“Technology and Social Media have brought power back to the people”, said Mark McKinnon. The women fraternity have been only too happy to prove him right.

More and more women are finding their voice, confidence and even careers online. While social media is definitely a great source of entertainment and information online, women and especially moms are establishing their identities as entrepreneurs on the Social Media platform.

What makes Social Media the natural choice for women in business? Author Carol Smallwood, in her book, “Women, Work and the Web,” pegs three main motivations for women using social media for business.

Connecting with others, increasing revenue and establishing a positive business image. While these are true for every business, it lends another important dimension to women in business because it offers them a lifeline during their most crucial child-rearing years- flexibility and physical proximity to the child. With women multitasking and working full-time, they are emerging as super users of technology.

This Mother’s Day, Kidskintha brings to you some super-women who totally rocked it on social media and gave their businesses an identity and a face-lift- with NO offline presence. In some cases, they spun off the offline store following their huge success online rather than vice versa. In other words, their online presence was not just to support a brick-and-mortar business. It entirely began and thrived on Social Media. And this is just a compilation of ONE social media tool- FaceBook.

Read on to find out about the whats and hows of the game.

Category: Jewelry

1. Suman Dash : Founder of Vastradi Jewels

An engineer by profession who pursued a corporate career till motherhood came calling. Her early days spent supporting non-profit organizations made her sensitive to the living conditions of artisans involved in making exclusive jewellery and sarees. In 2010, she flagged off her enterprise by showcasing and selling exclusive Sambalpuri sarees online. When she introduced ethnic jewellery to her line, she was overwhelmed when she had export orders the very first week. The ease of doing business with her kept her customers coming back to her.

On why she prefers  Social Media over traditional business models: 

1. High investment needed for offline stores.
2. Wider reach and faster visibility
3. Reviews and feedback by customers can be quickly seen and acted upon. Positive feedback has a great ripple effect.
4. You don’t come across as a big company but as a human-being and it becomes less intimidating and customers connect with you easily.

On her everyday challenges:

Digital/Online media has become expensive over time and the competition is growing by the minute. Having meaningful content on our business page to keep the customer glued to Vastradi Jewels is a challenge.

On her Happy-customer factor:

1. Keeping a constant stream of relevant content on the page.
2. Continuously monitoring her page and responding to customers
3. Keeping a watchful eye out for spam comments.
4. Effectively showcasing new products on a daily basis.
5. Focusing on engagement from customers rather than likes on the page.

2. Jyothi Radhakrishnan: Founder, Mayuri jewels

An IT professional by day and a jewellery entrepreneur by night, Jyothi Radhakrishnan enjoyed mending her own jewellery even as a child. She re-discovered her passion by reading extensively on semi-precious stones and jewellery only a couple of years ago. Her passion turned into a venture when her friends swooned over some pieces of jewellery she made and immediately bought them. After selling just 10 pieces, Jyothi decided to set up an FaceBook Page and soon she was receiving orders from everyone.

On why she prefers  Social Media over traditional business models: 

1. Just sharing a picture of a good product has the potential to attract interested customers.
2. Word of mouth works great when other people see that their friends have liked and bought something from a page. Its a personal recommendation every-time.
3. Quick turn-around time in response.
4. Ease of doing business since all it requires is the Bank account details for the transaction to be complete

On her everyday challenges:

1. Reaching out to customers outside India is a challenge.

Designs can be easily copied since there is such a vast reach.

On her Happy-customer factor:

1.  Ensures only the finest of beads and Silver go into her jewellery.

2. Takes care to see that all her products are sent via insured courier and tracks them meticulously with her customers.

 Category : Apparel

 3. Kavya VijayaKumar: Founder, SevenFolds Boutique

After her wedding, Kavya began to work with a friend and while researching the market to start a T-Shirt business.That’s when she hit upon the idea to start SevenFolds- a unique saree boutique.

On why she prefers  Social Media over traditional business models: 

1.  1. No expensive investment for real-estate and stocking up.

•  2. Budget for advertising has been low so far as word has spread through people using and liking her products.

On her everyday challenges:

1. Difficult to cater to customers who want to touch and feel the product before buying it.

2. The page has to be very high on the novelty factor to keep pace with the competition and the rising expectations of the customer.

On her Happy-customer factor:

Has an easy exchange policy where the product can be returned if not found satisfactory.

4. Trina Basu : Founder, The Bong Connection

After her second kid, Trina Basu was certain that wont go back to her corporate life. Given her passion to dress well and hailing from West Bengal , a cultural oasis for different weaves, Trina hit upon the idea to bring a little bit of her own state and sprinkle it all over the world.

On why she prefers  Social Media over traditional business models: 

1. The convenience of availability 24*7.

2. Very little manpower required for the reach we get on Social media.

3. Just focus on good products and watch the power of word of mouth unfold.

On her everyday challenges:

Solely dependent on business online makes it miserable on the days the net goes down or FB goes down.

On her Happy-customer factor:

1. I ensure great quality and a reasonable price.

2. I also follow up with the customer till the product reaches them, and maintain relationships even after delivery.

3. Feedback and pictures of my customers in my sarees make it very fulfilling for me.

 

Category: Food/Baking

5. Aalia Liaquat: Founder, Fruits of Baking.

 

Inspired by her fabulous cook of a mom to take up baking as a profession.

On why she prefers  Social Media over traditional business models: 

Doing business online saves a lot of time and saves her from the horrendous traffic. It is also the perfect solution for her mom challenges of raising 2 young children.

On her everyday challenges: Just keeping the page buzzing with exciting content requires a lot of focus.

On her Happy-customer factor:

1. 1. Maintaining good relationships with her clientele.
2. 2. Responding to feedback quickly

6. Anu Pama : Founder, Fudge Galaxy 

It was one Diwali that accidentally led her to discover her talent. She made her mom’s signature chocolate fudges and packed them off to friends and family on the occasion of the festival. She was overwhelmed when they got back with more orders for their own cicle of friends. To set up a FB page was the next logical step for her.

On why she prefers  Social Media over traditional business models: 

1. Helps her stay at home with her toddler son.
2. Helps her reach out to millions of customers who might otherwise not step into a physical store.
3. Word-of-mouth is almost on auto-pilot mode. When people like it, just one like or comment can get several other people connected.

On her everyday challenges:

1. Keeping the transaction seamless. When people walk into a physical store, there is lot of scope for impulse purchase; especially for desserts. But, since online orders involve the process of a bank transfer, the scope for business through an impulse purchase is drastically reduced.

       2. Keeping the page relevant and alive in order not to be forgotten in a hurry.

  On her Happy-customer factor:

1. Confirm the specifications of an order by sending messages to the customer beforehand.
2. Respond to feedback quickly.

Gauri Tanmoy: Co-founder, The Winking Macaron

Having been part of the hospitality industry, Gauri Tanmoy found it a natural progression to start an eatery of her own. The Winking Macaron came into existence to not only fill the customer’s bellies with food but also laughter and fun.

On why she prefers  Social Media over traditional business models: 

1. Being able to upload pictures of food ups the appeal of what we can offer.
2. Making orders on customization is so much easier online.
3. Quick trun-around time is a great boon with social media.
4. Following up on feedback is also easier with social media.

On her everyday challenges:

None. Our strategy of reaching out to a select audience [ as ours is a premium brand] works perfectly through social media.

On her Happy-customer factor:

Availability is a huge factor. We are always available for our customers on Fb and Whatsapp. Prompt response to queries is something we never miss on.

Laxmi Bangera Pillai: Founder, The Magic Oven

A teenage baker who discovered her baking skills quite accidentally, Laxmi Bangera didn’t give her passion a second thought till she had to give up her corporate career after she became a mom. When her husband and his friends were floored by her cakes, she decided to set up an Fb page to expand her reach.

On why she prefers  Social Media over traditional business models: 

1. 1. Ability to engage with customers in real-time.
2. 2. Instant feedback and popularity can really do wonders to your confidence levels.

On her everyday challenges:

Competition is huge and it is a challenge to keep traffic coming to your site. Once we have customers, getting and keeping them forever engaged and intrigued is another challenge.

On her Happy-customer factor:

Constant interaction with my customers ensures that we are on the same page and there is no mismatch in expectations.

Category: Kid Entertainment 

 Parul Kumar – Founder, Parulcraft

Inspired by art herself, Parul decided to inspire children into art and handicrafts. ParulCraft deals with teaching children arts, handicrafts, quilling, and interesting recycling and up-cycling products.

On why she prefers  Social Media over traditional business models: 

1. Having an online presence spares a lot of time for research.
2. It becomes so much easier to showcase the work of her students bu just uploading a pic or sharing a video tutorial.
3. Response-time to queries/suggestions is amazingly low.

On her everyday challenges: The vast reach and easy searchability makes it very easy to plagiarize designs.

On her Happy-customer factor: Involves her student’s parents in the artwork and promotes the child’s artwork on her own platform.

Deepti Belliappa Ganapathy: Founder, Cavalry Cottage

Deepthi was inspired by the idea of creating an open venue for kids to have a taste of childhood that existed for us in the past and not the kinds that exist now which largely include malls, fancy activity centres etc. So she set out to create  a haven for children that hosts workshops, birthday parties, picnics over a 1-acre farm.

On why she prefers  Social Media over traditional business models:

Social media provides a lot of relevant reach which is rare and ensures no wastage. With the added advantage of being wallet-freindly, the option of communicating with relevant and myriad groups on social media makes it effective and easy. It gives you the platform to keep your customers engaged and interacted. It helps our customers see value with a host of experiences that we involve with while also keeping our interactions and engagements relevant to our audience.

On her everyday challenges:

A like does not mean engagement or conversion. Exploring social media is lucrative and exciting, but it is essential to drive engaging and clear strategies while exploring this medium.

On her Happy-customer factor: 

Need to ensure all communication is ongoing, transparent and effective. We need to create innovative and creative ways to make them want to visit us and experience our services.

While most of us stick to making friends on Facebook, these moms went one step further and made Facebook their friend.

Are you momspired yet?