such as medical transcription, coding and billing, EMR and POS and MBPO Services. It has about 500 employees and 1000+ clients all over USA. “I feel very proud to be the first one from the city to have been certified by WeConnect,” Soudamini said.