April 12: Two women entrepreneurs have shared their experience of entrepreneurial journeys during a program under the Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards. 

Basumaya Tamang and Sewa Pathak narrated their stories of enterprise journey in a program called 'Niyatra-Shi Odyssey' organized at the Center for Leadership and Entrepreneurship in Lalitpur on Monday. Tamang is the director of Nepali Mann Udyog while Pathak is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vianet Communications Pvt Ltd. 

Tamang, who is successful in producing timur pickles in Nepal and exporting them to different countries in the world, shared her experiences of achieving success in this business. She shared her stories from carrying sand from the river bank to making candles. Prior to making pickles, she said she was involved in roadside vendor business selling products with the help of a cart. Currently, she employs 90 women. Tamang, who has already expanded her branch in the UK, said that she is preparing to open a branch in Dubai soon. 

“I am able to reach this stage today by struggling without giving up under any circumstances,” she said at the storytelling event. She also suggested women wanting to enter into entrepreneurship to do something different than what others are doing. 

Speaking on the occasion, Pathak, CEO of Vianet, shared her experience of working as a finance manager at Shikhar Insurance in her early days after becoming a Chartered Accountant. After some time, she started working for her husband’s company Vianet. After the introduction of ‘Fiber-to-the-home’ technology, she says that she worked full time in the company for its implementation. With time, she started working as the CEO of the company. 

She shared that when she came up with a business plan for loan with various banks, they used to ask questions only to her husband. She adds, “People are still hesitant to trust women.” She says that we can be successful in business if only we can overcome such a mentality. 

Everybody has a problem in maintaining work-life balance at the same time. Pathak believes that in this case, success can be achieved by allocating time on priority basis. 

Academic Director of the Center for Leadership and Entrepreneurship Bijay Anand Sharma Timilsina delivered the welcome address. Madan Lamsal, president and editor-in-chief of New Business Age, highlighted about the program on the occasion. 

The event was attended by various professionals and women entrepreneurs.  

Standard Chartered Bank is the main sponsor and Muktinath Bikas Bank Limited is the co-sponsor of the Summit and Awards that is going to be held in Kathmandu on April 26. Likewise, the medical partner for the event is Star Hospital. Center for Leadership and Entrepreneurship is the knowledge partner, Turkish Airlines is the airlines partner, Daraz is the ecommerce partner, NECO Insurance Limited is the insurance partner and Dish Home FiberNet is the internet partner. 

Similarly, the event is also supported by Agriculture Development Bank, Sipradi Trading, Reliable Life Insurance, Progressive Finance Limited, National Life Insurance, Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal (FWEAN), Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and Nepal Rastra Bank. 

New Business Age has been conducting various awards programmes to help in the promotion of industry, business and entrepreneurship. A similar program to honor women entrepreneurs was held on January 31 last year.