“It’s great for women to go into business when they have a passion for something,” says Michelle Madhok. “I’ve come across a lot of women who go into business because they know the market, whether it’s children’s products or make-up. And that’s great! I used to love to shop. I still love to shop! So I went into a business I was interested in.”
Michelle is the CEO of SheFinds Media: “We run websites that help busy women shop online. We have shefinds.com, which is fashion; momfinds.com, which is stuff for busy moms; and bridefinds.com for brides.” I had the pleasure of chatting with Michelle at the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network Conference in Rio de Janeiro. She said, “It’s just so inspiring to be around all these women. I’ve even become closer friends with some of my contacts from New York on this trip because we’re together in this new environment all the time. It has been a really good time to sit and think about our business.” When Michelle first started her business, there wasn’t competition, but now the competition grows larger every day.
“I really have to be strategically thinking all the time, ‘What is my value-add?’” Michelle said. “You have to keep changing and improving your business so you can keep serving your customers.”
Michelle also suggests carving out an online presence for yourself in a specifc niche: “If you Google ‘online shopping expert,’ I’m number one and two on the search engine result page. Whatever you want to be, make yourself available in that space for SEO . Using online media is a way of meeting customers wherever they want you to be.”
Enjoy this interview with Michelle Madhok at the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network 2011 event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network 2011
From June 5-7 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, more than 120 female business leaders from around the world gathered with Dell to learn about technology, marketing, brand, social media and raising capital while building relationships and sharing insights. It was an impressive group of participants, including Moira Forbes, Arianna Huffington and Luiza Helena Trajano, the founder of the third largest retail chain in Brazil. Over the course of two days, the conference participants explored and learned that women entrepreneurs truly share a unique perspective and approach to business. Building on Dell’s entrepreneurial heritage and recognising the unique challenges and rocky journeys entrepreneurs can face led to the inception of the Dell’s Women Powering Business Initiatives, including Dell’s Women Entrepreneurs’ Network (DWEN). DWEN strives to help women entrepreneurs expand their networks, innovate and grow their businesses. The DWEN event and LinkedIn community supply a social network to grow B2B and exchange ideas to help build confidence. Dell’s believes never in the history of the world has the entrepreneurial spirit been more alive or in a more favourable position to drive global growth. Australian women business leaders are invited to join in the conversation and share who and what inspires and motivates them as entrepreneurs and leaders via the Women Powering Business Network group on LinkedIn.
