1. Women Entrepreneurship
VINEET RAJAN
Vineeth.Rajan4@gmail.com
ACHARYA BANGALORE B-SCHOOL
+91-8147540488
ABSTRACT
This paper indicates and emphasizes the women entrepreneurs as the potentially emerging
human resource in the 21stcentury. The primary objective of this paper is to find out the
status of women entrepreneurs in India and Women of 21st century is no more a traditional
resource confined to homes only rather an educated, Knowledgeable and innovative part of
the overall population possessing the capacity to transform economies into thriving
enterprises.
Findings of this study reveal that absence of definite agenda of life, absence of balance
between family and career obligations of women, poor degree of financial freedom for
women, absence of direct ownership of the property, the paradox of entrepreneurial skill &
finance in economically rich and poor women, no awareness about capacities, low ability to
bear risk, problems of work with male workers, negligence by financial institutions, lack of
self-confidence, lack of professional education, mobility constraints and lack of interaction
with successful entrepreneurs are major problems of women entrepreneurship development in
India.
KEY WORDS: women entrepreneurship, self-confidence, Status of women entrepreneurs in
India, Challenges faced by women entrepreneurs
INTRODUCTION
Last ten years of Indian economy make it evident that the structure of ownership in the
industrial sector, in agriculture, in the trade and commerce sectors has changed. Many women
entered the world of business, of trade commerce and they have become successful
entrepreneurs in various business activities. However, the rate of participation or rate of their
inclusion in the business world is very low, in spite of its increase during the last ten years.
This growth rate of women’s participation in economic activities is much lower than the
expected rate. If we look at the developed countries we see that women are actively
participative in the business and trade activities, including agriculture, without any social or
other restrictions. But in India, there are still many social and cultural restrictions on women.
Hence, women participation in entrepreneurial activities is less than the requirement of the
fast growth of India. An entrepreneur is a person

2. who starts an enterprise. He searches for change and responds to it. A number of
definitions have been given of an entrepreneur- The economists view him as a fourth
factor of production along with land labour and capital. The sociologists feel that
certain communities and cultures promote entrepreneurship like for example in India
we say that Gujaratis and Sindhis are very enterprising. Still others feel that
Entrepreneurs are innovators who come up with new ideas for products, markets or
techniques. an insight study reveals that it is not about making money, having the greatest
ideas, knowing the best sales pitch, applying the best marketing strategy. It is in reality an
attitude to create something new and an activity which creates value in the entire social eco-
system.
It is a state of mind, which develops naturally, based
on his/ her surrounding and experiences, which makes him/ her think about life and
career in a given way. Entrepreneurship has been a male-dominated phenomenon from
the very early age, but time has changed the situation and brought women as today's
Most memorable and inspirational entrepreneurs. It is estimated that women
Entrepreneurs presently comprise about 10% of the total number of entrepreneurs in
India, with the percentage growing every year. If the prevailing trends continue, it is
likely that in another five years, women will comprise 20% of the entrepreneurial force
(Saidapur et.al, 2012). The Tenth Five-Year Plan (2002-07) aims at empowering
Women through translating the recently adopted National Policy for Empowerment of
Women (2001) into action and ensuring Survival, Protection and Development of women and
children through rights based approach.
Status of women entrepreneurs in India
Entrepreneurship is considered as one of the most important factors contributing to the
Development of society. India has been ranked among the worst performing countries
in the area of women entrepreneurship in gender-focused global entrepreneurship
survey, released in July 2013 by PC maker Dell and Washington based consulting firm
Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute (GEDI). Of the 17 countries
Surveyed India ranks 16th, just above Uganda. Countries like Turkey, Morocco and
Egypt have outperformed India. Status of higher education in women in India came out
to be lower than most countries in the world. At present, women’s entrepreneurial role
is limited in the large scale industries and technology based businesses. But even in
small scale industries, the women’s participation is very low. As per the third all-India
census of Small Scale Industries, only 10.11% of the micro and small enterprises were
owned by women, and only 9.46% of them were managed by women. While the
number of women operating their own business is increasing globally, women
continue to face huge obstacles that stunt the growth of their businesses, such as lack
of capital, strict social constraints, and limited time and skill.
Challenges faced by women entrepreneurs
Absence of Balance between Family and Career Obligations
As Indians, most of the women are very serious about family obligations but they do not
equally focus on career obligations (Cf. Mathur 2011; Singh N.P. 1986). Indian women
devote their lives to take care of their family members but they are not concerned with their

3. self-development. Many women have excellent entrepreneurial abilities but they are not using
their abilities to create additional income sources for their families, which would go hand in
hand with boosting their self-reliance. Sometimes they are not even aware of the concept of
self-reliance. Moreover the business success depends on the support the family members,
extended to women, in the business process and management
Conflicts between Work and Domestic Commitments
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" (Starcher, 1996)
Gender gaps in education
While women are making major strides in educational attainment at primary and secondary
levels, they often lack the combination of education, vocational and technical skills, and work
experience needed to support the development of highly productive businesses.
Lack of finance
Access to finance is one of the most common challenges that entrepreneurs face and this is
especially true for women who are further impeded by lack of personal identification, lack of
property in their own name and the need for their husband's countersignature on many
documents.
Legal constraints in family law
The institutional and legal environment is critical to the growth of female-owned enterprises.
Laws regulating the private sphere specifically those regarding marriage, inheritance and land
can hinder women's access to assets that can be used as collateral when securing a loan.
Heavy household responsibilities
Leave a demand on women especially those in rural areas who have more children. They are
required to perform their traditional role as housewives and therefore, they have fewer hours
of free time than men, both during the weekend and on weekdays.
Lack of family support
Sometimes the family may make the women feel guilty of neglecting household duties in her
pursuit of business obligations. Cultural traditions may hold back a woman from venturing
into her own business.
Lack of capital
Traditional sources of finance like banks are reluctant to lend to women entrepreneurs
especially if they do not have any male or family backing. This is especially true of lower
income females. Women do not have adequate finance or legal knowledge to start an
enterprise.
Lack of confidence and faith
Lack of role models undermines the self-confidence of women entrepreneurs. The activity of
selling is considered abhorrent to the female gender.

4. Lack of right public/ private institutions
Most public and private incentives are misused and do not reach the woman unless she is
backed by a man. Also many trade associations like ministries, chambers of commerce do not
cater to women expecting women’s organizations to do the necessary thing.
Problems of Work with Male Workers
Many women have good business skills but they do not want to work with male workers and
sometimes male workers are not ready to work with women entrepreneurs. According to
Shruti Lathwal, 2011, most of women entrepreneurs argued that semi-educated or uneducated
class of workers cannot visualize a "female boss" in their field of work.
Lack of Self-Confidence
A strong mental outlook and an optimistic attitude amongst women create a fear of
committing mistakes while doing their work (Cf. Goyal and Parkash 2011). The family
members and the society are not willing to stand by women with entrepreneurial development
potential. In such a situation women should develop their self-confidence to handle this type
of barriers, in spite of the fact that Indian women prefer a protected life to the development of
their self-confidence. They are neither mentally nor economically self-reliant. Therefore, we
should try to develop their confidence through moral support from society and family
members.
Lack of Professional Education
Rao (2007) observed in his study that poverty and illiteracy are the basic reasons of the low
rate of women entrepreneurship in our country. The educational level and professional skills
also influence women participation in the field of enterprise. We are providing education to
the women but not providing professional education. If we look in the professional schools
we find that there is a very few number of women students. If we analyze rural - urban ratio
of enrolled women in professional education we realize that there are very few rural female
students enrolled it this type of education. Even parents are not ready to send their daughters
for undergoing professional education. Sometimes it happens, however, that many women
taking the training by attending the entrepreneurial development programme do not have an
entrepreneurial bent of mind.
Lack of Interaction with Successful Entrepreneurs
Successful entrepreneurs always play the role of model in the society for women who have
the ability of entrepreneurial activities and lead to undertaking economic activities to prove
their ability. But unfortunately there is no sufficient provision of such type of interaction to
inculcate knowledge and provide experiences of successful women entrepreneurs. Many
economists argue that this is a main obstacle in the growth of women entrepreneurship.

5. Poor Degree of Financial Freedom
In Indian families, the degree of financial freedom for women is very poor, especially in
lower educated families and rural families. In these families women can’t take any
entrepreneurial decision without the consideration of the family members as well as
considering social ethics and traditions. Due to the financial dependency, a woman can’t start
any business or any economic activity to become independent. Therefore, this has become a
vicious circle of dependency for women in India.
No Awareness about Capacities
An increasing level of education should create awareness regarding an individual’s
capacities. But, unfortunately, our educational system has not succeeded in creating
awareness about woman’s capacities and their hidden powers to handle economic activities.
According to Shruti Lathwal (2011), India faces an increase in the education level of women
and an increased social awareness as to the role women play in society, but this is not a
widely acceptable truth because it applies only in urban India and not in rural India too.
Urban environment is favourable to identifying and creating awareness regarding women’s
self-capabilities. However, in the rural area this type of attitude has not developed yet.
CONCLUSION
Women are an important human resource of the nation and every state should try to utilize
them as mediators of economic growth and development. Encouragement for women
entrepreneurship is one of the ways for that. But unfortunately it is seen that the traditional
mind set of the society and negligence of the state and respective authorities are important
obstacles in the women entrepreneurship development in India. Apart from the responsibility
of the state and society, absence of a definite agenda of life, absence of balance between
family and career obligations of women, poor degree of financial freedom for women,
absence of direct ownership of the property to women, paradox of entrepreneurial skill &
finance in economically rich and poor women, no awareness about capacities, low ability to
bear risks, problems of work with male workers, negligence by financial institutions, lack of
self-confidence, lack of professional education, mobility constraints and lack of interaction
with successful entrepreneurs are major problems of women entrepreneurship development in
India.
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