Online startups, one after another, are making headlines with the blessings of social media. And it is of no surprise that many of these startups are women-led proving that no matter how much business tries to intimidate them, they can just choose not to be and own it. Here are two tales of such unique women-led startups that are leading in their respective areas under the management of self-empowered women.
Adeeba Ibnat
Adeeba Ibnat, the owner of Baking Pit, shares her inspiring ups and downs as an online woman entrepreneur of Bangladesh
How did you come up with this e-business idea?
I started the Baking Pit when I was just twenty years old. I thought that maybe I can change it afterwards. But, within a short period of time it became well spread on the social media. And that’s why I never got to changing the name and it kind of got stuck in people’s mind. It was a very random thing that came into my mind when I was just starting. Still to this day I don’t know why I chose this name.
In terms of starting initially, I was always into arts and crafts and I liked baking. It wasn’t as if I was really in love with it but I liked it. Later on, when I started using Facebook and watched a lot of You Tube videos I learned that there is so much more to baking than just cupcakes or small sponge cakes. There are so many things and designs that you can create through baking.
So, I just started one day and got really good responses from everyone. At first, I used to try by myself and upload pictures on my Facebook. From there onwards, my friends used to give me orders and they just wanted to pay for the ingredients.
How did you engage your customers?
It is fully online based right now. I don’t have any shop or store. When I started baking for my friends and family word started spreading. They talked about it with their friends and they shared on their profiles keeping me tagged and this way word really spread from one person to another.
People started complimenting my work by saying that “Yes, she is good and you can order from her.” In this way it kept growing slowly. It was really a great challenge at first, but then again my clients and customers were always very open minded. I was very transparent with them. I let people know that I am the owner and where I am working from.
When you talk to people on a personal level they start trusting you. If it was just a random page where no one knows where I am from or what I do and how I do things, it wouldn’t have worked out the way it did. Even businesses have identities as to who is doing it, what’s the background of it and also I believe that the background of the initiator is also quite important for people.
People have different ideas about how they want to gain followers and earn their trust. It was my job, for sure. I have nothing against anyone who is attempting to find an answer to the question of how to buy Instagram followers. It’s just that I won’t take that route. I believe that everyone has their own journey and that everyone has the right to choose what they want to do. So it’s completely okay if people buy social media followers, likes, or comments in order to boost their account and get noticed by genuine users. /span>
Being a female entrepreneur, how was your initial days in terms of support from the friends and family?
My friends and family were always there for me. They were great help and also they are of help to me now too. I cannot exaggerate it enough. From my parents to my in-laws and friends, they are so very supportive of what I do. Since I hold a full time job now, their support is always a great help in doing what I do.
They don’t help directly in my baking but if I am short of a few ingredients I can ask my husband or my mother in-law to help me out by buying those. But even more their morale support and logistical help is what I appreciate the most. For instance, if I want a cake delivered my husband delivers it for me sometimes when I am unable to go personally.
These small details give me the most happiness. And these supporting roles are very important for me and the success of my business.
What are the professional challenges you faced?
In comparison with other product oriented shops I think the challenges and difficulties are more or less similar. The challenges that we in the baking community face are price points. Compared to other products like jewelry or regular commodities such as clothing and appliances and so on it is easier to bargain for customers. And the sellers are also okay with it.
But in case of us bakers, the price points are almost non-negotiable. If the price of a cake is BDT 3000 then we cannot go below it. And that reason as to why we cannot reduce the price is a big challenge.
The effort we put into making a customized cake is a lot. It is a piece of art itself and each cake is unique there are no other like it. To be honest, these cakes aren’t getting the price which they should be sold at. We give a price point just because we have to. But as we put in our time and ingredients which are of better quality and from good authentic sellers there really is no scope for bargaining.
There is an online community for bakers called BD Bakers, we always try to convey the message that we are always using the best ingredients, we are not going in terms of the quality of ingredients and products and as a result we cannot compromise on the price because it is justified.
How is the scenario for female online entrepreneurs in Bangladesh? Do you see any changes in this sector?
There has been huge changes! I have been in business for nearly 5 years since 2013. No, we have so many women bloggers and influencers and reviewers that it is getting out to people that we are doing really good.
The people’s perception is also changing. Even 5 years ago when I started doing this my father said that, “since you are studying engineering, you are going to become a software engineer.”
But later on, when he saw that I am doing an unconventional thing and that I am good at it. His point of view changed and he started thinking that this can be a career for me too. Then he started saying, “Do you want to do any professional courses or baking courses or whether I wanted to go abroad or not.”
My father thinking the way he did for me coming from a very traditional family was a really big thing. So, the people’s perception is changing along with the increased usage of Facebook and other social media platforms. The participation of women are increasing also many unconventional ways of earning are also being discovered by people.
The positive sides of online business is that I can showcase my products from anywhere in the world. I get to connect with so many people. Even if I am out on a vacation it is not a problem. Also, I am able to market my products for free.
On the other hand, a negative side is convincing people that what you are seeing has been made by me and I can deliver the same thing and it tastes good at the same time. Another negative aspect is, often times we contact with customers of messages so often times we fail to express what we want to say through texts. I said it in a certain way but then the customer may take it otherwise. So miscommunication is also a challenge.
What would be your advice for future online entrepreneurs?
I want to say that never compromise on quality. You might feel that it is too much of an investment whether time wise or monetarily which is what I used to think at first, but you will grow used to it. When your efforts will bear fruits that are equal to it, you won’t feel that way anymore. Secondly, don’t think about what the others are doing. Every individual baker has their individual identities.
Creating original patterns and designs rather than copying others will make your products be more personal to you. So, just experiment and have fun because I love making people happy with my baking as people generally order cakes when it is a happy occasion, I feel like I am able to share their happiness with my baking.
Safa Jahangir and Zarin Tasneem 
Sarin’s Store is about completely organic and homemade beauty products. For which, nature is enough to provide the ingredients, claims the venture. The store is ran by two cousin-sisters, Safa Jahangir, Founder and Owner, along with her cousin Zarin Tasneem, Co-owner.
There are many similar kind of startups which import products from abroad. However, Sarin’s Store collects the ingredients of their products from Bangladesh only, making them stand out.
They aim to promote the use of age-old natural ayurvedic products that are available in Bangladesh and through different processing methods; they bring these products in a usable form for people providing the natural care for people’s skin and hair.
Thanks to which, people are depending less on harmful chemicals rather turning towards nature for the answer.
The origin story behind this start-up is quite a tale. Safa opened the online store in 2016 and made Zarin an admin too. They started with accessories imported from China. However, they always had some family recipes of beauty packs. Then, her friends, one day, gave them the idea of selling those on their page.
So, Safa and Zarin introduced two oils first on the page followed by a secret family recipe pack. When those three started receiving great response from people, they closed the accessories trade completely and started selling organic homemade beauty products.
After that, the two sisters started research to come up with more packs and products like those, studying and experimenting with different natural ingredients. And that has led them to a total of 25 products.
Now, the products you will find in Sarin’s Store are for hair and skin care. There are some single products such as rose powder, neem leaf powder, liquorice powder etc.
On the other hand, there are face packs, hair packs, brightness scrubs, detox clay, mud masks, Arabica body scrub etc of their own recipes. They also have 5 kinds of oil for hair and body. They have a Bridal package too which contains ‘head to toe’ care products. They named it Porineeta meaning ‘complete’.
Sarin’s Store is a completely online based start-up. They run their sales and publicity through facebook and instagram. They sometimes collaborate with bloggers as well.
Through the digital platform, they are able to reach a broader audience all over Bangladesh. And they try to deliver the products to the customers’ homes in 3-7 days.
Attending fairs and exhibitions is another way to get the products out there. Sarin’s Store has participated in 3 fairs so far in MIB, Dhanmondi. Receiving great response, Safa and Zarin are thinking to open an outlet. However, they might share one with others instead of having an entire one just to themselves. Anyhow, they will always run the online store.
Upon the question of women feeling intimidated in business, Zarin Tasneem, Co-Owner of Sarin’s Store does feel it is somewhat true. However, the platform has become very easy now due to internet. People can run businesses from home at present. Yet, many don’t receive support from their families and have cold feet before starting the journey. The key here is to just go for it. Once started, gradually one by one every hurdle goes away.
Sharara Zaheen 
Sharara Zaheen, an artist and a designer, her startup is simply she successfully running her creative freelance career, monetising her strength, creativity and passion while she undergoes the exploration journey of the creative world.
She has slowly built the portfolio of doing almost all kinds of art and design related works. Her business is based on what she can make or create for her clients – whether it is an impromptu card designed for a client’s Akht, or printed murals to fill a client’s 12×12 feet walls.
She started off with the basic concepts. A few years back while being a freshman at Bangladesh University of Professionals, she rediscovered her childhood love of drawing through doodling on her note pads. Soon she started drawing mandalas. Posting the works in social media platforms and getting a huge response inspired her to carry on.
Initially her style was solely based on ink and paper. Her signature style would be intricate patterns and florals done in line art or dot art form.
About a year in this newly found passion, she decided to explore more – mediums, styles and right use of colours. As she slowly entered the digital mediums, with the help of Graphic Design, she was able to do a diverse array of works from creating Bangla lettering to designing logos, drawing portraits, Islamic geometry, packaging artworks and designs, storyboards, character designing, wall murals, t-shirt illustrations, general illustrations and many more.
Her strong use of lines in drawing something is consistent within all the diverse works. All and all, originally her theme is black and white and very detailed.
Her business started when she started getting commission works through social media and exhibitions in 2017. Though, eventually taking commissions on art pieces has slowly decreased as she has started taking on other creative projects down the line.
Now her sole medium of marketing her work is through word of mouth. Every project she takes, she works day and night giving her highest level of effort. That is always translated in the work which brings more work through referral of happy clients. But as for any work, network is always the key.
As the works are very different in nature, she has to price some based on the size of the work, hours of work needed or through a base price for every work.
Primarily, her first commercial projects came through people within her distant circles. To reach a wider audience, social media especially Instagram has played a huge role. Proper and relevant content sharing through social media is another key to increase sales. She focuses on her own story as an artist and her life to base contents on that to brand her name in this industry rather than other branding materials.
Surprisingly, intimidation is something Sharara hasn’t faced much in the creative sector. She won’t say it’s dominated by females, but she has seen a lot of very strong talented figures in this business. But yes, there are some challenges being a woman in this work. But to her those are very negligible. If you’re careful and passionate enough you always figure a way out. That’s what Sharara Zaheen believes.
Writers,
Md Saifuddin Al Quaderi
Jorunalist, Bangladesh Post
And
Tanvir Shams
Journalist, Bangladesh Monitor
