Project Report on
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN INDIA
In partial fulfilment of requirement for the
Award of Degree of M.Com
Subject:
Entreprenurship Management
Submitted By:
Mr. Hitesh Rohra
Roll No. 117
M.Com. Part – II, Semester - IV
Under the Guidance of:
Prof. Mr. Kishore Karia
SMT. CHANDIBAI HIMATHMAL MANSUKHANI COLLEGE
ULHASNAGAR – 421003
UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI
2015 – 2016
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Women Entrepreneurship
In India
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DECLARATION
I, Mr. Hitesh Rohra student of SMT. CHANDIBAI HIMATMAL
MANSUKHANI COLLEGE, ULHASNAGAR studying in M.Com Part
– II, Semester – IV, hereby declare that I have completed this project on
“Women Entrepreneurship In India ” for the subject
“Entrepreneurship Management” in the academic year 2015-16.The
information submitted is true and original to the best of my knowledge.
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ACKNOWLEGEMENT
To list who all have helped me is difficult because they are so numerous and the depth is so enormous.
I would like to acknowledge the following as being idealistic channels and fresh dimensions in the completion of this project
I take this opportunity to thank the University of Mumbai forgiving me chance to do this project.
I would like thank my Principal, Dr. Manju Lalwani Pathak for providing the necessary facilities required for completion of
this project.
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude towards my project guide Prof. Mr. Kishore Karia whose guidance and
care made the project successful.
I would like to thank my college library, for having provided Various reference books and magazines related to my project.
Lastly I would like to thank each & every person who directly or indirectly helped me in completion of the project especially my
parents & peers who supported me throughout my project.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Women’s entrepreneurship needs to be studied separately for two main reasons. The first reason is that women’s entrepreneurship has been recognised during the last decade as an important untapped source of economic growth. Women entrepreneurs create new jobs for themselves and others and by being different also provide society with different solutions to management, organisation and business problems as well as to the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. However, they still represent a minority of all entrepreneurs. Thus there exists a market failure discriminating against women’s possibility to become entrepreneurs and their possibility to become successful entrepreneurs. This market failure needs to be addressed by policy makers so that the economic potential of this group can be fully utilised. While without a doubt the economic impact of women is substantial, we still lack a reliable picture describing in detail that specific impact. Recent efforts initiated by the OECD (1997, 2000) are responses to this lack of knowledge and have focused the attention of policy makers and researchers on this important topic
The second reason is that the topic of women in entrepreneurship has been largely neglected both in society in general and in the social sciences. Not only have women lower participation rates in entrepreneurship than men but they also generally choose to start and manage firms in different industries than men tend to do. The industries (primarily retail, education and other service industries) chosen by women are often perceived as being less important to economic development and growth than hightechnology and manufacturing. Furthermore, mainstream research, policies and programmes tend to be “men streamed” and too often do not take into account the specific needs of women entrepreneurs and would-be women entrepreneurs. As a consequence, equal opportunity between men and women from the perspective of entrepreneurship is still not a reality. In order for policy makers to address the situation the report makes a number of recommendations.
In order to realise the benefits of policy changes it is important to incorporate a women entrepreneurial dimension in considering all SMEs and growth policies (e.g. meeting women’s financing needs at all stages of the business continuum; take-up of business development and support services; access to corporate, government and international markets; technology access and utilisation; R&D and innovation; etc.). Moreover this means periodically evaluating the impact of these measures on the success of women-owned businesses and exchanging good models and best practices, through cooperation with leading international organisations such as the OECD, European Union, APEC, UNCTAD and the ILO, in order to continually improve policies and programmes.
Better qualitative information and quantitative data and statistics are required to profile women entrepreneurs (demographic information, barriers to start-up and growth). This would also assist in promoting awareness of the role of women
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entrepreneurs in the economy. Using a frame of reference such as that developed in the report could be valuable for the analysis of this information.
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Table Of Contents
Sr. NO. TOPICS PAGE NO.
1 Introduction O2
2 History O4
3 Objectives Of Research 05
4 Traits of Women Entrepreneurs in India
06
5 Role of women as an Entrepreneur
10
6 Functions of Women Entrepreneurs
11
7 Women Entrepreneurs and Their Problems
12
8 Review Of Literature 15
9 Research Methadology 17
10 Limitations 18
11 Data Analysis And Interpretation
21
12 Recommendations 36
13 Conclusion 38
14 Bibliography 39
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Introduction
In the era of Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization along with on going ITrevolution, today’s world is changing at a surprising pace. Political and EconomicTransformations appear to be taking place everywhere—as countries convert fromcommand to demand economies, dictatorships move toward democratic system, andMonarchies build new civil institutions. These changes have created economicopportunities for women who want to own and operate businesses.Today, women entrepreneurs represent a group of women who have broken awayfrom the beaten track and are exploring new avenues of economic participation. Amongn the reasons for women to run organized enterprises are their skill and knowledge, their talents, abilities and creativity in business and a compelling desire of wanting to do something positive. It is high time that countries should rise to the challenge and create more support systems for encouraging more entrepreneurship amongst women. At the same time, it is up to women to break away from stereotyped mindsets.
In this dynamic world, women entrepreneurs are a significant part of the global expedition for sustained economic development and social progress. Due to the growing industrialization, urbanization, social legislation and along with the spread of higher education and awareness, the emergence of Women owned businesses are highly increasing in the economies of almost all countries.
In former days, for Women there were 3 Ks- Kitchen, Kids, Knitting, then came 3 Ps- Powder,Pappad, Pickles and now at present there are 4 Es- Electricity, Electronics, Energy, Engineering . Indian women had undergone a long way and are becoming increasingly visible and successful in all spheres and have shifted from kitchen to higher level of professional activities.
Today’s women are taking more and more professional and technical degrees to cope up with market need and are flourishing as de signers, interior decorators, exporters, publishers, garment manufacturers and still exploring new avenues of economic participation. It is perhaps for these reasons that Government Bodies,
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NGO’s, Social Scientists, Researchers ‘and International Agencies have started showing interest in the issues related to entrepreneurship among women in India.
Women entrepreneur’s explore the prospects of starting a new enterprise; undertake risks, introduction of new innovations, coordinate administration & control of business & providing effective leadership in all aspects of business and have proved their footage in the male dominated business arena.
This report focuses on the concept of woman entrepreneurs in India; their traits in business, the problems faced by them when they set up and make some suggestions for future prospects for development of Women Entrepreneurs
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History
Entrepreneurship has gained currency across the sphere and female- entrepreneurship has become an important module. India is one of the fastest emerging economies and the importance of entrepreneurship is realized across the gamut.
“Women Entrepreneurship” means an act of business ownership and business creation that empowers women economically increases their economic strength as well as position in society. Women-entrepreneurs have been making a considerable impact in all most all the segments of the economy.
“Women Entrepreneur” is a person who denies the role of their personal needs to participate and be accepted economically independent. Strong desire to do something positive is a high-quality women entrepreneur who contributes to the position values of family and social life.
“An enterprise owned and controlled by a women having a minimum financial interest of 51% of capital and giving at least 51% of the employment generated by the enterprise to women.” - Government of India
According to Kamala Singh," A women entrepreneur is a confident, innovative and creative woman capable of achieving economic independence individually or in collaboration generates employment opportunities for others through initiating establishing and running an enterprise by keeping pace with her personal, family and social life.
According to Medha Dubhanshi Vinze,” a women entrepreneur is a person who is an enterprising individual with an eye for opportunities and an uncanny vision,
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Commercial acumen, with tremendous perseverance and above all a person who is willing to take risk with the unknown because of the adventures spirit she possesses.”
In the words of Former President APJ Abdul Kalam "Empowering women is a prerequisite for creating a good nation, when women are empowered, society with stability is assured. Empowerment of women is essential as their thoughts and their value systems lead to the development of a good family, good society and ultimately a good nation."
Pandit Jawaharlal Lal Nehru has remarked “When women move forward, the family moves, the village moves and the Nation moves.”
Women Entrepreneurs have been making a significant impact in all segments of economy of of the world. Their willingness for the future is apparent in their growing confidence, in their strengths and in their desire to seek different forms of work in order to achieve a new balance between work and home. Thus a women entrepreneur is one who starts business and manages it independently and tactfully takes all the risks, accepts challenging role to meet her personal needs and become economically independent. A strong desire to do something positive is an inbuilt quality of entrepreneurial women, who is capable contributing values in both family and social life and is one who faces the challenges boldly with an iron, will to succeed.
Objectives Of The Research
The main purpose or objective of study of women entrepreneurship is as follows:
To exhibit the encouraging and discouraging factors in an
enterprise.
Identification and analysis of all the shortcomings encountered
by women in setting and establishing an industrial enterprise.
To provide solutions to the various problems faced by the
women entrepreneur group.
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Traits of Women Entrepreneurs in India
Women are ambitiousA successful woman entrepreneur is dreadfully strong-minded one, has an inner
urge or drives to change contemplation into realism. Knowledge from her previous occupancy as an employee, relying on educational qualifications or lessons learnt from inborn business, she is ready to grab opportunities, sets goal, possess clear vision, steps confidently forward and is ambitious to be successful. Every successful woman entrepreneur is truly determined to achieve goals and make her business prosper. Thorough knowledge of the field is indispensable to success. She comes with new innovative solutions to old problems to tide over issues.
Women are confidentA successful woman entrepreneur is confident in her ability. She is ready to learn
from others, search for help from experts if it means adding value to her goals. She is positive in nature and is keener to take risks. A winning woman entrepreneur uses common intelligence to make sound judgments when encountering everyday situations. This is gleaned from past experience and information acquired over the years. It is essential not to get aggravated and give up when you face obstacles and trials. The aptitude to explore uncharted territories and take bold decisions is the hallmark of a successful woman entrepreneur. A successful woman usually loves what she does. She is extremely fervent about her tasks and activities. Her high energy levels motivate her to contributeimmensely towards building, establishing and maintaining a prosperous business.
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Women is open and willing to learnA successful woman entrepreneur keeps side by side of changes, as she is fully
conscious of the importance of evolving changes. She is ahead of her competitors and thrives on changes. She adapts her business to changes in technology or service prospect of her patrons. She is inquisitive, concerned to learn and accommodative to innovations.
Women are cost consciousA successful woman entrepreneur prepares pragmatic budget estimates. She
provides cost effective quality services to her clients. With minimized cost of operations, she is able to force her team to capitalize on profits and gather its benefits.
Women values cooperation and allegianceA woman has the ability to work with all levels of populace. She is keen on
maintainingassociations and communicates evidently and efficiently. This helps her to negotiate even responsive issues without difficulty. She is sympathetic to people around her and have good networking skills that help her to get better contacts and utilize opportunities.
Women can balance home and workA successful woman entrepreneur is good at balancing varied aspects
of life. Her multitasking aptitude combined with support from spouse and relatives enables her to bring together business priorities with domestic responsibilities competently and efficiently.
Women are aware of her legal responsibility to the social orderA successful woman entrepreneur is eager to share her achievement with the
society. She is dedicated to assist others and enjoys her liability.
Women focus on their PlansWomen Entrepreneur’s plan their work and work with plan. Set long-term and
short-term goals and take consistent action in moving toward them.
Women are ResourcefulWomen entrepreneurs take advantage effectively coordinating the available factors andresources such as mentoring, training and coaching and build a strong base of education, training and experience which can help lead to success.
An effectual Women Entrepreneur requires certain additional essential qualities, which can be listed as follows.
Innovative thinking and farsightedness. Often relatively comfortable with ambiguity, uncertainty and risk. Quick and effective choice making skill. Strongly influence events (or self-efficacy). Strong determination. Have high levels of work motivation.
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Preparedness to take risks. Characterized by high levels of social competence and social intelligence Accepting changes in right time. Has an ability to build relationships and to connect with others on a social and
interpersonal level Access and alertness to latest scientific and technological information. Single-minded and devoted to their unique passions. Efficient execution of decisions imposed on them. May judge ambiguous business conditions in more positive, enthusiastic, and
optimistic terms. Clear vision and ambition on the improvement of family and children. Takes advantage of resources such as mentoring, counselling and other small
business development assistance. Patience and bearing the sufferings on behalf of others. Has some blend of critical analytical thinking, creativity, and practical
implementation of ideas. Ability to work physically more at any age.
Many women have these traits but they never got a platform to showcase their talents and forthis reason they don't know their real abilities. Matching the basic qualities required for entrepreneurs and the basic characters of Indian women reveal that, much potential is available among the Indian women on their entrepreneurial ability. This potential is to be documented, brought out and exposed for utilization in productive and service sectors for the progress of the nation.
KEY CHANGES IN WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN LAST FIVE DECADES
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OF THE FIFTIES:Compulsive factors led to the creation of women entrepreneurs.
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OF THE SIXTIES:Women began to aspire but also accepted the social cultural traditions.
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OF THE SEVENTIES:The women in this decade opened up new frontier. They had not only aspiration but ambition.
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OF THE EIGHTIES:Women were educated in highly sophisticated, technological and professional education. They became equally contributing partners.
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OF THE NINETIES:This was the first time when the concept of best rather than male heir was talked about.
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OF THE 21st Century:“Jill of all trades”
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Since the 21st century, the status of women in India has been changing as a result to
mounting industrialization and urbanization and social legislation. Over the years, more and more women are going in for higher education, technical and professional education and their proportion in the workforce has also been increased.
With the spread of education and awareness, women have shifted from the kitchen, handicrafts and traditional cottage industries to non-traditional higher levels of activities. The Government has also laid special weight age on the requirement for conducting special entrepreneurial training programs for women to enable them to start their own ventures.
Financial institutions and banks have also set up particular cells to help women entrepreneurs. This has rebound the women entrepreneurs on the economic scene in the recent years although many women’s entrepreneurship enterprises arestill remained a much neglected field. Though, for women there are quite a lot of handicaps to enter into and manage business ownership due to the intensely entrenched conventional state of mind and strict principles of the Indian society.
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Role of women as an Entrepreneur
Considering the flow of women entrepreneurs in the traditional industries, it is oftencriticized that the women entrepreneurship is engaged only in handloom and handicraft and in the non-traditional term, now their aspect have broaden into new line like hotel line, Xeroxing, Beauty Parlour business, incense stick making, candle making etc.In the last decade, there has been a remarkable shift it emphasizes from the traditional industry to non-traditional industry and services. Based on this concept, some important opportunities are being identified, considering the socio-economic, cultural and educational status and motivational level of women entrepreneurs, particularly projects with low investment, low technical know-how and assured market are suggested for them such as production of soaps, detergents, ready- made instant food products including pickles, spices, papad, manufacturing of woollen goods, beauty parlour business, typing centre, job contracts for packaging of goods and distribution and household provision etc.
At present they are:
Creative: It refers to the creative approach or innovative ideas with competitive market. Well-planned approach is needed to examine the existing situation and to identify the entrepreneurial opportunities. It further implies that women entrepreneurs have alliance with clued-up people and constricting the right organization offering support and service.
Quality to working hard: Innovative women have further ability to work hard. The creative ideas have to come to a fair play. Hard work is required to build up an enterprise.
Determination: Women entrepreneurs must have an intention to fulfill their dreams. They have to make a dream transferred into an idea enterprise.
Ability and desire to take risk: the desire refers to the willingness to take risk and ability to the proficiency in planning making forecast estimates and calculations.
Profit earning capacity: she has a capability to get maximum return out of invested capital.
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Functions of Women Entrepreneurs
A Woman entrepreneur has also to perform all the functions involved in establishing anenterprise
Functions for establishment of an enterprise Idea generation and screening Determination of objectives Undertaking a risk and handling of economic uncertainties involved in
business. project preparation Product analysis Introduction of innovations, imitations of innovations. Form of business Co-ordination, administration and control. Raising funds Supervision and leadership. Procuring men, machine and materials and operations of business.
In nutshell, women entrepreneur are those women who think of a business enterprise, initiate it, organize and combine the factors of production, operate the enterprise, undertake risk and handle economic uncertainties involved in running a business enterprise.
Successful Leading Business Women in IndiaThe 21 Leading Businesswomen in India
Akhila Srinivasan, Managing Director, Shriram Investments Ltd Chanda Kocchar, Executive Director, ICICI Bank Ekta Kapoor ,Creative Director, Balaji Telefilms Jyoit Naik, President, Lijjat Papad Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon Lalita D Gupte, Joint Managing Director, ICICI Bank Naina Lal Kidwai ,Deputy CEO, HSBC Preetha Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Priya Paul, Chairman, Apeejay Park Hotels Rajshree Pathy, Chairman, Rajshree Sugars and Chemicals Ltd Ranjana Kumar ,Chairman, NABARD Ravina Raj Kohli, Media personality and ex-President, STAR News Renuka Ramnath, CEO, ICICI Ventures Ritu Kumar ,Fashion Designer Ritu Nanda, CEO, Escolife Shahnaz Hussain, CEO, Shahnaz Herbals Sharan Apparao, Proprietor, Apparao Galleries Simone Tata, Chairman, Trent Ltd Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Joint MD, Kinetic Engineering Tarjani Vakil, former Chairman and Managing Director, EXIM Bank Zia Mody, Senior Partner, AZB & Partners
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Women Entrepreneurs and Their Problems
Women entrepreneurs face many hurdles. Societal support is a key determinant in entrepreneurial establishment. The most common problem, which a woman faces, is the non-cooperation from her husband or close family members. Majority of the time the family members do not motivate them. Besides they face other problems like mobility constraints, dual responsibility, low managing ability, risk-bearing ability etc. They don’t lack managerial skills but they have less promotional ability, which they need to improve upon. Scarcity of raw material and finance are another problem faced by the women entrepreneurs. The standard of technology used by the women entrepreneurs is qualitatively low; they are poor in technical know-how. Transportation difficulties, improper power supply and telecommunication are some of the other problem faced by them. Marketing problem is the biggest problem faced by women entrepreneurs.
There are some umpteen problems faced by women at various stages beginning from their initial commencement of enterprise, in running their enterprise. Their various problems are as follows:
Arrangement of Finance: -For every business undertaking Finance is said to be the “life blood”, whether it is large,medium or small enterprise. Women entrepreneurs face the problems of shortage of finance on two important bases. Firstly, women do not in general have property on their own names to use that as collateral securities for obtaining loans/funds from banks and other financial institutions. Thus their access to external sources is very limited .Secondly, obtaining the support of bankers, managing the working capital, lack of credit resources are the problems which still remain in the male’s domain.
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Shortage of raw-materials:-Women entrepreneurs encounter the problems of shortage of raw-materials and necessary inputs. On the pinnacle of this, is the high prices of raw materials, on one hand and getting raw materials at minimum discount rates are the other.
Cut-throat Competition:-Lot of the women entrepreneurs have imperfect organizational set up to drive in a lot of money for canvassing and advertisements. They have to face severe competition from organized industries. They have also to face a stiff competition with the men entrepreneurs who easily involve in the promotion and development area and carry out easy marketing of their products with both the organized sector and their male counterparts. Such a competition ultimately results in the insolvency of women entrepreneurs.
Lack of education and prevalent levels of illiteracy amongst women: -In India, around (40%) of women are still illiterate. Illiteracy is the root cause of socioeconomic barriers or hurdles. Due to lack of Knowledge of latest technological change, know-how and education creates problems before women to set up competitive enterprises.
Family Conflicts:-Women also countenance the conflict of performing of home role as they are not available to spend enough time with their families. Because in India, mainly a woman’s duty is to look after her children and manage the other members of the family. In business they have to spend long hours and as a result, they find it difficult to meet the demands of their family members and society as well. Their incapability to attend to domestic work, time for education of children, personal hobbies, and entertainment adds to their conflicts.
Marketing Problems:-Women entrepreneurs incessantly face the problems in marketing their products. It is one of the core problems as this area is mainly dominated by males and even women with adequate experience fail to make a dent. For marketing the products women entrepreneurs have to be at the mercy of middlemen who pocket the hunk of profit. Although the middlemen exploit the women entrepreneurs, the purging of middlemen is tricky, because it involves a lot of running about. Women entrepreneurs also find it difficult to capture the market and make their products popular.
Lack of self-confidence and optimistic attitude amongst women: -Nowadays most of the women are suffering from one major problem of lack of self-confidence, determination, physically powerful outlook, hopefulness etc. They are always panic from committing mistakes while doing their piece of work, more over there is limited initiative of taking risk and bearing uncertainty in them. Thus all these psychological factors often obstruct their path of achieving success in the area of enterprise.
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High cost of production:High cost of production undermines the efficiency and adversely affects the development of women entrepreneurs. The installation of new machinery during expansion of the productive capacity and like similar factor dissuades the women entrepreneur from venturing in to new area. Government assistance in the form of grant and subsidies to some extent enables them to tide over the difficult situations. However, in the long run, it would be necessary to increase efficiency and expand productive capacity and thereby reduce cost to make their ultimate survival possible, other than these, women entrepreneurs also face the problems of labour, human resources, infrastructure, legal formalities, overload of work, lack of family support, mistrust etc.
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Review Of Literature
Women entrepreneurship development is an essential part of human resource development. The development of women entrepreneurship is very low in India, especially in the rural areas. Entrepreneurship amongst women has been a recent concern. Women have become aware of their existence their rights and their work situation. However, women of middle class are not too eager to alter their role in fear of social backlash. The progress is more visible among upper class families in urban cities.
This paper focuses on women entrepreneur. Any understanding of Indian women, of their identity, and especially of their role taking and breaking new paths, will be incomplete without a walk down the corridors of Indian history where women have lived and internalized various role models. The paper talks about the status of women entrepreneurs and the problems faced by them when they ventured out to carve their own niche in the competitive world of business environment.
In this dynamic world, women entrepreneurs are an important part of the global quest for sustained economic development and social progress. In India, though women have played a key role in the society, their entrepreneurial ability has not been properly tapped due to the lower status of women in the society. It is only from the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-78) onwards that their role has been explicitly recognized with a marked shift in the approach from women welfare to women development and empowerment. The development of women entrepreneurship has become an important aspect of our plan priorities. Several policies and programmes are being implemented for the development of women entrepreneurship in India.
There is a need for changing the mindset towards women so as to give equal rights as enshrined in the constitution. The progress towards gender equality is slow and is partly due to the failure to attach money to policy commitments. In the words of president APJ Abdul Kalam "empowering women is a prerequisite for creating a good nation, when women are empowered, society with stability is assured. Empowerment of women is essential as their thoughts and their value systems lead to the development of a good family, good society and ultimately a good nation."
When a woman is empowered it does not mean that another individual becomes powerless or is having less power. On the contrary, if a women is empowered her competencies towards decision- making will surely influence her family's behavior.
In advanced countries, there is a phenomenon of increase in the number of self- employed women after the world war 11. In USA, women own 25% of all business, even though their sales on an average are less than two-fifths of those of other small business. In Canada, women own one-third of small business and in France it is one-fifth.
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Women Entrepreneurship in India
States No of UnitsRegistered
No. of WomenEntrepreneurs
Percentage
Tamil Nadu 9618 2930 30.36Uttar Pradesh 7980 3180 39.84Kerala 5487 2135 38.91Punjab 4791 1618 33.77Maharastra 4339 1394 32.12Gujrat 3872 1538 39.72Karnatka 3822 1026 26.84Madhya Pradesh 2967 842 28.38Other States & UTS 14576 4185 28.71Total 57,452 18,848 32.82
Women Work Participation
Country PercentageIndia (1970-1971) 14.2India (1980-1981) 19.7India (1990-1991) 22.3India (2000-2001) 31.6USA 45UK 43Indonesia 40Sri Lanka 35Brazil 35
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Research Methadology
For methodology an extensive literature review of secondary data from various sources has been held as related to the stated objectives of the study as well as research study on internet survey basis.
\
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Limitations
During doing this research I found out that Women entrepreneurs face following limitations:-
1. The greatest deterrent to women entrepreneurs is that they are women. A kind of patriarchal – male dominant social order is the building block to them in their way towards business success. Male members think it a big risk financing the ventures run by women.
2. The financial institutions are sceptical about the entrepreneurial abilities of women. The bankers consider women loonies as higher risk than men loonies. The bankers put unrealistic and unreasonable securities to get loan to women entrepreneurs. According to a report by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization , "despite evidence that women's loan repayment rates are higher than men's, women still face more difficulties in obtaining credit," often due to discriminatory attitudes of banks and informal lending groups.
3. Entrepreneurs usually require financial assistance of some kind to launch their ventures - be it a formal bank loan or money from a savings account. Women in developing nations have little access to funds, due to the fact that they are concentrated in poor rural communities with few opportunities to borrow money. The women entrepreneurs are suffering from inadequate financial resources and working capital. The women entrepreneurs lack
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access to external funds due to their inability to provide tangible security. Very few women have the tangible property in hand.
4. Women's family obligations also bar them from becoming successful entrepreneurs in both developed and developing nations. "Having primary responsibility for children, home and older dependent family members, few women can devote all their time and energies to their business" .The financial institutions discourage women entrepreneurs on the belief that they can at any time leave their business and become housewives again. The result is that they are forced to rely on their own savings, and loan from relatives and family friends.
5. Indian women give more emphasis to family ties and relationships. Married women have to make a fine balance between business and home. More over the business success is depends on the support the family members extended to women in the business process and management. The interest of the family members is a determinant factor in the realization of women folk business aspirations.
6. Another argument is that women entrepreneurs have low-level management skills. They have to depend on office staffs and intermediaries, to get things done, especially, the marketing and sales side of business. Here there is more probability for business fallacies like the intermediaries take major part of the surplus or profit. Marketing means mobility and confidence in dealing with the external world, both of which women have been discouraged from developing by social conditioning. Even when they are otherwise in control of an enterprise, they often depend on males of the family in this area.
7. The male - female competition is another factor, which develop hurdles to women entrepreneurs in the business management process. Despite the fact that women entrepreneurs are good in keeping their service prompt and delivery in time, due to lack of organisational skills compared to male entrepreneurs women have to face constraints from competition. The confidence to travel across day and night and even different regions and states are less found in women compared to male entrepreneurs. This shows the low level freedom of expression and freedom of mobility of the women entrepreneurs.
8. Knowledge of alternative source of raw materials availability and high negotiation skills are the basic requirement to run a business. Getting the raw materials from different souse with discount prices is the factor that determines the profit margin. Lack of knowledge of availability of the raw materials and low-level negotiation and bargaining skills are the factors, which affect women entrepreneur's business adventures.
9. Knowledge of latest technological changes, know how, and education level of the person are significant factor that affect business. The literacy rate of women in India
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is found at low level compared to male population. Many women in developing nations lack the education needed to spur successful entrepreneurship. They are ignorant of new technologies or unskilled in their use, and often unable to do research and gain the necessary training . Although great advances are being made in technology, many women's illiteracy, strucutural difficulties, and lack of access to technical training prevent the technology from being beneficial or even available to females . According to The Economist, this lack of knowledge and the continuing treatment of women as second-class citizens keeps them in a pervasive cycle of poverty . The studies indicates that uneducated women donot have the knowledge of measurement and basic accounting.
10. Low-level risk taking attitude is another factor affecting women folk decision to get into business. Low-level education provides low-level self-confidence and self-reliance to the women folk to engage in business, which is continuous risk taking and strategic cession making profession. Investing money, maintaining the operations and ploughing back money for surplus generation requires high risk taking attitude, courage and confidence. Though the risk tolerance ability of the women folk in day-to-day life is high compared to male members, while in business it is found opposite to that.
11. Achievement motivation of the women folk found less compared to male members. The low level of education and confidence leads to low level achievement and advancement motivation among women folk to engage in business operations and running a business concern.
12. Finally high production cost of some business operations adversely affects the development of women entrepreneurs. The installation of new machineries during expansion of the productive capacity and like similar factors dissuades the women entrepreneurs from venturing into new areas.
Data Analysis And Interpretation
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This chapter will bring about the analysis of the questions in the questionnaire which
was sent to the women registered with the organization. Bar graphs, pie diagrams,
statistical formulas and Linker’s rating scales have been used to analyze the responses
from 100 women. The different parameters used in the questionnaire are the present
age of the women, the age at which they started their business, family status, marital
status and the educational background of the women.
1.1 Present Age Category of the women
Graph 1.1 Age Category
*Source – Questionnaire (Fieldwork)
The above graph 1.1 depicts that 40% of the women in my sample survey are of the
age category 30-39 years. 26% of the women belong to the category of 20-29years,
24% of the sample size women fall in the 40-49 years category. 9% of the women fall
in the range of 50 years and above. Out of the 100 respondents only one woman
belongs to the category of under 20 years.
This analysis shows that the rate of young entrepreneurship is increasing with the
years and entrepreneurship demands dynamisms and innovation.
1.2 The age at which the respondents started their ventures.
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Under 20 years
20-29 years 30-39 years 40-49 years 50+ years0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
1%
26%
40%
24%
9%
Age Category
Graph 1.2 At what age did you start your own venture?
10 -20 Years 20-30 Years 30-40 Years 40-50 Years0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1
55
41
3
At what age do you start your own ven-ture?
*Source – Questionnaire (Fieldwork)
From the above graph 1.2 we can conclude that the 55 women who fall in the age
group of 20-30 years are the maximum number of women from the sample who have
started their own venture. In the age group 30-40 years 41 of the total women have
started their enterprise and 3 women in the age group of 40-50 years. The analysis
brings out there is only one women who in the age category 10-20 years.
Using the statistical formula the mode of the data has been calculated. Mode depicts
the most frequently occurring value in the data. Out of the 100 respondent’s majority
of the women have started their own enterprises when they were 26 years old.
~ 28 ~
1.3 The family status of the women
Figure 1.3 Family Status
Nucle-arFam-
ily66%
Joint Family34%
Family Status
*Source- Questionnaire (Fieldwork)
The above figure 1.3 shows the family background of the women. Out of the 100
women surveyed 66% of the women come from nuclear families and the remaining
34% of the women belong to joint families.
1.4 Marital Status of the sample size
~ 29 ~
Figure 1.4 Marital Status
*Source- Questionnaire (Fieldwork)
Figure 1.4 depicts the marital status of the sample women. Out of the 100 recorded
questionnaires 50% of the women are unmarried whereas 42% of them are married.
The other 4% of the women are single parents and out the remaining 4% women 3
women are widows and one woman is a divorce.
One of the main reasons for the major percentage of unmarried women who are into
their own business is because they can focus and devote their maximum time in
developing their enterprise.
1.5 Educational Background of the respondents
~ 30 ~
Married42%
Unmarried50%
Single Parent4%
Divorced1%
Widow3%
Marital Status
Figure 1.5 Educational Background
*Source- Questionnaire (Fieldwork)
The above diagram 1.5 illustrates the educational background of the surveyed women
and according to the graph 51% of the total respondents have done a graduation,
where as 43% of the women have gone further more and completed their post
graduation and acquired a University Degree. Whereas 3% of women have done just
basic schooling and other 3% have stopped school after secondary education.
1.6 Is the present enterprise the first enterprise of the respondent?
~ 31 ~
3%3%
51%
43%
Educational Background
Basic Schooling
Secondary Ed-ucation
Graduation (Col-lege Education)
Post Graduation
Graph 1.6 First Enterprise
*Source- Questionnaire (Fieldwork)
The chart above shows that 76% of the respondents stated that their current enterprise
is the first one they owned and the remaining 24% of the women stated that they had
previous enterprise ownership experience.
The 24 women who responded with a no to this question had to further answer
another question which is related to the reasons for the closure of the previous
enterprise.
1.7 If No, what happened to the previous business?
~ 32 ~
Yes
No
01020304050607080
76%
24%
First enterprise?
Graph 1.7 What happened to the previous business?
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
4 %
21 %
46 %
63 %
33 %
Went of out business Financial Problems(Losses) Has been sold Lack of manpower Others
Previous business
*Source- Questionnaire (Fieldwork)
Graph 1.7 is a bar graph which is used to observe what happened to the previous
business of the women, whose present business is not their first business they owned.
Out the total questionnaires recorded 63% of the women had financial problem with
the business. 46% of the women had to sell their enterprise, 33% of the women
mentioned that they went out of business and 21% of the women faced lack of
manpower. The remaining 4% of the total data said that they had other reasons for the
closure of the business, the reasons being new idea generation, trade unions issues and
destruction of the business premises.
~ 33 ~
1.8 The sector of the business ventured in by the respondent
Graph 1.8 Sector of the business
105
101520253035404550
16%
28%
46%
10%
Primary Sector Secondary Sector Tertiary Sector
Sector
*Source- Questionnaire (Fieldwork)
The above graph depicts the different sector of business which the women have
adopted. This analysis reviles that 46% of the women have ventured into tertiary
sector, which includes Retail and wholesale sales, transportation and distribution,
entertainment, restaurants, clerical services, media, tourism, insurance, banking,
healthcare, law and so on. Whereas only 28% of the women surveyed have a business
in the secondary sector, which includes Automobile production, textile production,
chemical industries, aerospace, construction and 16% of the women have a primary
based business, which includes Agriculture, mining, forestry, farming, grazing, and
fishing. And the remaining 10% of women have ventured into other business sector,
like ITES, fashion house, Home décor.
~ 34 ~
1.9 The size of the business which the women own
Figure 1.9 Size of the business
Micro(1-9 Employees) 38%
Small(10-49 Employees) 31%
Medium(50-249 Employees) 21%
Large(Over 250 Employees) 10%
Size of the business
*Source- Questionnaire (Fieldwork)
Figure 1.9 shows the size of the business using the pie chart. According to the overall
summary of replies received, majority of women entrepreneurs have micro enterprises
(1-9 employees) which amounts of 38% of the total responses. 31% of the women
from my sample have small companies (10-49 employees), 21% of the women have
medium sized companies with employee’s size of 50 to 249 and only 10% of the total
respondents have a large scale business with over 250 employees.
1.10 The ownership details of the women in the sample size
Figure 1.10 Ownership details
~ 35 ~
55%32%
8%5%
Onwership Details
Sole Pro-prietorshipPartnershipJointCorporation
*Source- Questionnaire (Fieldwork)
According to figure 1.10 we can observe that 55% of the women in sample are sole
proprietors of the business. 32% of the women have a partnership and the other 8% of
the women have a joint business venture. The remaining 5% of the women have a
corporation.
1.11 The factors which motivate the women to start their own business
Graph 1.11 Motivation for starting the business
~ 36 ~
10
10
20
30
40
50
60
48%
27%
52%
40% 38%
3%
Self AchievementSocial StatusMoney MakingDid not want to work for othersWant to take independent decisionsOther
Motivation for starting the Buisness
*Source – Questionnaire (Fieldwork)
The above graph 1.11 depicts the reasons for starting the business. When questioned
the reasons for starting their business, 52% women quoted generating profits (money
making) as being the most important factor which motivated them to start their
business. Other 48% of the women surveyed started their business as a part of self
achievement and the 40% women did not want to work for others. 38% of the women
quoted that they wanted to take independent decisions and hence started a business
whereas 27% of them have started a business in order to gain social status in the
community. The other 3% of the women have responded with other reasons to start
their businesses.
1.12 The initial amount invested by the surveyed women
~ 37 ~
Graph 1.12 Initial Investment
*Source – Questionnaire (Fieldwork)
From the above graph 1.12 it is clear that 30% of the surveyed women started their
business with an amount lying between the range of 1, 00,000 to 5, 00,000 rupees.
25% of the women’s initial investment was around 10,000 to 50,000 rupees, 23% of
the women invested around 50,000 to 1, 00, 000 rupees initially. Only 18 women out
of 100 respondents invested more than 5, 00,000 rupees to start the business and the
remaining 4% of the women have started their business with just about 10,000 rupees
or less.
Table 2.1 To what extent did you face the following obstacles when you started your
own business?
Particulars Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Total
~ 38 ~
Less than 10,000 10,000-50,000 50,000-1,00,000 1,00,000-5,00,000 More than 5,00,00005
101520253035
4 %
25% 23%30%
18%
Initial In-vestment
Disagree Agree1 2 3 4 5
Financial Problems 1% 5% 15% 56% 23% 100Lack of information/advice on how to start a business
4% 5% 21% 55% 15% 100
Finding the right contacts for starting the business
1% 7% 16% 57% 19% 100
Managing family and work life
14% 14% 10% 36% 26% 100
Lack of self confidence
34% 24% 12% 20% 10% 100
Gender Discrimination
60% 17% 8% 11% 4% 100
Total 114 72 82 235 97 600
*Source – Questionnaire (Fieldwork)
For the purpose of evaluating this question Likert’s rating scale has been used, in
which strongly disagree is rated as 1, disagree as 2, neutral as 3, agree as 4 and
strongly agree as 5.According to the above table 4.1, 56% of the women agree that
financial problems were faced by them. 55% of the women agree that the main
problem they faced was lack of information or lack of advice on how to start a
business. Also 57% of the women responded that finding the right contacts for
starting the business was the main obstacle. Only 36% of the total women find
managing family and work life as the main problem. 34% of the women respondents
strong disagree with the fact that lack of self confidence is not a obstacle to start a
business. And the remaining 60% of the also strongly disagree with gender
discrimination to be an obstacle.
Table 2.2 To what extent did COWE help you in starting up the business?
Particulars Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Total
~ 39 ~
Disagree Agree1 2 3 4 5
Financial Support 1% 6% 12% 44% 37% 100
Legal Advice 0% 2% 12% 50% 36% 100
Market Research 0% 3% 14% 44% 39% 100
Promoting Activities0% 5% 7% 47% 41%
100
Guidance 3% 3% 14% 42% 38% 100
Training & Development 1% 2% 8% 50% 39% 100
Providing land 5% 14% 31% 26% 24% 100
Technological Support 3% 6% 26% 37% 28% 100
Personal Development 4% 8% 15% 39% 34% 100
Total 17 49 139 379 316 900
*Source – Questionnaire (Fieldwork)
For the purpose of evaluating this question Likert’s rating scale has been used, in
which strongly disagree is rated as 1, disagree as 2, neutral as 3, agree as 4 and
strongly agree as 5.Above table 2.2 depicts that 44% of the women surveyed agree
that COWE helps them financial, 50% agree that COWE helps the women with legal
advice, 44 % of the surveyed women agree that the NGO helps the women in market
research and 47 % of them agree that the organization helps them with promoting
their products. 42% women from the sample agree that COWE provides them with
guidance and mentorship and 50% of them agree that the NGO plays a major role in
training and developing them only 26% of the surveyed women are of the view that
the NGO provides them with land. 37% of the women agree that the technological
support and personal development is provided by COWE.
Table 2.3 What are the main obstacles you are facing presently in running of your
business?
Particulars Strongly Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Total
~ 40 ~
1 2 3 4 5
Lack of awareness 8% 28% 42% 22% 0% 100
Low of manpower 5% 32% 50% 13% 0% 100
Lack of resources 8% 37% 45% 10% 0% 100
Competition 6% 9% 28% 38% 19% 100
Financial/ Liquidity Problems
16% 45% 29% 9% 1% 100
Gender Discrimination
69% 15% 10% 5% 1% 100
Family and work life balance
38% 19% 18% 14% 11% 100
Technological Problems
28% 28% 26% 16% 2% 100
Total 178 213 248 127 34 800
*Source – Questionnaire (Fieldwork)
For the purpose of evaluating this question Likert’s rating scale has been used, in which strongly disagree is rated as 1, disagree as 2, neutral as 3, agree as 4 and
strongly agree as 5. The above table 2.3 observes the different problems the women face presently in running of the business. There was a neutral response from 42% of the women regarding lack of awareness of the present business.50% of the women
neither agreed nor disagreed with the fact that lack of manpower is the present obstacle. Also 45% of the women surveyed have a neutral response for lack of
resource being a problem for running their business. 45% of the women disagree with the factor of financial problem being an obstacle in running their business presently. 69% of the women strongly disagree with gender discrimination as a problem and also 38% of the women strongly disagree that family and work life balance being a
problem. 28% of the women strongly disagree that they face any technological problems in running their present business
Recommendations
On the basis of the aforesaid problems faced by women entrepreneurs and various other problems too, there is a provision of a number of Strategies for
~ 41 ~
promoting women entrepreneurship to overcome these problems. Such solutions or remedies can be well understood as under:-
Promoting entrepreneurship among women is especially important to tackle the problems of under employment and unemployment in the society.
Education has been instrumental in increasing the participation of women in entrepreneurial activities. The formal education not only helps in acquisition of requires knowledge for a job, which demands non-traditional skills but also imparts knowledge about the different occupational opportunities. Good academic background makes women confident in dealing with problems in business in an effective manner. Although it is a fact that entrepreneurship is not a special preserve for the educated but in the case of women already burdened with many social pressures, education is a powerful tool in breaking down the barriers to successfulEntrepreneurship. Thus education is a liberating force and barriers of caste and class,smoothing out inequalities imposed by birth and other circumstances.
There should be an incessant attempt to motivate, give confidence, inspire and assist women entrepreneurs.
Government should provide better educational facilities and schemes to women folk.
There should be continuous monitoring, improvement of training programmers, practical experience and personality development programmes to improvise their over-all personality standards.
Establishment of proper training institutes for enhancing their level of work-knowledge, skills, risk-taking abilities, enhancing their capabilities. Training Centers should provide training to prospective women entrepreneurs free of cost and Entrepreneurship Development Programme should be much more practical oriented. Inculcation of self-confidence amongst women that they can also run a business should be one of the prime motives of these programmes.
Potential women entrepreneurs should be exposed to different types of emerging opportunities.
Housewives should be motivated to learn additional income.
A women entrepreneur should herself set up an example by being successful and should act as a role model. Since children have a tendency to emulate their parents, the resultant effect would be automatic.
Establishment of proper training institutes for enhancing their level of work-knowledge, skills, risk-taking abilities, enhancing their capabilities.
~ 42 ~
Finance is sine-qua-non for any enterprise. The banking system is not sufficiently responsive to social banking needs and has not been able to deal with barriers that hinder women from using or gaining access to credit. Adequate arrangements must be made for the supply of credit facility at concession rate for the women entrepreneurs in view of their growing needs.
Creating provision of micro credit system and enterprise credit system to the women entrepreneurs at local level.
A Women Entrepreneur's Guidance Cell should be set up to handle the various problems of women entrepreneurs all over the state.
Positive attitudinal change in the society recognizing the role of women as entrepreneur may lead to the development of appropriate environment in which women will be able to exploit their entrepreneurial talents.
Offering seed capital, up-liftmen schemes, women entrepreneurs fund etc. To encourage them economically.
To extend confessional rates facilities and schemes for women entrepreneurs to prosper in the field of enterprise.
Thus by adopting the following aforesaid measures in letter and spirit the problems associated with women can be solved.
Conclusion
~ 43 ~
India is a male dominated society and women are assumed to be economically as well as socially dependent on male members. The absolute dependence seems to be diluted among the high and middle class women as they are becoming more aware of personal needs and demanding greater equality.
Women entrepreneurs faced lots of problems at start-up as well as operating stage like, non-availability of finance, restricted mobility freedom and having to perform dual role one at home and other at work. Technological advancement and information technology explosion have reduced the problem of women entrepreneurs. Along with technological revolution, mental revolution of society is needed to change the attitude of the society and provide women with democratic and entrepreneurial platform.
More-over with increasing Government and Non-Government and other financial institutions assistance for various women entrepreneurs within the economy there can be significant increase brought about in the growth of women entrepreneurship process. Still efforts are being made to coordinate with the enterprise activities of women and providing them utmost financial, morale, psychological support by various institutions working within the economy and world-wide.
Thus, Women have the potential and the determination to set up, uphold and supervise their own enterprises in a very systematic manner. Appropriate support and encouragement from the Society in general and family members in particular is required to help these women scale new heights in their business ventures. The right kind of assistance from family, society and Government can make these Women Entrepreneurs a part of the mainstream of national economy and they can contribute to the economic progress of India.
Bibliography
~ 44 ~
Entrepreneurship Development –By S.S Khanka. S. Chand & Company Limited. (Ram Nagar, New Delhi-10055).
A Reflection of the Indian Women in Entrepreneurial Worldwww.iimahd.ernet.in/publications/data/2005-08-07indirap.pdf
www.indianmba.com/Faculty_Column/FC1073/fc1073.html
www.oppapers.com › Business & Economy Research Papers
www.asiaentrepreneurshipjournal.com/AJESVolIIIss1Malar.pdf
www.academicjournals.org/ajbm/.../Witbooi%20and%20Ukpere.pdf
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