HYDERABAD: An 18,100-km road trip to interact with entrepreneurs across the country changed her perceptions about enterprise for entrepreneur Bhairavi Jani, who then compiled her insights in the book ‘Highway to Swades’.
The author is a fourth-generation entrepreneur and executive director of the SCA Group of Companies which undertakes activities in the supply chain and logistics sector. She is also director and member of the strategic advisory group at the Cargo Service Centre, India, and Chairperson of Himalayan Essence.
On the eve of Women Entrepreneurship Day on November 19, Jani was in the city to speak about what led to her book.
The book talks about 12 ‘superpowers’. The author intended to present a narrative through stories which people could understand. The content is derived from her experiences from her travels over the past two decades, and especially from the mammoth trip in 2014 when she drove 18,181 km across India for 51 days.
“During the trip, we interviewed a lot of people and gained many insights. You of course see diversity, but also what holds us together. We share some civilisational strengths, which I have called superpowers. We are very enterprising people and we are solution oriented, which is why concepts like ‘jugaad’ do so well in the country,” she said.
The trip had the entrepreneur pondering over questions, such as whether enterprise could be brought in to solve developmental problems of education and healthcare. After the trip, she set up the IEF Entrepreneurship Foundation that trains smallscale entrepreneurs from Tier III and IV towns.
As part of the initiative, CFOs of firms and startup founders teach such entrepreneurs pro bono. Sikkim-based entrepreneur Rewaj Chettri, who has launched 38 enterprises at the age of 27, was discovered via the programme.
Jani does not think there is a lack of women entrepreneurs in India, rather, there is a lack of ecosystem for them. “Even today it is hard for a woman to raise money. Yes there are schemes like Mudra, Jan Dhan Yojana accounts but it’s not enough because women first need to be trained in digital and financial literacy,” she said.
