Well, When
you are used to living behind a veil, opening a store for your business isn’t
going to happen. This is why women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have gone online.
Take for example, Abida Jillani, who is a pioneer of home-based exhibitions. She runs a home-based shop called Durshal, which means “doorstep”. She started it 15 years ago and now, with the help of the internet, has a whole new client base: women who tend to stay at home.
Take for example, Abida Jillani, who is a pioneer of home-based exhibitions. She runs a home-based shop called Durshal, which means “doorstep”. She started it 15 years ago and now, with the help of the internet, has a whole new client base: women who tend to stay at home.
After
her husband died, Jillani said that instead of staying home and wallowing in
self-pity, she decided to work and support her family. She learnt how to sew and,
with Rs5,000, started a business. She now holds exhibitions across the
province.
“A
woman is soft, like a butterfly’s wings, and fine like steel. Once she blooms
everyone will realize her true potential,” she says.
Some
areas as perfect for investment because they are considered the domain of
women: bridal clothes, embroidery, block-printing, quilts and bed linen are
some products. Many women have expanded this to online pages for interior
decorations, carved mirror frames, herbal oils, bags, jewelry and makeup.
They
even have private exhibitions for women only at their homes in Peshawar.
Nabeela
Farman, the manager of women entrepreneurship at SMEDA Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, says
that it is all about women’s links to national and international companies and
government and non-governmental organisations.
“Things
are changing. Pakhtun women, who were once considered ‘backward’, are now
competing in the national market with new ideas and designs,” she says. “With
their home-based exhibitions they want to inspire people and are definitely
doing it.”
Razia
Bano, who started her entrepreneurial journal with a sewing machine and later
set up her own boutique, says it isn’t easy but she never gave up. She is a
single mother.
Malaika
Orakzai represents a Dubai-based company selling faux eyelashes. She says women
no longer have to go through the hassle of actually visiting shops; they can
now simply select the products they want on the website and pay via cash on
delivery.
Javed
Iqbal Khattak, the head of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development
Authority in KP, says that the government has taken some initiatives to provide
financial support as well as training to help women run their own businesses.
Karandaaz
Pakistan is coordinating efforts to facilitate women who own small and
medium-sized enterprises through research, innovation, providing a digital
platform and financing.
The
State Bank of Pakistan has launched a ‘Credit Guarantee Scheme’ for women in
which financial assistance can go up to Rs1.5 million. The National Incubation
Centre in Peshawar is showing the women with small businesses how to set up
their digital platforms and launch their
startups.
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