Hyderabad: Small scale one-day exhibitions in function halls have become the new popular in the city. However, these events have been doing much more than just bringing multiple home grown brands under one roof, as the exhibitions have also become a platform for women entrepreneurs to explore various markets and experiment with fewer risks.
Siasat.com spoke to a young organizer of such exhibitions and enquired about the prospects of success for local developing businesses, specially the one that are spearheaded by women.
“Education and employment is one way of women empowerment, but it is a super lengthy process and women have to face a lot of obstacles on the way of achieving it. That’s why I believe in empowerment of women by letting them become owners and distributors of means of production,” said 23-year-old entrepreneur and MBA student Mohammed Aftab Khan.
Aftab Khan started organizing his own exhibitions since October 2019 at GM function hall, Nanalnagar. So far, he along with a small team has organized two exhibitions there by the name of Royal Expo. He further said that the Royal Expo is an ideal platform for local women entrepreneurs to sell and promote their businesses.
“Although there are many such exhibitions happening around the city, only a few of them are social responsibility driven and the rest are profit driven,” Aftab stated, claiming that a big percentage of the profit of the exhibition goes to NM Charity, which is an non-governmental organization(NGO) run by his father.
“It’s not that wanting profit is bad, because at the end of the day even I need some income. But making profit the sole purpose of organizing these exhibitions will deprive capable women entrepreneurs of the exposure they need which could in turn elevate the economic status of the entire community,” Aftab added.
The third Royal Expo is to be held on October 10 at GM Function Hall Nanalnagar, in which there will be a 10% discount for local women entrepreneurs, Aftab informed.
Faliza, owner of Faliza boutique, one of the many women entrepreneurs who had set-up their outlets in the expo, said that being a woman the Royal Expo had helped build her business. “It gave me a platform to increase my network and this year too I’m looking forward towards meeting more women entrepreneurs,” she added.
Another Hyderabad-based entrepreneur Aleena Osman, who owns Abdullah Meraki Libaas, and who has been working with Aftab’s Royal Expo for two years said that the expo has helped her grow her business. “It is an ideal platform for women entrepreneurs as it provides ideal exposure to new and small businesses,” she added.