American retail giant Walmart has gained immense popularity since launching it’s India based operations. One of the reasons behind the gaining popularity is the firm’s initiative, Women Entrepreneurship Development Program which aims to foster women empowerment in the global context. The event which aims to ensure the growth of women- led businesses, caters essential lessons on entrepreneurship to women. Walmart’s mission is to empower women in the country to grow their business by addressing issues that affect the market, from solving problems to sellers and customers.
Walmart launched the Women Entrepreneurship Development Program in India in April 2016. 32 women entrepreneurs participated in the first batch of event and 75 women entrepreneurs participated in 2019 .
The benefits
Through the 3-month women entrepreneurship development program, Walmart aims to enhance the entrepreneurial skills including logistics and supply chain, product marketing, financial planning, resource management, and operations. The women entrepreneurs working in service and product development are taking part in the event.
Requirements
51% of the venture should be owned or controlled by women. There must be a turnover of at least Rs 10 lakhs and the enterprise should have completed three years of operation. These are the Walmart’s eligibility criteria to participate in the Entrepreneurship Development Program. Mainly, women working in craft, home decor & food supply chain participate in the program.
Where in India
Women entrepreneurs from different parts of India like Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, UP, Jammu & Kashmir and Telangana benefited from the program. So far, around 150 women took part in the program and were able to expand their businesses.
Updates regarding the Women’s Entrepreneurship Development Program will be available at www.wedpindia.org. Applications for the program can be registered on the website once the notification arrives. Generally, the application process must be completed within a month before commencement of the class.
