Shreya: A Business Coach for Indian Women

Meet Shreya Sharan Pawar, she is a business coach to helps Indian women. We had the opportunity to catch up with Shreya and to know his amazing story. Here are the excerpts from the conversation.

I always wished I could turn to someone for advice, support and to learn the nitty gritties of marketing, business strategy and manage work –  life balance. Through my service, I wish to help women entrepreneurs get on their feet more quickly and reduce the learning curve. I help them market their business more effectively, get more clients and increase sales, says Shreya.

 

 

Give a brief info about your startup?

I am a creative business coach for Indian women who wish to “Be Their Own Boss” and build a business and life that they love.

I am on a mission to inspire and empower Indian women to turn their idea into a successful business.

 

 

What made you start your startup and what problem does it solve?

My own experience as a solo entrepreneur was full of challenges & ups and downs. I always wished I could turn to someone for advice, support and to learn the nitty gritties of marketing, business strategy and manage work –  life balance. Through my service, I wish to help women entrepreneurs get on their feet more quickly and reduce the learning curve. I help them market their business more effectively, get more clients and increase sales.

 

 

Tell us about yourself, your previous jobs/ventures? What were you doing before this startup?

I am a proud army wife and a first-generation entrepreneur. I own a brand of vegan, handmade and natural bath and body goodies called Burst of Happyness since 2012. Starting this venture from scratch has been very stimulating and a great source of learning for me.

My desire to coach and help other women is primarily due to my success with Burst of Happyness and I want others to experience the joy and benefit of entrepreneurship themselves

 

 

 

Where is your startup based out of? Why do you think that is the best place for you?

I change locations every few years due to my husband’s job and that’s perfect for me as everywhere I go I get to interact with women and get new clients. Plus a large part of my work involves online consulation, so location is not a barrier for me.

 

 

As a startup founder, what are you paranoid about? What keeps you awake at night?

Honestly, sometimes work gets very overwhelming – especially since I manage 2 ventures. So it is a constant struggle with me to not let my work overtake my life. Self discipline is not something I am very good at but I make efforts towards it J

 

 

Who are your competitions and how are you better than them?

The coaching industry is at a very nascent stage in India and I have a very narrow niche as I only work with women. This is an advantage for me as “I am she” – in the sense – I understand the struggles of being a women entrepreneur in India as I have experienced it first hand. So I customize my sessions to address their concerns and help them build a business and life which are in sync with each other and not in conflict.

 

 

How hard is it to have a work life balance as a startup founder and how do you manage it?

I believe in outsourcing tasks to people who are better at it than me than trying to do it all myself– like SEO, editing etc. I don’t believe in being a jack of all trades. Also, I strongly believe that women should not hesitate in asking for help from parents, in laws or spouse to balance things at home. It has dual benefits – it keeps the family together as you all work towards the same goal and it also prevents you from burning out.

 

 

Have you raised funding? If yes, then we would like to know the details. If no then please tell us if you are looking to raise.

No. Self-financed

 

 

What’s the biggest misconception people have about you? Why do they have that? What’s the reality?

People believe that coaching is expensive and unnecessary as all the information can be “googled”. However, the benefit of business coaching or working with a mentor is that you get customized advice tailored to your need and in addition to that you save a lot of time in learning – so you get results faster. Overall, business coaching works out as a great investment in the business.

 

 

What gets you excited about this company?

I love ideating and teaching. The biggest joy is seeing the “aha” expression on my client’s face when she discovers a new insight to apply to her venture.

 

 

Tell us how a day in your life looks like? Your schedule for a day right from the time you get up till you hit the bed at night.

My days are quite unstructured and vary depending upon my classes and workshops.

But it always begins with a long walk with my dogs followed by a cup of coffee pouring over my bullet journal and making a to-do list for the day. After that I spend about half an hour to respond to emails, social media comments etc and then complete my household chores. Post that I am generally engaged till lunch with my coaching sessions or classes. After lunch, I clock in another 2 hours of work till about 4. Evenings are committed to hobby classes, doggy walks and some me – time.

Post dinner, I take out some time to write my blogs or interviews like this. I prepare in advance for the next day like planning the meals, clothes and other house hold things before going to bed so that it saves me time the next morning.

I generally retire to bed with my kindle and call it a day.

 

Tell us about your team and how did you meet each other?

I don’t have a team as such. I work virtually with freelancers to manage various aspects of my business.