The road to entrepreneurship has never been an easy task for the women in India. Time and again, our male dominated society has considered the fairer sex as a home body who lacks skills and ability to endure the corporate culture. However, the women of today’s era are rising above these gender barriers and are aiming to create opportunities for themselves, being their own bosses, and striking the right balance between workplace and home. With female rising as successful as men in all walks of life, the tables have turned. Women are having an edge over the male entrepreneurs, and are successfully marking a niche for themselves in the world of business. As each women writes down her own success story, the entrepreneurship journey of Punita Shethia is another one from the same book.
Born and brought up in West Bengal, Punita always aspired to be an entrepreneur, however the lack of right opportunity and guidance acted as a major set back for her. Fortune favoured her when her husband decided to quit the corporate world and start a business of his own. So, in 2014, the duo, Punita Shethia and her husband Rajesh Shethia co-founded Rajesh Shethia Consultants - a Sales Talent staffing firm specialized in sales professionals’ recruitments. And thus Punita’s journey began as an entrepreneur.
Bridging the Gender Gap
Economic analysis indicates that the low level of training and education, and limited access to the available resources is one of the main obstructions in female growth. Adding to this Punita says, “The need to improve the status of women globally as well as to promote their development is no longer an issue of social justice or human rights alone, but it has become an issue for every one.
It is essential to expand opportunities for women, not only to repress women’s equality in the society but it also makes economic sense.” Women investment is now an important step to sustain development in every country. Making her contribution towards this, Punita has also completed a course in Women Entrepreneurship from IIM – Bangalore.
Aiming to create more career opportunities for women, Punita is roping in more female workers at Rajesh Shethia Consultants.
Aiming to create more career opportunities for women, Punita is roping in more female workers at Rajesh Shethia Consultants. “When I decided to be an entrepreneur, there were two key objectives. First, to set up and grow a profitable venture and second, to provide opportunities to women that could help them build their careers,” utters Punita. Thus, Punita only hires women employees for her business.
The company follows a strict five day working week schedule with fixed work hours and no employee is allowed to stay beyond office hours or carry work home. Punita also ensures that the team is able to maintain a very healthy work life balance and is able to devote maximum time with their families. Every employee is given opportunities to explore new areas in their work keeping them engaged and motivated at the same time.
Setting a Path to Follow
As per Punita, to maintain balance between professional and personal life, one must avoid bringing workplace stress back home. She says, “Right planning is everything. It allows scheduling most of my activities during work hours and helps me reduce working on ad-hoc activities during my personal time. Also, I make sure that I take off time at regular intervals for short family breaks.”
Women like Punita Shethia are setting a path for other women to follow in the coming years. Summing up her entrepreneur experience, Punita speaks, “To be successful, one must start with a business that works for you. It is important to be able to solve a problem and be a long term player rather than running after valuations. Keep your network strong, have faith in your idea and stay determined, rest all can be accomplished.”