ET MSME Awards 2025: 7 reasons why this category is more than just a ‘woman in business’ trophy

Tired of walking into meetings where you have to establish credibility before discussing business? The ET MSME Awards 2025 'Indian MSME Woman Entrepreneur of the Year' category doesn’t merely celebrate you for being a woman in business; it celebrates your business achievements, full stop.

This recognition is a cut above the rest and changes everything for women-led MSMEs. Here’s how:

1) Other awards celebrate rhetoric. This one celebrates results
Industry awards typically laud women for breaking glass ceilings. The ET MSME Awards celebrates what you built after breaking them.

The judges aren't only looking for inspirational stories. They’re evaluating revenue growth, market expansion, operational excellence, and business impact. Your gender got you noticed; your results will get you recognised.

2) You don’t need to be a founder
Think this is only for entrepreneurs who started from scratch? Wrong. Any woman executive driving significant business results for an Indian MSME can apply. This ranges from CEOs who scaled existing businesses and MDs who transformed family enterprises to senior executives who launched new verticals.

If you're leading business growth, you qualify. Leadership matters more than founding stories.

Calling all women-led MSMEs! Put yourself up for consideration before October 15, 2025.

3) Market dynamics favour agile, women-led enterprises
Current market conditions reward agility, customer-centricity, and operational efficiency, areas where women-led MSMEs consistently outperform. Supply chain disruptions favour nimble operations, customer experience focus drives loyalty, and cash flow management becomes a competitive advantage. Your leadership style isn't just working. It's winning.

4) Investor appetite goes beyond social impact
Mainstream investors, not just social impact funds, are actively seeking proven women entrepreneurs.

In every investor pitch, competence gets questioned before concepts. In every partnership discussion, track record needs validation. The ET MSME Awards will handle that heavy lifting so you can focus on business building instead of credibility building.

5) Past winners leveraged recognition for growth
Previous category winners secured partnerships, funding, and market access that previously required extensive relationship-building. The award becomes shorthand for business competence that accelerates trust-building. The ET MSME Awards 2025 will open doors networking alone cannot.

6) Government policies are catching up
Women-led MSMEs now get preferential access to government schemes, credit facilities, and policy support. Recognition as 'MSME Woman Entrepreneur of the Year' will position you to leverage these advantages effectively, because you’ll network with influential decision-makers and policy experts.

From Stand-Up India loans to priority sector lending, award recognition accelerates access to government-backed growth capital.

7) From 'woman entrepreneur' to 'business leader'
Recognition by the ET MSME Awards 2025 will reposition you from "woman entrepreneur" to "business leader who happens to be a woman". That shift changes every conversation with vendors, partners, customers, and competitors. You're not the woman at the table, but the leader who earned the seat.

With less than three weeks left, every woman executive still hesitating is choosing to keep proving herself instead of being proven.

The market is ready for women-driven business excellence. The question is whether you're ready to claim that recognition.

Apply for the ‘Indian MSME Woman Entrepreneur of the Year’ category TODAY.