Women all over the world can say “hello” to entrepreneurship & how they overcome conflicts and challenges to strike success…
Did you know that ‘Hello’ was used as a telephone greeting for the first time by Thomas Edison? We know that “Hello” is the simplest form of greeting one another, and the quickest way to spark off a conversation.
World Hello Day on November 21 is a day earmarked to promote world peace through interpersonal communication. As such, it highlights the importance of greeting people!
Significantly, World Hello Day was begun in response to the conflict between Egypt and Israel in 1973. Since then, World Hello Day has been observed by people in 180 countries. Two very considerate brothers, the Late Brian McCormack, and Michael McCormack (Harvard graduate, famous novelist) created the day as a reaction to the ‘Yom Kippur War’ between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria in 1973.
The day is now promoted to encourage communication and dialogue between people of different backgrounds in order to achieve peace and understanding. People around the world use the occasion of World Hello Day as an opportunity to express their concern for world peace. Beginning with a simple greeting on World Hello Day, their activities send a message to leaders, encouraging them to use communication rather than force to settle conflicts.
So, take time out, break all culture and language barriers, spread a feeling of belongingness, and give your warmest regards to anyone you happen to meet – just by saying “hello”. Remember how a single passing “hello” brings a smile to anyone’s face?
Say “Hello” to entrepreneurship
Now, coming to the world of entrepreneurship, the to-be-founders of businesses have to follow a rough track, while setting up their businesses. And, women entrepreneurs, all over the world have a large number of obstacles to overcome before they can achieve anything. Even in far-flung areas of Africa, women strive for excellence, inspite of facing many obstacles. But, what are the common challenges faced by a women entrepreneur in remote Africa? Chances are high that she has joined the strong surge of women entrepreneurs in dominating the continent with undeniable authority. It’s also likely that her entrepreneurial journey will not be an easy one, simply because of her gender.
While Africa boasts the highest growth rate of female-run businesses in the world, according to the World Bank, women continue to face challenges that are unique to them. From social to financial barriers, we take a look at some of the hurdles that women in the business industry have to overcome on their road to success. African women entrepreneurs face challenges like – limited access to funding, lack of a support network, social norms, self-limiting factorsand so on. Internal self-limiting factors, which have a lot to do with how they are socialised as girls and young women – they are not raised to be leaders, to be assertive, to ask for what they want, to understand their value, or to understand the kind of impact they can make!
Closer home, in India too, the women entrepreneurs have to encounter a host of challenges along their journey. But reality is – the community is growing in numbers and are striking success. And, they are now shining examples to duplicate.
So, today’s a chance for women entrepreneurs all over the world to say “Hello” to the success they can come face-to-face with, in their journey to entrepreneurship. So, step up and welcome greater achievements to make a difference not only in their lives, but of others (by creating jobs) and in the overall business scene too.
Avtar Madan
Himanshu
Shree Lahiri
