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Educate yourselves; be open-minded, entrepreneurship mantra for women: Falguni Nayar, Founder and CEO, Nykaa

Dec 17, 2021

NEW DELHI, 17 December 2021: Ms Falguni Nayar, Founder and CEO, Nykaa today, said that the business landscape in India is constantly evolving, and one must be ready to learn, unlearn and re-learn.

Addressing FICCI's Annual Convention & 94th AGM on the theme India Beyond 75, in discussion with Ms Naina Lal Kidwai at the Power of Women Entrepreneurship session, Ms Nayar said that women should pursue an extensive education, which does not mean formal education at colleges but on the job.

"Women should be open to learning not just their strengths, but if they are strong in finance, they should be able to learn marketing, technology, supply chain, because today's successful businesses need all of that and more", she said. She added that women entrepreneurs must build the right networks and relationships required to succeed.

Ms Naina Lal Kidwai, Past President FICCI and Chairman Advent India Advisory Board said, women constitute 13.8% of the total entrepreneurs in India, of which 16-17% employ people; the balance 83% are self-employed. Women entrepreneurship is skewed mainly towards small-size firms, with almost 98% being micro-enterprises and over 90% falling under the informal sector.

On ensuring that women and girls thrive in the technology-oriented digital world, especially post-COVID, Ms Nayar stated that technology has become critical to businesses everywhere and gender disparity in education, especially at higher levels, needs to be reduced. "Quality of education across all levels needs to be improved. We need to inculcate critical thinking and analytical bent of mind, and fluency in critical languages like English", she said. Besides, she also highlighted the family's role in ensuring girls' education.

Alluding to the remarkable progress on the sex ratio front as per the recent National Family Health Survey, she said, "India has made a lot of progress to allow girls to be born, now, give them a right to dream.

Additionally, she stated that the country rightly emphasises technology education and higher education, which is visible in the high concentration of Indians in the global CEOs and the senior management pool. However, there is a need for equal opportunity for women. "I would like equal opportunity for women and an acceptance of the fact that for them, their dreams are important", she said.

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