Poonam Khubani Among Top 25 Women Entrepreneurs of NJ

Poonam Khubani, vice president of TeleBrands International and president of International Edge, was recently recognized as one of the Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs of New Jersey according to the Leading Women Entrepreneurs Initiative.

LWENJ annually chooses a group of businesswomen in New Jersey who exhibit outstanding performance and achievement in business and economic innovation, community involvement, and advocacy for women.

According to LWENJ data, this year's Top 25 together generate an estimated revenue in excess of $5 billion, employ tens of thousands, and support hundreds of non-profits and women's advocacy groups.

Khubani leads the top consumer product companies that specialize in direct response television marketing and the creators of the familiar "As Seen on TV" logo. Both TeleBrands and International Edge create and sell products in over 130 countries globally.

Khubani's leadership and entrepreneurial know-how have resulted in tremendous international growth for the company, securing major retail store shelf space on every continent.

This year, TeleBrands is celebrating its 30th year in business. The company releases at least one dozen products annually and tests hundreds with the goal of providing consumers with items that solve common problems and reach mass audiences featuring a "WOW" demonstration.

Khubani is a frequent panelist at TeleBrands Inventors Days, which allow at-home inventors the opportunity to pitch their gadgets to the company with the hopes of having it brought to market as a TeleBrands "As Seen on TV" product.

The Indian American entrepreneur also works tirelessly with Children's Hope India, a foundation that helps disadvantage children in India.
Read more at http://www.indiawest.com/news/15611-poonam-khubani-among-top-25-women-entrepreneurs-of-nj.html#MuPjxBSbsK01isds.99

Incense industry empowering rural Indian women

The fortune that lies at the bottom of the pyramid is what makes India attractive economically. But what is forgotten is that to unearth that fortune, the market needs to be nurtured and grown. The 640,000 or more villages in India are predominantly dependent on agriculture. They are vulnerable to monsoon's vagaries and thus look for alternative sources of income.
The incense industry is a labour-intensive industry with each incense stick being handcrafted, predominantly by women workers. 
The industry has long been benefiting from this resource. These women spend few hours a day rolling incense sticks after attending to the daily needs of their homes. In the past few years, there has been a rise in training for activities like agarbathi rolling that has promoted economic independence, and employment for a large number of people, especially women seeking extra income. 
The Rs 2000-crore agarbathi industry is dependent predominantly on rural India. Many industries can use this untapped resource and connect with the rural families providing both livelihood and rural empowerment.
The incense industry has always had low entry and exit barriers due to easily available raw materials, a relatively simple process of manufacturing and high dependence on labour. Earlier, entrepreneurs would venture into the category with a short-term business interest.
Post the 1990s, as the Indian economy started opening up, globalisation and rapid development of technology and communication created several jobs in the country.
Increase in the per capita income of customers also enhanced the demand for better incense. This saw the industry consolidate from several small players to a few large companies. Several NGOs and government institutions have approached the incense manufacturers to provide training in incense stick making and thus employment in economically deprived areas.
Cycle Pure Agarbathies play a leading role in empowering rural women by training them in bamboo splitting and hand rolling and we have various training and distribution-collection centres across states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and several areas in the North East.
http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/incense-industry-empowering-rural-indian-women/1/201444.html