ThirdFront

A journal of Humanities and Social Science

Women Entiepieneuis in Inuia: Pioblems anu Piospects. Authoi(s): uaganpieet
Kaui anu Bi. Sukhuev Singh
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Women Entrepreneurs in India: Problems and Prospects

64


Women Entrepreneurs in India: Problems and Prospects

GAGANPREET KAUR
*

DR. SUKHDEV SINGH

______________________________________________________

ABSTRACT: The emergence of entrepreneurs in agriculture and
allied activities can propel our rural population into self-sustaining
individuals, who in turn can catalyze the development of economy.
The concepts of entrepreneur and entrepreneurship have been
frequently applied to industrial sector. Agriculture, on the other
hand, has largely been viewed as non-entrepreneurial traditional
activity. For rural folk it is a way for life. Hence farmers were never
visualized as business operators and farming as an enterprise. Not
much has been developed to farmers into rational business, sensing
individuals or in other words entrepreneurs. The genesis of
entrepreneurship in agriculture and allied activities ,is quite recent.
It is now being widely accepted that increase in production,
productivity, of terms, farm diversification, innovation and
development of farmers into self sustaining individuals follow
inoculation of the entrepreneurial qualities among the farmers.
Factors like liberalization of the economy have created the right
ambience for growth of entrepreneurs in agriculture. It is estimated
that presently women entrepreneurs comprise about 10% of the total
entrepreneurs in India. The term Women Entrepreneurship mean,
an act of business ownership and business creation that empowers
women economically, increases their economic strength as well as
position in society. Hence women-entrepreneurs have been making a
considerable impact in all most all the segments of the economy
which is more than 25 percent of all kinds of business .In India
Entrepreneurship is very limited amongst women especially in the
formal sector, which is less than 5 percent of all the business. The
personality trait of women entrepreneurs includes Risk takers,
opportunist, inventor, commercialiser, trader, innovator, flexible etc.
There are various problems associated with women entrepreneurs
such as problem of finances, family responsibilities, limited mobility
factor and domination by male, old and outdated social outlook etc.
This paper suggests various problems and future prospects of women
entrepreneurs.



*
Ph.D student, Dept. Of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

Professor of Sociology, Dept. Of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.
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65
The emergence of entrepreneurs in agriculture and allied activities can propel
our rural population into self-sustaining individuals, who in turn can catalyze
the development of economy. The concepts of entrepreneur and
entrepreneurship have been frequently applied to industrial sector. Agriculture,
on the other hand, has largely been viewed as non-entrepreneurial traditional
activity. For rural folk it is a way for life. Hence farmers were never visualized
as business operators and farming as an enterprise. Not much has been
developed to farmers into rational business, sensing individuals or in other
words entrepreneurs. The genesis of entrepreneurship in agriculture and
allied activities is quite recent. It is now being widely accepted that increase in
production, productivity, of terms, farm diversification, innovation and
development of farmers into self sustaining individuals follow inoculation of
the entrepreneurial qualities among the farmers. Factors like liberalization of
the economy have created the right ambience for growth of entrepreneurs in
agriculture.

Women Entrepreneurship:- It is estimated that presently women
entrepreneurs comprise about 10% of the total entrepreneurs in India. The
term Women Entrepreneurship mean, an act of business ownership and
business creation that empowers women economically, increases their
economic strength as well as position in society. Hence women-entrepreneurs
have been making a considerable impact in all most all the segments of the
economy which is more than 25 percent of all kinds of business .In India
Entrepreneurship is very limited amongst women especially in the formal
sector, which is less than 5 percent of all the business. Indian women business
owners are changing the face of businesses of today, both literally and
figuratively. The dynamic growth and expansion of women-owned businesses
is one of the defining trends of the past decade, and all indications are that it
will continue unabated. For more than a decade, the number of women-owned
businesses has grown at one-and-a-half to two times the rate of all businesses.
Even more important, the expansion in revenues and employment has far
exceeded the growth in numbers.

The various types of women entrepreneurs are:
Women entrepreneurs in organized & unorganized sector
Women entrepreneurs in traditional & modern industries
Women entrepreneurs in urban & rural areas
Women entrepreneurs in large scale and small scale industries.
Single women and joint venture entrepreneurs.
Women Entrepreneurs in India: Problems and Prospects

66

Different categories of women entrepreneurs in practice in India are:
Category-I
Established in big cities
Having higher level technical & professional qualifications
Non traditional Items
Sound financial positions
Category-II
Established in cities and towns
Having sufficient education
Both traditional and non traditional items
Undertaking women services-kindergarten, crches, beauty parlors, health
clinic etc
Category-III
Illiterate women
Financially week
Involved in family business such as Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal
Husbandry, Dairy, Fisheries, Agro Forestry, Handloom, Power loom etc.
Status of women entrepreneurship in India
States No of
Units
Registered
No. of
Women
Entrepreneurs
Percentage
Tamil Nadu 9618 2930 30.36
Uttar
Pradesh
7980 3180 39.84
Kerala 5487 2135 38.91
Punjab 4791 1618 33.77
Maharashtra 4339 1394 32.12
Gujarat 3872 1538 39.72
Karnataka 3822 1026 26.84
Madhya
Pradesh
2967 842 28.38
Other States
& UTs
14576 4185 28.71
Total 57,452 18,848 32.82

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Trends in Women Entrepreneurship

In India, womens entry into business is a new phenomenon. It can be traced
out as an extension of their kitchen activities mainly to 3Ps viz Pickles,
Powder & Pappad. But with growing awareness about business and spread of
education among women over the period, they have started shifting from 3Ps
to engross to 3 modern Es viz Engineering, Electronics & Energy. They have
excelled in these activities. Women entrepreneurs manufacturing solar cookers
in Gujarat or owning small foundries in Maharashtra or manufacturing
capacitors in Orrisa, have proved beyond doubt that given the opportunities,
they can excel their male counterparts.

Status of women entrepreneurs at international level
Country Percentage
Thailand 18.5
India 14.1
Argentina 11.5
Brazil 11.1
China 11
New Zealand 10.6
Mexico 10.3
Chile 9.5
Korea 8.6
The United States 8.1

Slovenia 2.9
Spain 2.8
Singapore 2.7
Sweden 2.6
Hong Kong 2.3
France 2.1
Croatia 1.8
Russia 1.6
Belgium 1.5
Japan 0.6

Women Entrepreneurs in India: Problems and Prospects

68
Scope of Entrepreneurship among women
Womens contribution to development is seriously underestimated and thus
their social recognition is limited. The full visibility of the type, extent and
distribution of this unremunerated work will also contribute to a better sharing
of responsibities between men and women. Lack of employment in the private
sector and reduction s in public services and public service jobs have effected
women disprpportionately.In some cases, employment creation strategies have
not paid much attention to occupations and sectors where women
predomonate;nor have they adequately promoted the access of women to those
occupations and sectors that are traditionally male. Taking, this in
consideration, entrepreneurship among women is an area which can help in
employment generation and income generation.
Women entrepreneurship in India
Women have a unique position in the society. Real development cannot take
place if it is bypasses women, who not only represent one half of a country's
population but also the kernels around which societal revolution take place.
Entrepreneurship enhances financial independence and self esteem of women.
Around 50 per cent of India's population is women, yet business spheres such
as trade, commerce and industry is still considered a male preserve.
Entrepreneurial work has also been predominantly a man's world in India, are
women. Among the states, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka have more
women entrepreneurs.
Indian women are in no way inferior to men in all walks of life and
they can be good entrepreneurs as men in the country. Therefore, it is
essential to exploit the potential of Indian women. Women's participation in
trade, industry and commerce, requiring entrepreneurship is still poor, mainly
because of the problems associated with their gender roles. Therefore,
promotion of entrepreneurship and economic empowerment of women poses a
challenge to the government, funding agencies and non-government
organizations. It is important for these people on the limitations faced by the
women and to plan supporting systems to enhance the women
entrepreneurship in India.
Personality traits of women entrepreneurs
Indian women of today have taken many strides towards business ownership.
The broad classification of women business owners include women who
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establish, inherit, or acquire a business; women who start businesses with
spouses or business partners but are either at the forefront or behind the
scenes; and finally, women who start fast-growing or part-time or slow-
growing firms. Although earlier researches on women entrepreneurs have
suggested that significant differences existed between female and male
entrepreneurs. However, more recent studies have shown that there are far
more similarities than differences between women and men entrepreneurs in
terms of psychological and demographic characteristics. The dominant
predictors of success in case of women entrepreneurs are work experience and
years of self-employment.

In comparison to their women counterparts who established their
businesses two decades earlier, women who have started their businesses
sometime during the past decade are more likely to have the following:
A higher level of education, previous professional and managerial
experience, as well as executive level experience
A greater appetitive for capital, both credit and equity
A strong motivation for autonomy and achievement
A dynamic personality
A passion for what they do
Creativity to innovate and implement
Independence and self reliance
High self confidence
Willingness & ability to take risks
Alertness to opportunities
Ability to marshal resources
Ability to respond to market & environment signals

Moreover personality traits of women entrepreneurs includes

Risk taker Proactive
Opportunist Visionary
Inventor Tolerance of ambiguity
Commercialiser Desire for independence
Trader High energy
Innovator Ability to bounce back
Flexible Results oriented
Need for achievement All rounder
Women Entrepreneurs in India: Problems and Prospects

70
Internal control Decisive
Self confident Self Motivated
Pragmatic Flair



Problems associated with women entrepreneurs

Basically all women entrepreneurs almost suffer from two main category of
problems, such problems can be designated as follows:-

1) Specific Problems:-

I. Problem of finances arrangement
II. Limited mobility factor in case of women entrepreneurs
III. Family responsibilities, ties as well as commitments
IV. Lack of education and prevalent levels of illiteracy amongst
women
V. Scarcity of raw materials required for productive capacities
VI. Lesser risk and uncertainty bearing attitude

2) General Problems:-

I. Lack of self-confidence and optimistic attitude amongst women
II. Absence of proper support and back-up for women by their own
family members and the outside world people
III. Old and outdated social outlook to stop women from entering in the
field of entrepreneurship
IV. Cut-throat competition with other group of men and established self-
sufficient entrepreneurs
V. Domination by male and ideology of male dominated society


Steps needed for development of skills among women entrepreneurs

A possible set of three inter-linked and inter-dependent clusters of
recommendations can be aimed at pushing a larger number of women
entrepreneurs towards growth opportunities, unlocking their potential as
creators of wealth and jobs, and providing a more conducive legal and
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regulatory framework. These recommendations can also ensure the proper
positioning of pull mechanisms to enable the growth-oriented women
entrepreneurs to expand and grow in terms of investments, markets and
profits.

Conducting gender analysis for all entrepreneurial support programmes
Examining differential impacts of governmental policies, programmes
and actions
Gathering data on women and men entrepreneurs
Applying target group segmentation to women entrepreneurs
Promoting mobilization and organization of representative associations
Promoting development of demand-led supports for women
entrepreneurs
Promoting more flexible and innovative financial products by banks
Using targeted approaches for priority categories in order to provide
additional push to women entrepreneurs to the next level of growth
Reviewing impact of existing and new instruments on women
entrepreneurs
Identifying those instruments that act as barriers to expansion and
growth
Modifying or dismantling these instruments
Taking account of the social and cultural contexts affecting policy
implementation and redress inequalities and abnormalities
Making use of IT and associations so as to minimize the administrative
burdens on women entrepreneurs
Holding regular consultations with key factors like women
entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs associations, financial
institutions, etc, to review progress and identify new bottlenecks.
Encouraging and rewarding dynamic representative associations of
women entrepreneurs
Promoting strong links and synergies with existing major economic
players
Profiling the economic and social contributors among women
entrepreneurs to the national economy
Promoting and rewarding programmes that serve women entrepreneurs
Making full use of data gathered to inform new policies, programmes
and supportive actions
Women Entrepreneurs in India: Problems and Prospects

72
Ensuring synergies between (a) women related ministry (b) economic
ministry (c) welfare & social development ministry in the government.

Future Prospects
Various initiatives are especially useful for women entrepreneurs
improvement of the entrepreneurial culture. These initiatives are to be further
adjusted to appeal to women entrepreneurs. All this is providing immense
confidence in the women entrepreneurs and enabling them to exercise their
skills, risk taking abilities, uncertainty bearing attitude while working in an
enterprise.

To inspire confidence and to sell ones idea is the policy nowadays
being adopted by women entrepreneurs.
Women want competent counseling in various fields: such as namely:
financing, liquidity, budgeting, etc.
Women entrepreneurs also want more appreciation of their idea on the
part of the banks. Many say, however, that they themselves must also
be better at selling their idea.
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.
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
worldwide.

Conclusion

It can be said today we are in better position wherein women participation in
the field of entrepreneurship is increasing at considerable rate. Efforts are
being taken at the economy as well as global level to enhance women
involvement in the enterprise sector. Thus what is required is to continue with
the trend on educating the women, spreading awareness and consciousness
among women to shine in all the fields, making them to aware about their
rights and strengths. Thus with relevant education, improving economic
conditions and financial opportunities more women will definitely be able to
be successful entrepreneurs. This will not only change economies of the
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societies but will change the status of women, which will undoubtedly, bring
drastic positive change in growth and development.

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