At sWorks we are here to make a real difference and are passionate about doing work that matters to small businesses. And because these businesses are such a vital part of our economies and local communities, we are committed to being bold with our app building capabilities. Most of all, this commitment stems from our own humble beginnings.
Recently sWorks founders, Lakshna Jha and Catherine Sugarbroad, sat down (virtually of course) to reflect on International Women’s Day and share their stories as female entrepreneurs. It all started with another sister startup, sRide, now the largest carpooling app in India. The biggest reward they say, is impacting the lives of their users. “It’s a great feeling every day to think that your company is touching the lives of 2 million users every year, out of which 50% are women,” says Lakshna Jha, CEO of both sRide & sWorks.
Over the past few years as we grew, we realized that, with so much experience in mobile apps, and small businesses in particular, we could offer cost-effective custom applications to businesses of all sizes. Small businesses really need apps right now, but find it challenging to create applications that really meet their needs affordably. So we set out to put our capabilities to good use in support of small businesses everywhere.
Now, we are delivering applications in as fast as 1 week, and we are helping our clients grow their revenue almost 3x in 3 months – giving their customers and employees the high-quality and intuitive experiences they’ve come to expect these days from mobile applications. Especially in these pandemic times, what drives us is the opportunity to actively address the puzzle of how these businesses can sustain and grow revenue.
Reflecting on the journey Jha says, “you need a great team, and you have to continue to believe in yourself every day.” She says to forget looking for leadership outside of yourself, to others, and instead encourages women to look for the leader within. But it’s not always so easy when you’re a female founder looking to get funding early on.
The problem has been well documented in the news – Crunchbase, Forbes, and many others have noted how difficult it is for women to get funding early on in their entrepreneurship journey. And for the next generation of entrepreneurs coming up it can be difficult to know where to turn.
Jha offers some perspective out of her personal journey. She cites a quote from Elon Musk about how society, in general, can support new businesses: “Instead of baby showers, let’s host Business Showers. When a friend starts a business, we all come together, congratulate them & bring resources for their business.”
In the spirit of the International Women’s Day theme #ChooseToChallenge, and to support the next generation of female entrepreneurs, sWorks will be offering half-price custom applications to women entrepreneurs and business owners for the next month.
We hope that a lot of women will come forward to take advantage of this opportunity, and in some small way we may inspire women everywhere to choose to challenge.
Thanks to the amazing sWorks team for all their continued support and enthusiasm for our brothers and sisters in the small business community!
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