Celebrating Goa Day on 30 May, sheatwork highlights some prominent Goan women entrepreneurs & some incentives and schemes provided by the government
Goa celebrates a most important occasion – Goa Statehood Day on May 30, 2022. It was on this day in 1987 that Goa ceased to be a Union Territory and became the 25th state of the Union of India. Now that it is – Goa’s 35nd year of statehood, it is indeed a proud moment for Goans. As Goa celebrates its 35th Statehood Day on May 30, President Ram Nath Kovind will preside over the planned event at Raj Bhavanand there will be feicitations galore – as all Goa chief ministers till date will be honoured and others, who have contributed towards Goa’s growth in different field fields like industry, agriculture, education, sports and to name a few.
We take out time to felicitate women entrepreneurs from Goa, and we also list out some government incentives and schemes that may help any woman wanting to step into entrepreneurship.
6 Key Women Entrepreneurs from Goa
>Rina Barreto, Founder & CEO, Cheree Tree Concepts
Cheree Tree Concepts helps clients to identify the resources they require to build their marketing and branding platforms.
Having founded the company at 45, Rina Barreto considers her maturity an advantage, as she is backed by rich experience in the corporate world and as an entrepreneur too, who has learnt from her earlier failed attempt. Interestingly, she believes that Goa has the potential to be a startup hub to match its slot as a tourist hub.
https://www.chereetree.com/
>Ethel Da Costa, Founder, Think Geek Media
Ethel Da Costa, CEO of Think Geek Media, has a background as a writer, having had stints at The Times of India, Tarun Bharat Publications, OHerald Publications, and Radio Mirchi 98.3FM Goa. This led her on to establish a Media, PR, Fashion & Lifestyle Content and Communications media company: Think Geek Media. It involves work managing PR and hosting events for clients and celebrities in Goa, both nationally & internationally.
Having bagged many awards (both for her media career and as an entrepreneur), she has been recognized by the Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Women’s Wing for Valuable Contribution toward Women Empowerment in Media, 2018.
http://thinkgeekmedia.com/
>Siya Shaikh, Founder, Gowomania Goa
Travelling was her passion which brought her to the interiors of Goa, where she connected with women who were running small businesses selling food, snacks and handmade jewellery; but they were struggling to make profits. This inspired Siya Shaikh (a civil engineer, who had worked for corporates in Goa and Pune) to set up Gowomania – as a community where the women entrepreneurs of Goa could promote and sell their products.
Today Gowomania Goa is associated with setting up events such as pop-up events, workshops related to stress management, time management, health management and so on. In their domain is also social work – providing help and financial support to underprivileged families.
https://goagowomania.com/
>Maria Victor, Founder & CEO, Make It Happen
Maria Victor founded Make it Happen, offering tourists a chance to explore less obvious aspects of Goa. Her passion for travel and exploration led her to become an entrepreneur, and this management accountant left her job in Mumbai to focus on creating exquisite Goan experiences for tourists.
A clear differentiator here, is that instead of professional tour guides, they employ locals who are passionate about sharing their heritage and culture. Sharing the secret that led her to initiate this move, she noted – “It was the idea of giving tourism in Goa a new narrative, as seen and lived by Goans”.
https://makeithappen.co.in
>Rachana Deshpande, Founder, aR Consulting
Having moved to US, to pursue her higher education, Rachana Deshpande worked with companies like Citibank, Highmark, and GoldenSource, but it was after a sabatical (after the birth of her son in 2012), that she decided to take a break. She opted to step into entrepreneurship and started aR Consulting, which provides brand management and related services (after her husband took up a job in Goa).
Having expanded its reach from smaller B2C entities, her start-up has moved up the ladder and caters to government projects, MSMEs, corporates, eal estate firms, and educational institutes.
>Sarah Todd, Antares Restaurant and Beach Club
Having fallen in love with Indian culture, on a food demonstration visit, Masterchef Contestant and Australian Sarah Todd chose to settle down in Goa. Fascinated by the Goan charming environment, she started the Antares Restaurant. Besides, she found a link with Queensland with its Great Barrier Reef – its tropical climate, sea and food that is similar to Goa. Plus she felt “like it is a mini slice of Australia”.-
Antares Restaurant and Beach Club located on the shores of Vagator beach is polular today (having triumphed over a fire they esperienced in early 2019).
Incentives for entrepreneurs in Goa
The State Government unveiled the Goa Startup Policy 2021 in November, 2021. The objective is to create and support new startups, and boost economic opportunities in Goa. The earlier 2017 policy expired in 2020 and was extended till September 30, 2021. The Goa Startup Promotion Cell (SPC) worked on updating the policy by seeking inputs from various stakeholders and startups. Ideas were also sought from the Centre’s Department for Promotion of Industry and from Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
https://businessgoa.in/goa-startup-policy-2021/
To encourage investment
Incentives to encourage investment: To encourage investment, the Government recognizes the need to provide incentives to industries. The incentives would primarily be ‘Outcome based incentives’ i.e. based on performance on certain parameters.
All New & Existing Units can avail a rental/ Lease reimbursement on the built up office space lease /rent, up to50% of the Annual Lease Rentals (60% in cases where 30% or more of the employees are women) for a period of 2 years.
Venture Capital Fund
To encourage entrepreneurs setting up new ventures in Goa, the Government is setting up an entity “Ventures Goa” in association with the private sector. Funding for the entity will be through Government and private sector resources. The key aim of the entity will be to invest in new units in Goa. The Government is in the process of bringing out a notification in this regard.
https://www.goaipb.goa.gov.in/incentives-for-entrepreneurs/
Giving a boost to women entrepreneurs
Highly empowered with dedication and backed support of government policies, the frequency of women entrepreneurs is increasing day by day. To encourage women entrepreneurs in their journey to find a place on par with men, and to give a boost to the role of entrepreneurship in the country, click here to find more details:
http://cs-india.com/startup-benefits-for-women-entrepreneurs/
(NOTE: This is based on the secondary research we have done. In case, we have missed out on anything, we request you to please send the information to sheatwork.com.)
Avtar Madan
Content Team
Himanshu
Shree Lahiri
