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They Call Me ‘Toilet Woman’
This E-commerce Platform Supports Women Entrepreneurs
Highlights
- “Maheela Power” is a social digital venture initiated by Samina Lal and Zainab Akil of Chennai.
- The duo came up with an e-commerce platform www.maheelapower.com, an online shopping marketplace where handmade/homemade products made by women are sold.
- This was to help enable home-based women-led business owners to grow and scale up their businesses as many had been struggling to make ends meet due to the pandemic.
With work from home increasing acceptance during this pandemic stricken time, many home-based women entrepreneurs showed a positive and courageous ray of hope by re-kindling their skills and talent and started making unique products at home – be it baked goods, food items or soaps or handcrafted bags or knitted home utility items.
What was missing though was a platform for online presence for home-based women entrepreneurs who are not necessarily tech-savvy and also reach out to a wider customer base – and that’s how “Maheela Power” – a social digital venture was initiated by Samina Lal and Zainab Akil of Chennai. The duo came up with an e-commerce platform www.maheelapower.com, an online shopping marketplace where handmade/homemade products made by women are sold. This was to help enable home-based women-led business owners to grow and scale up their businesses as many had been struggling to make ends meet due to the pandemic.
With work from home increasing acceptance during this pandemic stricken time, many home-based women entrepreneurs showed a positive and courageous ray of hope by rekindling their skills and talent and started making unique products at home – be it baked goods, food items or soaps or handcrafted bags or knitted home utility items.
What was missing though was a platform for online presence for home-based women entrepreneurs who are not necessarily tech-savvy and also reach out to a wider customer base – and that’s how “Maheela Power”, a social digital venture was initiated by Samina Lal and Zainab Akil of Chennai. The duo came up with an e-commerce platform www.maheelapower.com, an online shopping marketplace where handmade/homemade products made by women are sold. This was to help enable home-based women entrepreneurs to grow and scale up their business as many had been struggling to make ends meet due to the pandemic.
Samina and Zainab are fellow recreational runners and after a lot of brainstorming, they came upon the concept to create an online platform for home-based women entrepreneurs to help them reach out to a wider customer base. And that’s how “Maheela (Woman) Power” – a social digital venture was born.
“Our mission was to empower women through technology with our mutual collaboration of experts in different areas – one being an experienced home-entrepreneur and the other with extensive technology and product development background”, they say.
Maheela Power quickly became an online shopping marketplace where unique, handmade/homemade products made by talented women are sold. It enables home-based women, entrepreneurs, to grow and scale up their businesses. This platform is a one-stop online store catering to various homemade, traditional as well as contemporary gourmet delicacies, snacks, health care products, and handicrafts/ gift items, knitted bags, organizers, and many more other products. It is an easy-to-use website providing customers a smooth and pleasant shopping experience with the delivery of products at their doorstep.
Currently they have twenty-five women entrepreneurs on their platform including two senior citizens. “We have also tied up with few organizations that work for and with women, one of them being Burhani Women’s Association – Home Industry, Chennai”, says Samina. “They provide financial help to women for medical, education and home needs with the funds received from the sales of the goods like papads, pickles, masalas which are made by a group of women”.
Maheela Power has also collaborated with Nandri Trust and Rise & Shine self-help women’s group to support underprivileged women and provide employment opportunities in tailoring.
Though they started off with delivery in Chennai initially, now they have expanded their delivery zones to Bangalore and Puducherry.
Today, Maheela Power has become an avenue for women to create their own identity and become successful entrepreneurs. You can order the products through their website or connect on their Instagram and Facebook.
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