How Funding Small LGBTQI+ Businesses Can Help Bridge the Livelihood Gap
Bella, native of UP didn’t grow up with aspirations of becoming an entrepreneur. But upon moving from UP to Delhi, as a transwoman she couldn’t find work. The societal non-acceptance made it difficult to find gainful employment. So she became an entrepreneur out of necessity.‘My passion is dance, and one should follow their passions.’ Bella, a 20-year-old trans woman, had aspirations of opening my own dance school. I have a fervor to educate and force people to learn dancing in a variety of styles, from Kathak to Hip Hop, as a result of my training in dance and my talent in the same. ‘Ciao Studio’ is the initial step by Bella to make her bigger dream of an established dance studio come true.
| An idea stays an idea until you are prodded to work for it by an outside force. Several individuals with various thoughts |
“I wasn’t able to show up as my complete self,” said, Rohan a 19 year old transwoman referring to her struggle to integrate into the workforce. “And I made an assumption that other people were probably encountering the same thing, of having all of these different identities that make up a whole person but not being able to show up as that whole person because of embarrassment or judgment.”So she turned to therapeutic art form Mandala. The idea of art therapy is the innovative edge provided by her, which she uses to reduce stress.Via Artist Aboard, her Art Studio, Rohan makes a positive effort to share her ability with others and attempt to help others use the art therapy.
| “Business owners typically lean on a network of family and friends for startup capital, but where do we go?” |
A college student with goals in his eyes, big enough to embrace every member of the LGBTQ+ community and support them in every imaginable aspect, Chitvan Garg came up with his idea of social work. His initiative, Queer Education India, is a safe space that prioritizes raising awareness of the group and offering the representation that members of the community need. Whether it be freedom of speech or equal rights, he stands for all via his NGO. Like any other cisgender, straight person, the LGBTQ+ population “deserves every right,” according to Chitvan.But they lacked the capital necessary to get started.
Then he heard about Business Adda, a platform that provides ideation and business model support to the LGBTQ+ community. Transformation, CDF presents social incubation with the support of HSBC. This incubation platform helps the LGBTQ+ community in busting myths and transforming the their business dreams into reality.
| “About 80 percent of LGBTQIA+ business owners reported a lack of financial resources and guidance as the number one challenge to successfully launching and operating a business.” |
Business Adda offers counselling, mentoring, creating business canvas, offering marketing linages, registering the businesses and finally assigns a mentor each of the selected Fellows. “The mentors counsel and provide guidance eon how to work towards generating more revenue. There are no need to repay the seed money but care is taken care that every penny is spent well.”, said Harish Dureja, Director CDF and Chief Mentor of Business Adda.
A 35-year-old trans woman named Piya Kapoor comes up with the concept for an NGO named Satrangi Samaj Sanstha that serves as a learning and skilling center and focuses on members of the LGBTQ+ community and other underrepresented groups. According to Piya, offering tailoring courses along with a trans Fashion Designer. The courses help them enhance their knowledge in areas of fashion designing & expertise tailoring via computer-based skill sets.
“Through the heartbreaking voices of our transgender peers, we paved the way to something inspiring, resonant, and most importantly, crucial. I’d like to introduce to you all “Business Adda,” the first LGBTQIA+ community business incubation program in India. To eventually launch not only businesses but the fundamental concept of LGBTQ+ people being represented on the platforms they deserve. To start with we focus on hospitality and catering, health and wellbeing, and fashion design as themes., said Amit Tuteja, Founder of Connecting Dreams Foundation.
“One essential detail often left out of the entrepreneurial narrative”, Simi Mishra, Director Inclusion at CDF says, “is that business owners typically lean on a network of family and friends for startup capital. That financial support system isn’t as readily available to LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs as it is to groups with more collective wealth.Business Adda, which was founded in 2021, supported half a dozen business owners—ranging from chefs to fashion designers—for its pilot program. This year with financial support from HSBC we hope to transform lives of 10 LGBTQI+ business owners.”
“The fact that I’m a transwoman and doing business in a predominant neighborhood, I feel that I am included, respected and I am just a part of being there, Piya Kapoor.”
We continue to fight for the community and give them the chances, representation, and platforms NGOs and MNCs must collaborate, according to Dr. Simi Mishra, to create inclusive and socially just societies. Let’s hope for a future without distinctions based on gender identity and sexual orientation, one that is where all individuals are treated with respect, dignity, and fairness.
(This story has not been edited by News Mania staff and is published from a Media Release)
