One-woman army: Meet 5 Entrepreneurs Who Built Business Empires from Scratch, Making India Proud
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
The MD and chairman of Biocon, India’s largest bio-pharmaceutical company, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw was one of the first women in 1970s’ India to become a brewmaster. Returning to her home town Bengaluru after working in Ireland, Kiran started Biocon in 1978. Starting with just Rs10,000 from her garage, Kiran grew the enzymes-manufacturing firm into a bio-pharmaceuticals company.
In 2004, Biocon became the first biotechnology company in India to issue an IPO and closed its first day with $1.1 billion market value. Biocon was also the first Indian company to get approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for two drugs used in certain cancer treatments.
A recipient of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards, Kiran was recognised as a ‘Technology Pioneer’ by the World Economic Forum, and is also the recipient of many honorary degrees from universities around the world. TIME magazine named her among 100 most influential people in the world in 2010, while Fortune named her one of the 25 most powerful women in Asia Pacific. The only Indian on Forbes’ list of self-made women billionaires, this 66-year-old has pledged to give majority of her wealth to philanthropic work.
Shahnaz Husain
What started as a young women entrepreneur`s dream is today one of the biggest brands in the cosmetic care space: Shahnaz Husain Group. Founder-CEO Shahnaz Husain, now based in Delhi, is globally renowned for her entrepreneurial spirit that has now reached around 1,000 franchise clinics, shops, schools, and spas worldwide.
Married at the tender age of 15, Shahnaz became a mother soon after, but pursued Ayurveda. She trained for 10 years to keep abreast with developments in cosmetic therapy and cosmetic chemistry at leading institutions in the West, like Helena Rubinstein, Schwarzkopf, Christine Valmy, Lancome, and Lean of Copenhagen. Her Ayurvedic formulations for skin, hair, body, and healthcare are available in 150 countries now. Her ventures include Shahnaz Husain Forever Beautiful lifestyle shops, Beauty Training Institutes, and Shahnaz Husain Ayurvedic Spas, all based on her franchise system.
The first entrepreneur from the beauty sphere to receive the Padma Shri Award, Shahnaz Husain’s other international awards include Quality Excellence Award in Geneva, Cannes, and London, the Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur Award in London, Woman of the Millennium Award in US, Woman of the Year Award from the Governor of California, US, and Leonardo da Vinci Diamond Award by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, UK.
Source – One Money
