INTRODUCTION
Entrepreneurship is the propensity of mind to take calculated risks with confidence to achieve a pre determined business or industrial objective. Entrepreneurship in general has generally been assumed, however, that the entrepreneur is male. One set of researchers even suggests that entrepreneurship is a way of demonstrating “maleness.” The cases of business ownership by women throughout the centuries have usually been those in which the woman inherited business. The emergence of entrepreneurs in a society depends to a great extent on the economic, social, religious, cultural and psychological factors prevailing in the society.
Women Entrepreneurs may be defined as the women or a group of women who initiate, organize and operate a business enterprise. Government of India has defined women entrepreneurs as an enterprise owned and controlled by a women having a minimum financial interest of 51% of the capital and giving at least 51% of employment generated in the enterprise to women. Like a male entrepreneurs a women entrepreneur has many functions. They should explore the prospects of starting new enterprise; undertake risks, introduction of new innovations, coordination administration and control of business. The Industrial Policy of Government of India in 1990’s has specially highlighted the need for special entrepreneurship programmes for Women Entrepreneurs in the nature to enable them to small- scale industries.
Because of the scarcity of women entrepreneurs until relatively recently, information and knowledge about women as business owners or entrepreneurs has been limited. The first American studies on the subject emerged in the mid-1970s, in Canada Since then, several studies have been conducted on various aspects of women as business owners. Women entrepreneurs have been making a significant impact in all segments of the economy in Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Australia, and the U.S. They have made their mark in businesses for the following reasons:
- They want to prove challenges and opportunities for self – fulfillment.
- They want to prove their mettle in innovative and competitive jobs.
- They want to change the control the balance between their family responsibilities and their business lives providing effective leadership in all aspects of business.
PUSH-PULL FACTORS AND WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Women in business are a recent phenomenon in India. By and large they had confide themselves to petty business and tiny cottage industries. Women entrepreneurs engaged in business due to push and pull factors.
Which encourage women to have an independent occupation and stands on their on legs? A sense towards independent decision-making on their life and career is the motivational factor behind this urge.
Saddled with household chores and domestic responsibilities women want to get independence.
Under the influence of these factors the women entrepreneurs choose a profession as a challenge and as an urge to do some thing new. Such situation is described as pull factors. While in push factors women engaged in business activities due to family compulsion and the responsibility is thrust upon them.
BASIC PROBLEMS OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS:
The basic problem or difficulty of a Woman Entrepreneurship is that she is a woman this pertains to her responsibility towards family, society and work. On the other hand, the attitude of society towards her and constraints in which she has to live and work are not very conductive.
Inspite of constitutional equality, in practice the attitude of men is not only tradition-bound but even of those who are responsible for decision-making, planning and research is not equality. They still suffer from male Reservations. This attitude of reservation creates difficulties and problems at all levels i.e., Family support, training, banking, licensing and marketing.
At a Government level, the licensing authorities and labour officers and sales tax inspectors asks all the sorts of questions like what technical qualifications you have, how will manage labourers , how will you manage both house and business, does your Husband approve. Etc.
HOW TO DEVELOP WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS?
Right efforts on from all areas are required in the development of women entrepreneurs and their greater participation in the entrepreneurial activities. Following efforts can be taken into account for effective development of women entrepreneurs.
- Consider women as specific target group for all developmental programmes.
- Better educational facilities and schemes should be extended to women from Government.
- Adequate training programme on management skills to be provided to women community
- Encourage women’s participation in decision-making.
- Skill development to be done in women’s polytechnics and industrial training institutes.
- Training on professional competence and leadership skill to be extended to women entrepreneurs to remove psychological causes like lack of self-confidence and fear of success.
- Continuous monitoring and improvement of training programmes activities in which women are trained should focus on their marketability and profitability.
- Making provision of marketing and sales assistance from government part.
- State finance corporations and financing institutions should permit by statute to extend purely trade related finance to women entrepreneurs.
- Making provision of micro credit system and enterprise credit system to the women entrepreneurs at local level.
- A Women Entrepreneur’s Guidance Cell set up to handle the various problems of women entrepreneurs all over the state.
- District Industries Centers and Single Window Agencies should make use of assisting women in their trade and business guidance.
- Training in entrepreneurial attitudes should start at the high school level through well-designed courses, which build confidence through behavioral games.
- More governmental schemes to motivate women entrepreneurs to engage in small scale and large-scale business ventures.
- Involvement of Non Governmental Organizations in women entrepreneurial training programmes and counseling.
Progress of Women Entrepreneurship
From 1972 to 1982 the number of self-employed women in the United States increased by 69 percent. This represented a rate of increase five times greater than that for men in the same period. From 1977 to 1980 the proportion of non-farm, sole proprietorships operated by women increased from 22.6 percent to 26.1 percent. In addition, the number of non-farm, sole proprietorships operated by couples soared from 284,405 in 1981 to 440,000 in 1982.
- This rapid increase is because of the belief that, of the comparatively large number of women now occupying the lower rungs of the corporate ladder consequently, they have “opted out” to found their own businesses.
- Another reason is that many women have come to the conclusion that compared to working for others, running one’s own business is more compatible with woman’s demanding role in child rearing, because of the greater flexibility afforded by setting one’s own working hours.
Entrepreneur Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Ltd
The business and managerial skills of Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has made her one of the richest business entrepreneurs in India. She ranks among the elite ranks of the Indian business fraternity and is a member of premier business organizations like CII, IIM Bangalore and others.
Ekta Kapoor, creative head of Balajji Telefilms
The daughter of star actor Jeetendra and sister of Tushar Kappor, Ekta Kapoor is known in almost all Indian households for her K series serials. She is one of the front runners of Indian television industry and has responsible for the huge profits of her company Balaji Telefilms. Balaji has made cores of profit under her.
Sunita Narain, an environmentalist and political activist
A renowned social activist fighting for the importance of the Green concept of sustainable development, Sunita Narain has made India proud. She has been currently chosen as the director of the Society for Environmental Communications. She was also awarded the prestigious Padma Shri award in 2005.
Neelam Dhawan, Microsoft India managing director
A major name in the Indian business scene, Neelam Dhawan is the managing director of the Microsoft’s sales and marketing operations. She is well known for implementing business strategies which have earned enormous profits for Microsoft.
Naina Lal Kidwai
Naina Lal Kidwai was listed by Fortune magazine as the World’s Top 50 Corporate Women. She is the first Indian woman to crack the prestigious Harvard Business School. She is one of the top ten business women and the first woman to head the operations of HSBC in India was awarded the Padma Shri for her work.
Sulajja Firodia Motwani
Sulajja Firodia Motwani, a known name in Indian business is currently the Joint Managing Director of Kinetic Engineering Ltd and manages the overall operations and business development strategies. She has been nominated as the business ‘Face of the Millennium’ by magazine India Today and also as the ‘Global Leader of Tomorrow’ by the World Economic Forum.”\
Mallika Srinivasan, Director of TAFE India
Named as the one of the top ten business woman of the year in 2006, Mallika Srinivasan is the director of TAFE India. Her skills and strategies have helped the company earn profits from a meager 85 core to a mammoth 2,900 cores. She is also a leading figure in social services.
Dr. Jatinder Kaur Arora
Dr. Jatinder Kaur Arora has made India proud through her scientific research for development of women. Presently serving the prestigious post of a joint director in the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology, she was honored with the national award for her brilliant works.
Zia Mody, Senior Partner
Zia Mody was listed as one of the top 25 most powerful business women by Business Today. Her strategies have helped AZB & Partners earn great profits. She has also been awarded as the Best Knowledge Manager by Financial Express.
Ritu Nanda, CEO, Escolife
The daughter of ace film personality, Raj Kapoor, Ritu Nanda has made her presence felt as one of the prominent business women of India. Currently serving as the CEO of Escolife, she was awarded the Best Insurance Advisor and Guinness Book of Records for selling 17,000 pension policies in a day
PROBLEMS OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN INDIA
Women in India are faced many problems to get ahead their life in business. A few problems cane be detailed as :
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 skeptical 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 (UNIDO), “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 (UNIDO, 1995b).
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 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 organizational 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 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 (“Women Entrepreneurs in Poorest Countries,” 2001). 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 Female Poverty Trap,” 2001). 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.
Conclusion
Independence brought promise of equality of opportunity in all sphere to the Indian women and laws guaranteeing for their equal rights of participation in political process and equal opportunities and rights in education and employment were enacted. But unfortunately, the government sponsored development activities have benefited only a small section of women. The large majority of them are still unaffected by change and development activities have benefited only a small section of women i.e. the urban middle class women. The large majority of them are still unaffected by change and development. The reasons are well sighted in the discussion part of this article. It is hoped that the suggestions forwarded in the article will help the entrepreneurs in particular and policy-planners in general to look into this problem and develop better schemes, developmental programmes and opportunities to the women folk to enter into more entrepreneurial ventures.
References
- Vasnath Desai, “Small- Scale Industries And Entrepreneurship”, Himalaya Publishing
- Vasnath Desai, “Dynamics of Entrepreneurial Development and Management, Himalaya Publishing House.
- Jose P., Ajith Kumar. & Paul T.M., “Entrepreneurship Development”, HimalayaPublishing.
- Medha Dubhashi Vinze (1987) “Women Entrepreneurs in India: A Socio- Economic Study of Delhi – 1975-76” Mittal Publications, New Delhi.
- Renuka V. (2001) “Opportunities and challenges for women in business, India Together”, Online Report, Civil Society Information Exchange Pvt. Ltd.
- Starcher, D. C. (1996). Women entrepreneurs: Catalysts for transformation. Retrieved July 6, 2001: http:// www.ebbf.org/woman.
- “The female poverty traps.” (2001, May 8). The Economist. Retrieved
- March14,2001.(http://www.economist.com) United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). (1995a). “Women, industry and entrepreneurship.” Women in Industry Series. Vienna, Retrieved July 6, 2001 (http://www.unido.org)
- United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). (1995b). “Women, industry and technology.” Women in Industry Series. Vienna, Retrieved,July6,2001(http://www.unido.org)
- Women entrepreneurs in poorest countries face formidable challenges, including lack of training, credit, say speakers at Brussels forum” [Press release]. (2001, May 21). Retrieved July 6, 2001 (http://www.un.org/News/Press)
