Films

Women students break stereotypes, start businesses online

Srinagar: They are still in their college and have already established their businesses.

 

The urge to do something new and to “prove that girls are no less than boys” made these two friends, Rabiya Maqbool and Peerzadi Ainain, start their own apparel businesses, online.

The 21-year-old friends, both students of Women’s College MA Road, sell designer wears, Abhayas, Kaftans and other girl accessories by getting orders over social networking sites.

 

“I always desired to do something that would make my parents proud and make myself happy as well. With economics as my core subject, I naturally had an affiliation for business. So I came up with this idea,” says Maqbool, a resident of Srinagar.

Over three months back, Maqbool started a whatsapp group ‘The Apparels’ and marketed her products to her friends and relatives. As the orders started coming and she started home delivery of the products, more and more people joined her group.  She also started marketing the products over her facebook and instagram pages.

 

Same was the case with Ainain’s ‘Elegant Drape’.

 

“I keep uploading the pictures of my products on these pages along with their price list and other related information. The clients select their product, book it, prepay and it gets delivered at their homes in a few days,” says Ainain, who is doing her BA.

 

“Apart from this, we offer very reasonable price, much lower than the market rate as we directly deal with the Delhi and Mumbai based wholesalers,” she says.

However, all this was not easy for the girls. Maqbool says that there were some who tried to hold her back saying she can’t do it being a girl.

“Many people told my parents that I am a girl and could not handle a business but my parents ignored them and always believed in me and encouraged me. Today, I am managing everything on my own and my sister assists me,” says Maqbool.

Ainain says that women entrepreneurs always fascinated her. “I feel that a woman should try to empower herself and rise above all the societal pressures,” she says.

Not only the societal pressures, even technological and political upheavals pushed them back. “The recent social media ban affected our business to some extent but the use of proxy apps and vpn (to circumvent the ban) by our customers didn’t allow it to get worse.Moreover I am in a process to make my own website,” says Ainain.

The response of people owing to the design of clothes and reasonable prices has been overwhelming for the girls.

“We never thought of such response in just a few months but this gives us the confidence to do more,” the duo says.