Interview: “Women entrepreneurs must prioritize their own expectations”
Tiko Gobejishvili, 48, has extensive experience working in the financial and television sectors as well as the hotel, restaurant and catering industry. At various times, she held senior management positions in a number of large companies, leading large-scale and important projects; and in 2020, Tiko, in parallel with her work, started her own business and created the gift brand O’Della. She is one of the female entrepreneurs who presented their products at the first large-scale exhibition and sale held in Tbilisi in 2022. Since then, participating in the annual Women’s Entrepreneurship Expo has become a tradition for Tiko. She met with loyal and new customers of O’Della at the Expo Georgia venue this year as well. The 2025 Expo was held on 13 and 14 September within the framework of the Women’s Economic Empowerment component of the UN Women project “Good Governance for Gender Equality in Georgia”, funded by the Government of Norway.
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What were your first steps in entrepreneurship?
My sister Nia and I had the idea for an online gift platform a long time ago, but sometimes we didn’t have enough time to pursue it, and sometimes we held ourselves back because we thought it might not be successful. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, we both had to work from home together. During that time, the general lockdown and uncertainty made caring, sharing love and cultivating positive emotions especially important. Nia and I realized that implementing our gift platform idea would be really timely.
I put aside thoughts of risk. I decided to forget my financial experience. I thought, as a starting entrepreneur who doesn’t know how many obstacles one might encounter, that I should simply take the first steps and figure out how to overcome the barriers along the way.
It turned out that creating an online platform required a lot of resources, so we sought out handmade items from small entrepreneurs and combined them into gift sets. The idea turned out to be very popular among customers, so when summer came, we gave it a seasonal twist and decided to create nautical accessories. To make each of them special and distinctive, we came up with the idea of adding hand-painted creations. In this process, the idea of creating colourful clothes and coats was born, to which we gradually added headscarves first, then hair clips, jewellery, runners and other items.
We sell O’Della accessories online—via our website, Facebook and Instagram—and we also have one store. We have loyal customers who always choose our products. I think the main factor in this loyalty is the O’Della concept, which emerged when we created our very first accessory and has not changed to this day: All of our items make the owner feel special, share joy and evoke positive emotions. It is also worth noting their originality: Each piece is hand-painted and therefore completely unique.
What challenges did you face in the process of starting or developing your business, and how similar are they to the challenges of other women entrepreneurs?
Generally, women entrepreneurs face the same challenges, and among them, I would single out the division of family labour. It is very difficult to run a business successfully while you are simultaneously taking care of your family alone and meeting the stereotypical expectations that society has for you. Raising children and interacting with them is equally important for both mothers and fathers, but men are never expected to be involved to the same degree as women.
I grew up surrounded by professionally successful women since childhood, and these examples helped me to divide the work, balance it and not pay attention to stereotypes, but many women do not have the opportunity to do the same. I think the key to dealing with this challenge is the sharing of work and, at the same time, the realization that women entrepreneurs must prioritize their own expectations. The main thing is how we see our role, not what role others see us in.
Other stereotypes are also a challenge. For example, in a masculine society, when a woman expresses an opinion, she must work much harder than a man to prove her integrity so that she is trusted. I went through this myself years ago.
Also, access to finance remains a barrier, which is generally a challenge for small and medium-sized businesses. Creating or developing an enterprise, as well as entering new markets, is related to finances. In addition to the fact that the financial products are expensive, female entrepreneurs often do not have sufficient knowledge of where or how to negotiate for these items, nor which ones are best to use.
What experience did the Expo give you as an entrepreneur, and what impact did it have on your work?
The Expo turned out to be a really good opportunity: Over the years, participating in the Expo has increased our number of customers and our popularity. Many people at our stand learn that we have a real store.
When I first applied for the Expo, I wanted to increase O’Della’s brand awareness and find potential partners. In addition, I wanted to find out what emotions people had when they saw O’Della accessories, learn what their sincere feelings were, and get feedback.
This lively, enthusiastic communication gave rise to a number of interesting ideas. We expanded our inventory by creating relatively budget-friendly products for those who really liked our accessories but could not afford them due to the price. This step brought us good results both in terms of customer feedback and sales.
At the Expo, I also made important contacts, met people with whom I worked very well, got to know women entrepreneurs and heard about their different, valuable experiences. It should also be said that participating in a UN Women event is an additional advantage for any brand.
The experience of participating in the Expo helped me to participate in a similar exhibition in Madrid and present O’Della to an international audience.
What are your plans for business development?
The Georgian market is small. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find the appropriate raw materials to offer innovations and create additional products here. Nevertheless, I plan to open a large sewing workshop and another store. I also want to go outside the country, even within our own region, and expand the boundaries of our sales. I hope that participation in the Expo will help me realize these plans.