An Extraordinary Woman Entrepreneur Who Carved A Niche For Herself
Shikha Sharma – Managing Partner, Kanti Sweets, Bangalor
Shikha Sharma, along with her driving force, her husband – Shailendra Sharma, has carved a niche on a global map through ‘Kanti Sweets’.
This successful woman entrepreneur, who is associated with a heritage brand ‘Kanti Sweets’ as a Managing Partner, feels immensely honored to be one among the third generation of family members who are serving customers delectable, healthy and pure sweets and savories. Carrying a wholesome 10 years of experience in the food industry, she has incredibly contributed to the brand’s growth by introducing innovative measures like fool-proof quality testing systems, a scientifically set-up in-house GLP lab, skill training for unskilled labourers, sustainable practices to reduce generated waste and the introduction of healthy food for today’s calorie conscious consumers.
Today she stands high as a devout mother, wife & daughter; the reason is her supportive family who trusted her capabilities, making her an achiever on the professional front.
Fortunate for having an innate business sense and an entrepreneurial streak from a very young age, Shikha’s initial interest lay in the textile sector but fate steered her tremendously towards the sweet industry, for which she could not be more grateful! She looks up to her father-in-law, Shri Rajendra Prasad as her idol, inspiration & her biggest strength who took her along in his journey, that made ‘Kanti Sweets’ the biggest sweetmeat chain in Karnataka. Through his undying passion and tremendous enthusiasm, he encouraged Shikha to play a substantial professional role by putting her B.Sc Home Science degree and business acumen to use by building the brand and maintaining pace with ever-changing consumer demands.
Grasping strength and inspiration from her mother since a young age, Shikha has grown up in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. She shares how her mother ensured her access to quality education and never stopped her from nurturing big dreams and ambitions. She even supported Shikha in moving to the big city- Delhi to complete her B.Sc degree at the prestigious ‘Lady Irwin College’.
As a businesswoman, she has channeled through the hardships every medium enterprise bears such as market irregularities, labour, growing competition and changing trends. “But I see those hardships as opportunities to grow rather than viewing them as problems”, she claims. Shikha shares how she organized their workforce by imparting them the essential training making them aware of hygienic and scientific processes involved in sweet manufacturing, which has incredibly evolved them as valuable assets to the company besides empowering them individually.
“As a hands-on Managing Partner in ‘Kanti Sweets’, I have taken decisions which have drastically transformed the way processes worked in this heritage company incepted in a 6ftx6ft counter in 1957”, she reflects.
‘Kanti Sweets’ has won the title of ‘Best in sweets by Zomato in 2018’. It’s their USP, being one of the first sweet makers in the country to have an in-house GLP lab that ensures high quality of the products, certified unadulterated sweets & savouries to customers. Setting up of this lab has witnessed all their efforts in bringing the experts, specialized manpower and train the staff to run the equipment. Being awarded as ‘Best sweets shop in Bangalore’ by ‘Global Excellence Awards (GEA) 2019’ and being listed in ‘India 5000 best MSME Company 2019’, ‘Kanti Sweets’ is recognized widely. Currently having 73 outlets, 5 factories, 2 warehouses & one in-house GLP lab for quality testing; the journey for evolving ‘Kanti Sweets’ as a brand has been exciting, and riddled with risks & challenges for Shikha Sharma.
Bengaluru, being a highly competitive market, witnesses new trends, fads & innovations, and while maintaining our traditional quality on one hand, we also set ourselves apart making our brand shine through to the customers”, asserts Shikha.
Shikha Sharma has been applauded with the ‘Best Woman Entrepreneur for South India Women Achievers Awards 2019’ and ‘Business Woman of the Year 2019’ for the 5th edition of ‘Future Woman Leader Summit and Awards 2019’and ‘Personal Achievement Award’ for ‘Global Women Empowerment Award 2019’. “While I adore self-made people, but on the flip side, I am a family-person who feels you can achieve only if you have your loved ones backing you”, candidly shares Shikha Sharma.
“Pandit Jyoti Swarup Sharma was the one who identified the market opportunity back in 1957. We are merely ensuring his vision stays true in today’s changing market trends too”, says Shikha Sharma while signing off.
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