Taslima Miji, founder & CEO of Techmania, spoke at the 2nd FS Talk held on May 25, 2013, at the city’s EMK Center. Taslima, a woman, activist, and an entrepreneur-a rare combination for us- started her talk like a sister talking with her brothers, like a friend trying to energize an adda. She started her talk with her story of starting up and becoming an entrepreneur-a journey full of struggle, courage, and determination. Following is a lightly edited snippet from her talk.
It was a coincidence
Taslima has an educational background in sociology and worked as a journalist before starting her own business. Initially, she was happy with her profession. When the TV channel she was working in shut down, she was worried and thought about other options.
But suddenly things turned out differently and with the suggestion of her friends she started with a small shop in Multiplan center. That was it. As she said: “It was a coincident, I never aimed for it but it happened and I’m happy that it happened this way.”
Business is the development
As a Sociology Major, it is very common for her to work in the development industry, commonly known as NGOs. However, she denied working with an organization that solely depends on donations from others. She has an alternative thought about development. She doesn’t believe that NGOs with existing models can take the responsibility of greater development of a country. She believes in entrepreneurship.
“Business is the ultimate approach to development and we should focus on developing more entrepreneurs”
Challenge outperformed by the power of courage and community
The Journey of entrepreneurship was not easy for Taslima. Her savings were too little to start even a mini enterprise.
She thinks she was lucky enough to have a community that always encouraged her. They helped her to collect funds from Banks and other sources.
Tips for start-ups/entrepreneurs
Customer satisfaction comes first
"Customer satisfaction has always been our main focus". The reflection of this focus is portrayed with the continuous flow of customers that often causes envy to her competitors.
"If you could make your customer satisfied they would do marketing for you and refer new customers to you", she added.
Offer extra help
She often helps customers beyond her responsibility as a hardware provider. As she sells computers she intentionally approaches the customer with some technical help.
Maybe it is about opening an e-mail account or running some programs. That worked and the customer felt bonded and loyal. As a result, they contribute to Techmania as brand ambassadors by referring to their friends and relatives while purchasing computer products.
In managing people, motivation works better than control
While talking about her human resource management style, she emphasized building a team where members are personally engaged. She doesn't compromise with her working standards except for some special conditions. But she and her team are very sensitive to each other’s problems.
This type of mutual understanding and bonding helps them to work better as a team. "Motivation works better than control," Taslima claimed.
