India’s entrepreneurial landscape has seen significant transformation in recent years, particularly with the rise of women entrepreneurs. As of 2024, women are making notable strides in the business sector, driven by a combination of increased access to resources, evolving societal attitudes, and supportive government policies. Women entrepreneurship in India has been on an upward trajectory. Recent studies and reports indicate that women now constitute approximately 20 percent of the total entrepreneurial population in the country. The proliferation of digital platforms and tools has lowered the entry barriers for women entrepreneurs, enabling them to start and scale businesses with relatively modest investments.
The founder of the Zarine Manchanda Foundation, Zarine Manchanda, is one of the most Persuasive Women Leaders. Zarine faced many obstacles during her initial stage, but her tenacity and fortitude enabled her to go past failures in both her professional and charitable undertakings. She has had a tremendous impact on society through her foundation, and her success story is proof of the strength of tenacity in the face of difficulty. Zarine is deserving of her place on our list of significant women leaders because of her continuous dedication to building an opulent and socially conscious environment.
The Inception story
Zarine’s, father was a well-known businessman and a politician in Himachal Pradesh. She shifted to Mumbai to follow her childhood dream of becoming a Bollywood actor. But even after taking acting classes and going to a lot of auditions, success in the business remained elusive. The Zarine Manchanda Foundation was established in 2019 as a result of Zarine’s unwavering pursuit of a political career and advice to establish a charitable foundation.
Since then, the charity has managed more than 300 donation initiatives for Mumbai’s poorest citizens, gaining her the title of “Princess of the Poor” and extensive media coverage in some of India’s most well-known newspapers and magazines.
Zarine founded the Zarine Manchanda café during the COVID-19 epidemic, inspired by the success of her foundation. Although there were many difficulties at first, the venue soon became the buzz of the town for Bollywood’s A-list audience. Zarine’s business drive took off as franchise inquiries and offers for her café began to come in from all over the world, including India.
Beating the odds
A prominent figure in Indian politics and business is Zarine, had to overcome a number of obstacles on her path to success before she could get to where she is now. Building her political base was Zarine’s initial objective. But completing the assignment was not simple. Her long battle to gain recognition in Bollywood was a disheartening time in her life. Zarine didn’t waver in her will to pursue her objectives in spite of these obstacles.
The decision Zarine made to launch her foundation marked a sea change in her life. The foundation helped her overcome obstacles in her profession and provided her a renewed sense of focus and purpose. Zarine made a beneficial contribution to society through the foundation, which gave her the self-assurance and encouragement she needed to achieve.
When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, Zarine had to deal with additional difficulties despite the success of her charity. Her foundation and café were impacted by the epidemic, so she had to find new ways to carry on with her philanthropic activities and maintain operations. Zarine’s tenacity and fortitude, however, enabled her to overcome these obstacles, allowing her to reopen her café for regular business hours and expand the scope of her foundation’s charitable endeavours.
The post-covid scenario
Zarine Manchanda considers the ways in which the epidemic has impacted Indian entrepreneurship. Zarine has seen certain shifts in the business world, though she cannot speak for other CEOs. To the best of her knowledge, the epidemic has made many businesses reevaluate how they do business. There has been an increase in remote employment, which has made people in India and throughout the world feel more alone. But the pandemic has also released a powerful force: the need for individuals to have a strong sense of personal connection with one another while they are out and about.
Zarine Manchanda thinks her enterprises have benefited from this need for connection. She aims to foster an environment of friendliness and community that transcends standard business-to-business interactions. This “spiritual charm,” as she refers to it, has enabled her enterprises to prosper even in the post-pandemic period.
The future roadmap
Zarine is planning to expand her company and grow her companies internationally. With her wide array of businesses, which include a café and cloud kitchen, a charitable foundation, and high-end security services that provide an opulent experience with a spiritual twist, she has already established herself in Mumbai. Zarine’s first move toward growth is to offer her café and high-end security businesses for franchising. She intends to introduce her distinct brand of luxury with a spiritual twist to the international market in an effort to build a devoted following and build her brand.
Zarine has a bigger plan than just growing her companies. She also intends to use her foundation to have a big social influence. Her CSR procedures are currently in operation, but she intends to expand her foundation by naming schools, orphanages, and senior care facilities after herself, as well as by offering free food canteens for the underprivileged, a large number of ambulances, and mobile medical clinics to deliver essential medical care in the slum cells.
Visit Zarine Manchanda – LinkedIn Profile
