A Sneak Peek into STEP’s First Pre-Incubation Program

Innovation comes from creating environments where ideas can connect.

WINGS Challenge 2022 was an exciting idea challenge organized by STEP to invite women entrepreneurs all over India to showcase their ideas. The overwhelming response and the success encouraged STEP to take another step in the direction of women’s entrepreneurship. Many brilliant ideas by these outstanding womenpreneurs were still at the ideation stage. We felt that they needed a nudge in the right direction to help them gain the confidence to take their ideas to another level. This led to the launch of STEP’s Pre- Incubation Program. The 4-month program has been launched in Hindi and English languages beginning in May to equip these women with the knowledge and skills to establish their businesses.

India is a multilingual country. Although English is spoken and understood by most educated Indians, people living in remote corners are more comfortable in their regional languages. Innovation has no language and STEP recognised a need-gap for an incubation program for women in Indian languages.STEP is proud to start in this direction with the launch of its Hindi Cohort and plans to add programs in other regional languages soon.

The Pre- Incubation program began with an Induction event on the 12th and 13th of May 2022. The purpose of this 2-day virtual event was for the cohort to know each other and their projects, understand STEP and its program, build a participative community and develop a collective community voice for the rest of the world.

The exciting event kickstarted with a fun activity designed to break the ice between the cohort and the STEP Team, followed by a welcome address by STEP Founder, Ms Renu Shah. She welcomed the cohort and congratulated them for their participation.

“It is good to see so many of you women wanting to be entrepreneurs. It gives us hope that we would be able to change the gender diversity equation not just in India, but also in the world,” she said optimistically.

The group created their shared purpose that included their goals, the people who would benefit from the program, and the activities that are undertaken to achieve the goals-  “To build a strong, inclusive ecosystem of empathetic and resilient women entrepreneurs addressing social issues through an interactive and collaborative approach to upskilling ourselves in the softer and harder aspects of running a business with the help of experts and mentors from the STEP community.”

STEP laid down the norms expected to be followed by the cohort. Being empathetic, punctual, attentive, respectful, and collaborative were some of the prerequisites required from the new entrepreneurs for the successful accomplishment of the 4- month program.

 “Know your cohort” session showcased the vast array of participating entrepreneurs spanning states all over India from Jammu and Kashmir to Tamil Nadu and from Gujarat to West Bengal. The impressive lineup of startups covered diverse areas like Health-tech, Environment, Hygiene, Livelihood, Agriculture, Media and Entertainment, Mental health, Cloud kitchen, and Waste management. There were 18 participants in the English segment and 8 startups in the Hindi segment. 

Another high point of the program was the  Empathy Circle– an activity designed to create understanding and empathy within the cohort. 

The STEP Team shared its objectives and expectations from the cohort. They laid down the framework of activities designed for the cohort in the coming 4 months, including mentor calls, peer learning sessions, speaker sessions, and weekly learning sessions. 

The participants were also assigned a mandatory monthly goal sheet to map out their progress on a regular basis. 

The event ended with an address by the STEP Founder, where she promised total support to the cohort.

“We believe that emotional and mental well-being is as important as learning and growing for entrepreneurs,” she added.

STEP’s objective is to learn, share, and build a strong community of women. The Induction event was the beginning of a  journey for the aspiring entrepreneurs as they came on board as Shaktipreneurs. They came together to achieve their dreams-forging lifelong bonds, striving to bring a positive change in their lives as well as the people around them.