WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

R.Jeya Sri; B.Siva Shankari,

II year, MBA,

Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, Sivakasi

ABSTRACT

Even though Indian culture is a male chauvinistic one, women started to stand tall from the rest

of the crowd and are applauded for their achievements in their respective field. The transformation of

social fabric of the Indian society, in terms of increased educational status of women and varied

aspirations for better living, necessitated a change in the life style of Indian women. Looking into the

women icon who fought their own battles to make their mark in this competitive world it’s clear that they

assertive, persuasive and willing to take risks. They managed to survive and succeed in this cut throat

competition with their hard work, diligence and perseverance.

This paper endeavors to study the reasons why women opt entrepreneurship, barriers they face

and how a suitable environment for women entrepreneurship to flourish can be designed. A small

research with 10 women entrepreneurs has been performed to find their opinions. In addition secondary

data from already performed researches have been also used to derive the conclusions.

KEYWORDS: Entrepreneurship, Women, Business, Barriers, Gender

INTRODUCTION

Women Entrepreneur It may be defined as a woman or group of women who initiate,

organize and run a business enterprise. Government of India has defined women entrepreneurs as

owning and controlling an enterprise with a woman having a minimum financial interest of 51%

of the capital and giving atleast 51% of the employment generated in the enterprise to women.

Nature has made a division of labor entrusting upon men and women different

responsibilities for the betterment of the process of evolution. The woman, the mother, has been

the symbol of continuity of culture, tradition and religion, being the binding force of the family

system. Women entrepreneurs can be divided into three categories:

First Category: They are established in big cities, having higher level technical and professional

qualifications. They are used up to non-traditional items and have sound financial positions.

Second Category: Established in cities and towns, having sufficient education. They are used up

to both traditional and non-traditional items. They undertake women services like kindergarten,

crèches, beauty parlors, health clinic etc.

Third Category: They are illiterate women and are financially week. They are involved in

family business such as Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, Dairy, Fisheries, Agro

Forestry, Handloom, Power loom etc.

IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Women entrepreneurship has been recognized as an important source of economic

growth. Women entrepreneurs create new jobs for themselves and others and also provide

society with different solutions to management, organization and business problems. However,

they still represent a minority of all entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs often face gender-based

barriers to starting and growing their businesses, like discriminatory property, matrimonial and

inheritance laws and/or cultural practices; lack of access to formal finance mechanisms; limited

mobility and access to information and networks, etc.

Women‟s entrepreneurship can make a particularly strong contribution to the economic

well-being of the family and communities, poverty reduction and women‟s empowerment, thus

contributing to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Thus, governments across the

world as well as various developmental organizations are actively undertaking promotion of

women entrepreneurs through various schemes, incentives and promotional measures.

CURRENT STATUS IN INDIA

The „She Can, You Can‟ Tupperware advertisements on prime-time television showcasing their

corporate social responsibility initiative for instilling confidence in Indian women to take up socially

relevant businesses of their own, have managed to share some tales of success of the Women

Entrepreneur. This being one side as per the survey made by economic times (6-1-2013) the fastest

growth in number of women owned firms over the past 10 years are found to be in Educational services –

94%, Health care and social assistance – 55%, Arts, Entertainment, food service and recreation – 35% .

Financing Modes Percentage

Family members 43%

Banks 33%

Friends 25%

Venture Capitals 17%

Business Acquaintances 21%

Colleagues 16%

Government funding programs 15%

Crowd funding 13%

Angel investors 11%

Other 1%

A Dow Jones study Women at the Wheel: Do Female Executives Drive Start-up Success? has some

interesting conclusions:

The overall median proportion of female executives in successful companies is 7.1%, compared

to 3.1% at unsuccessful companies.

A company‟s odds of success increase with female executives at the VP and director levels. A

statistically significant evidence that there is a dependence between a company having female

executives and its success.

Based on his survey, the number of women partners and succeeded companied rate in India is found

to be as follows. ( From 2000- 2013 )

BENEFITS AND EXISTING PROBLEMS

Literature Review

The number of Women entrepreneurs is rising in the global world and it accounts to more than

25% of all business (Woldie & Adersua, 2004). Walker et al. (2007) argue that historically women were

“pushed” rather than “pulled” into business ownership. In recent studies it is indicated that many young

women actively choose self-employment than to be an employee. In addition to this Walker et al. (2008)

observe that women‟s preference to home-based business ownership predominantly by the flexibility

afforded to lifestyle and the ability to balance work and family. Women entrepreneurs can significantly

contribute in poverty reduction, mobilization of entrepreneurial initiatives, autonomy, and in accelerating

the achievement of wider socio-economic objectives (Belwal & Singh, 2008). However, the contribution

of women entrepreneurs depends on their performance, which in turn is affected by the underlying

facilitators and barriers, understating of which is a key to nurturing a balance economy and the growth in

a long run. However, women entrepreneurs in developed countries such as the US are much more

ambitious in constructing a professional identity. They revealed that they actively draw on role models

from different domains and prefer to learn from external role models. He identified that the factors like

innovation (the most influential), a business plan, a strong family support system, social networks, and

professional development is helping women in starting and operating their small business. Sindhu S.

Narayan and P.S. Geethakutty (2003) pointed that very high literacy rate and lack of employment

opportunities paved way for many unemployed youth including women to take up small-scale business

units. Kamal Naser et.al (2009) financial support from the government especially in the start-up capital is

an important factor that motivates women to establish their

own businesses. Self-fulfillment, knowledge, skills and experience, including relationship to

spouse/father business, are all important factors in the development of women entrepreneurs.

Push factors- Push factors are elements of necessity such as insufficient family income, dissatisfaction

with salaries job, difficulty in finding work and a need for flexible work schedule because of family

responsibilities. These factors may have more importance for women than for men.

Pull factors-Factors that work as entrepreneurial drive factors relate to independence, self-fulfillment,

entrepreneurial drive and desire for wealth, power and social status, co-operation and support of family

members and a strong network of contacts. The most prominent factor is self-achievement expressed in

terms of challenge which helps women to start, run their own business and turn it into a profitable

venture. When a strong need for achievement could not be fulfilled through a salaried position or when

there was a desire to transform a perceived opportunity into a marketable idea, then these factors work for

a person to start their own venture.

Research methodology

Sample size 10 (Primary data)

Sample area Chennai, Dinigul, Tuticorin, Virudhunagar

Sample type Convenient sampling within area sampling

The study aims at identifying the major barriers and the influencing aspects for women in

entrepreneurship. The sample areas comprises of urban, suburban and rural areas. The data collection

method is obtained through a well-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire includes the details of the

demographic profiles and eight constructs. Secondary data was obtained from “problems and prospects of

women entrepreneurs in India” in Journal of Management Research Vol 1 Issue 1 September 2013.

Analysis tools

Weighted mean

Results

Most people prefer to start their venture all alone without partners. They founded

entrepreneurship attractive mainly because of the innovativeness, flexible work time and profit. It‟s found

that most of the people who opted entrepreneurship found problems with personal mobility, handling men

and getting capital.

ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Women often have life skills and natural abilities that are useful in businesses. Women tend to be

great networkers, have inherent skills for negotiating, and the ability to multi-task. Single m

others are often good at delegating and budgeting; skills that they rely on to manage their

families. Specific strategies to help women entrepreneurs succeed include:

Creating a Strong Network

Considering Certifying as a Women-Owned Business

Understanding the Power of the Internet

Learning New Ways to Balance Work and Life

Getting Inspiration and Advice From by Other Women Succeeding in Business

Staying current on issues the present challenges for women in business, and read how

other women overcome their own obstacles in the business world.

Government has taken so many steps from its side starting from funding to helping them form

associations under schemes like

Mahila Vikas Nidhi

Under mahila vikas nidhi, a cumulative help of Rs. 80.4 million was

sanctioned, during the period 19902001 . Various training-cum production centers

set up by NGOs mostly relate to activities like sericulture, spinning, weaving,

block printing, handloom products, handicrafts etc.

Training Programs

The government of India has started various training programs schemes

exclusively for self-employment of women. The training programs include

Support for Training and Employment Programs of women (STEP) and

Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA).

Rashtriya Mahila Kosh

It was set up in 1993 to provide microcredit to poor women who had no access to

financial institution at reasonable rates of interest with very low transaction costs

and simple procedures. It proved quite useful for lower income group women.

District industries center

DICs arrange various lectures and seminars etc. in girls colleges and technical

institutes to encourage them to set up their own enterprises.

There are so many women asscociations helping women all over India like

S.no. Association Name Website

1 Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs

(FIWE)

http://www.fiwe.org/

2 Consortium of Women

Entrepreneurs(CWEI)

http://www.cwei.org/

3 Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of

Andhra Pradesh

http://www.aleap.org/index.html

4 Association of Women Entrepreneurs of

Karnataka (AWAKE)

http://awakeindia.org.in/

5 Self-Employed Women's Association

(SEWA)

http://www.sewa.org/

6 Women Entrepreneurs Promotion

Association (WEPA)

http://www.dcmsme.gov.in/

7 The Marketing Organisation of Women

Enterprises (MOOWES)

http://www.dcmsme.gov.in/

8 Bihar Mahila Udyog SanghBihar Mahila

Udyog Sangh

http://www.biharmahilaudyogsangh.com/

9 Mahakaushal Association of Woman

Entrepreneurs (MAWE)

http://www.maweindia.com/

10 SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneurship

Council

http://www.scwec.com/index.htm

11 Women Entrepreneurs Association of Tamil

Nadu (WEAT)

http://www.wewatamilnadu.com/

12 TiE Stree Shakti (TSS) http://www.tiestreeshakti.org/

13 Women Empowerment Corporation http://www.wecindia.org

SUGESSTIONS

Apart from them these initiatives together will bring more benefits.

1. Gender budgeting

A gender responsive budget would allocate funds to move the society towards equality.

This would mean more money to train women entrepreneurs.

2. More E-Governance

Every process in the life cycle of a business like registration of the firm & bidding for

projects is made e-friendly; women would have an equal footing.

3. Rural Programme

A large number of women in rural areas are entrepreneurs in their own right. They need

schools where they can get basic education and marketing know-how at one place.

4. Global school

An institution that should aim at training women for big business.

A Major Suggestion here is, women entrepreneurs are getting success when they have

support from family and husband. So, there should be support from family and life partner. For

problem by an entrepreneur family members should support in all aspects. These two factors are

playing prominent role, to get success as an entrepreneur.

CONCLUSION

Entrepreneurship isn‟t a walk in the park for anyone and it can be even more challenging

if you are of the “female persuasion”. Even with all of the advancements that women have made

in the business world, there is still a long way to go before the success rate is level between male

and female entrepreneurs. However there is no age too late to start a venture and no biodata

requirements for a woman to being a business. Statistics of Web Women & Entrepreneurship in

India 2012 Study indicate that women as young as 20 are starting their own ventures. Perhaps

this large number is motivated to try their hands at business because of the creative free-reign

that entrepreneurial outfits offer or even the ability to make something out of the most

uncommon idea. So, with a support platform, loan schemes and ample opportunity, the only

thing that remains is initiative on the part of women wishing to enter the business world.

REFERENCES

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APPENDIX

SURVEY ON WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Greetings Mam,

We are researchers doing our research regarding the barriers faced by women entrepreneurs

in India. We kindly request you to give your honest opinion and help us carry on our research

project. We assure that all the details that you provide will be kept confidential. Thank you for

volunteering and wish you all the very best for the future endeavors you undertake.

B. Siva Shankari , R. Jeyasri, MBA,

Mepco Schlenk Engineering College, Sivakasi.

Name Age

Educational Qualification

Startup Name & Details

Started on

Partners count

Investment Monthly Income

Kindly make a mark on the respective opinion columns

Major Benefits being Women Entrepreneur

Strongly Agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

Freedom to take decision

Freedom to choose work and time

To earn more profit as an individual

Self-dependence

Increase in skills and experience

Apply creation and innovation at work

Opportunity to deal with others and getting respect

Participation in the social services

Barrier nature Strongly

Agree Agree Neutral Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Getting Capital

Believing in their abilities

Choice of Location

Society’s outlook

Supplier search and interactions

Balancing Home and Business

Handling Men

Problems with the customers

Marketing

Personal Mobility

Lack of Management Skills

Exclusion from informal Networks

Perception of Women Role

If there is any experience / suggestion you would like to convey for budding entrepreneurs please

mention:

Signature