Women Entrepreneurs

Women Entrepreneurs

“When women moves forward; the family moves, the village moves and the nation moves” said by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Women entrepreneurs are those who venture out into industrial activities. They take the lead and organize the business or industry and provide employment to others. They are key players in economic development of the country. Indian women have increasing opportunities in higher levels of education, economic necessities and constitutional rights.

The knowledge of dress designing lays a strong foundation for women entrepreneurs. “A women entrepreneur can be defined as a confident, innovative and creative woman capable of achieving self-economic independence individually or in collaboration, generates employment opportunities for others through initiating, establishing and running the enterprise by keeping pace with her personal, family and social life” - Kamal Singh.

Need for women entrepreneurship;

·               Women occupy almost 50% of the population, hence to attain complete development they must also take up jobs or become entrepreneurs

·               To raise the status of women in society

·               Economic and social development of women will also lead to the political development of the country.

The women entrepreneurs play multiple roles doing various activities at home as well as in the working spot thereby satisfying every one. The figure 13.4 above shows the multiple roles of a women entrepreneurs

Women start an enterprise due to economic and non-economic reasons. Some of the reasons for a woman to start an enterprise are stated below;

a.  Motivational Factors

The motivational factors which encourage women to set up an enterprise are;

·               economic necessity

·               self-realization

·               independence

·               Government policies and programmes

·               education

·               employment generation

·               social status

·               success stories of friends and relatives

·               family occupation and

·               role model to others.

b.  Facilitating Factors

The facilitating factors which influence the women to set up business are;

·               contacts and networks

·               family cooperation

·               skilled people at work

·               innovative thinking

·               adequate financial facilities and

·               self satisfaction.

Problems of Women Entrepreneurs

Various problems faced by Indian women who strive hard to become entrepreneur are as follows;

Financial Problems

Obtaining support of bankers, managing working capital, lack of credit resources are the problems which remain in the male domain.

Shortage of Raw Materials

They encounter problems of shortage of raw materials. This is due to inadequate facilities.

Credit Facilities

Women are often denied credit by bankers on the ground of collateral security. So women’s access to risk capital is limited.

Marketing Problems

Women entrepreneurs face the problems in marketing their products. This area is mainly dominated by males. The elimination of middlemen is difficult and the women entrepreneurs are unable to capture the market and make their products popular.

High Cost of Production   

High cost of production brings down the efficiency and stands in the way of development and expansion of women’s enterprises. The problems faced are labour, human resources, infrastructure, legal formalities, overload of work, lack of family support etc.

Social Barriers

Women are seen with suspicious eyes, Particularly, in rural areas they face this problem. The issues related to caste and religion also influence the opportunities for women entrepreneurs.

High Competition

Most of the women enterprises have imperfect organizational set up. They are facing severe competitions from organized industries.

Lack of Information

Women entrepreneurs lack knowledge and information about the availability of raw materials, financial facilities, government schemes and various kinds of subsidies available. This hinders the expansion of their markets.

Lack of Self-Confidence

Due to lack of self-confidence, they hesitate to take risks. Their risk bearing capacity is less. Not only women entrepreneur but also the men entrepreneur face certain problems in initiating and running the business on their own. For overcoming such obstacles one has to attend the entrepreneurial developmental programmes for obtaining appropriate training.