Entrepreneurs Are Made, Not Born

Solving problems and learning from failures are two key ways to prepare for
success.
Deborah Huso
As the child and grandchild of entrepreneurs, I felt my genes predisposed me
to start a business. But real estate guru and author Cliff Michaels says its a
myth that someone is a born entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship can be taught,
he saysand more important, it should be taught.
Entrepreneurial thinking is for everyone, Michaels says, because its all
about problem-solving, people skills, critical thinking, passion and gratitude
the skills and motivations of successful people.
At age 18, when he began dabbling in real estate, what he learned from
mentors on the streets was a lot different from what was taught in his
college classrooms. Why arent colleges teaching this stuff? he asked
himself. His on-the-job learning groomed himand, of course, many others
for success, Michaels believes. Those same at-work experiences also inspired
him to write his book, The 4 Essentials of Entrepreneurial Thinking: What
Successful People Didn't Learn in School.
Michaels says the purpose behind the book, which presents life skills, action
strategies, core values and purpose, is to help readers achieve the
equivalent of a real-world masters degree in business administration.
Since his college days, Michaels has seen a curriculum shiftcourses cover
some of his books conceptsemotional intelligence, how to learn from
failure and following your passion, for example. But hed like to see more
teaching in the area of entrepreneurial thinking.
All the things that make a Mozart or a Tiger Woods are not innate, he says.
They are learned over 10 to 15 years. The willingness to fail and learn from
it is what entrepreneurs do really well.
Evangelist for Entrepreneurship
In spreading the word that anyone can think like an entrepreneur, Cliff
Michaels so far has donated 10,000 copies of his 4 Essentials book to
underprivileged students and young professionals. He often donates through
the University of California-Berkleys SAGE (Student Achievement Guided by
Experience) Scholars or similar programs.
Whatever topic you teach, whether its Business 101 or science, integrate
the four essentials, Michaels says. Practice problem-solving. Its a good
way to learn more about whatever youre teaching.
And if you think core values such as passion, gratitude, humility, integrity
and tolerancevalues that all successful entrepreneurs sharecant be
taught, then think again.
You can teach values. Really good businesspeople delegate and collaborate
and have the humility to learn and get things done, Michaels insists.

Women Entrepreneurship

Women entrepreneurship has been recognised as an important source of economic growth.

Women entrepreneurs create new jobs for themselves and others and also provide society with
different solutions to management, organisation and business problems. However, they still
represent a minority of all entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs often face gender-based
barriers to starting and growing their businesses, like discriminatory property, matrimonial and
inheritance laws and/or cultural practices; lack of access to formal finance mechanisms; limited
mobility

and

access

to

information

and

networks,

etc.

Womens entrepreneurship can make a particularly strong contribution to the economic wellbeing of the family and communities, poverty reduction and womens empowerment, thus
contributing to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Thus, governments across the
world as well as various developmental organizations are actively undertaking promotion of
women entrepreneurs through various schemes, incentives and promotional measures.
Women entrepreneurs in the four southern states and Maharashtra account for over 50% of all
women-led small-scale industrial units in India. Click here for a state-wise break-up of womenled SSIs

Policies and Schemes for Women Entrepreneurs in India

In India, the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises development organisations, various
State Small Industries Development Corporations, the Nationalised banks and even
NGOs are conducting various programmes including Entrepreneurship Development
Programmes (EDPs) to cater to the needs of potential women entrepreneurs, who may
not have adequate educational background and skills. The Office of DC (MSME) has also
opened a Women Cell to provide coordination and assistance to women entrepreneurs
facing

specific

problems.

There are also several other schemes of the government at central and state level, which
provide assistance for setting up training-cum-income generating activities for needy
women to make them economically independent. Small Industries Development Bank of
India (SIDBI) has also been implementing special schemes for women entrepreneurs.
In addition to the special schemes for women entrepreneurs, various government
schemes for MSMEs also provide certain special incentives and concessions for women
entrepreneurs. For instance, under Prime Ministers Rozgar Yojana (PMRY),
preference is given to women beneficiaries. The government has also made several
relaxations for women to facilitate the participation of women beneficiaries in this
scheme. Similarly, under the MSE Cluster Development Programme by Ministry of
MSME, the contribution from the Ministry of MSME varies between 30-80% of the total
project in case of hard intervention, but in the case of clusters owned and managed by
women entrepreneurs, contribution of the M/o MSME could be upto 90% of the project
cost. Similarly, under theCredit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Micro and Small
Enterprises, the guarantee cover is generally available upto 75% of the loans extended;
however the extent of guarantee cover is 80% for MSEs operated and/ or owned by
women.
Some of the special schemes for women entrepreneurs implemented by the government
bodies

and

allied

institutions

are

provided

below.

Schemes of Ministry of MSME

o

Trade related entrepreneurship assistance and development (TREAD) scheme for

women

Mahila Coir Yojana

To read more on activities of Ministry of MSMEs for women development, click here.

Schemes of Ministry of Women and Child Development

o

Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP)

Swayam Siddha

Schemes of Kerala State Womens Development Corporation

o

Self employment loan programmes

Educational loan schemes

Single women benefit schemes

Job oriented training programmes

Marketing support for women entrepreneurs

Autorickshaw / school vans driver scheme

Kerala Governments Women Industries Programme

Delhi Governments Stree Shakti Project

Schemes of Delhi Commission for Women (Related to Skill development and training)

Incentives to Women Entrepreneurs Scheme, 2008, Government of Goa

Magalir Udavi Scheme, Pudhucherry Government

Financing Schemes by Banks/ Financial Institution's

Women Entrepreneur Associations

The efforts of government and its different agencies are supplemented by NGOs and
associations that are playing an equally important role in facilitating women
empowerment. List of various women associations in India is provided in the table below.
Details of Women Entrepreneur Associations in India

S.no
.

Association Name

Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs

(FIWE)

Consortium of Women Entrepreneurs(CWEI)

Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of Andhra

Pradesh

Association of Women Entrepreneurs of

Karnataka (AWAKE)

Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA)

Women Entrepreneurs Promotion Association

(WEPA)

The Marketing Organisation of Women

Website

http://www.fiwe.org/

http://www.cwei.org/

http://www.aleap.org/index.html

http://awakeindia.org.in/

http://www.sewa.org/

Click here for Profile

Click here for Profile

Enterprises (MOOWES)

Bihar Mahila Udyog SanghBihar Mahila

http://www.biharmahilaudyogsangh.co

Udyog Sangh

m/

Mahakaushal Association of Woman

Entrepreneurs (MAWE)

10

11

SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneurship

Council

Women Entrepreneurs Association of Tamil

Nadu (WEAT)

http://www.maweindia.com/

http://www.scwec.com/index.htm

Click here for Profile

12

TiE Stree Shakti (TSS)

http://www.tiestreeshakti.org/

13

Women Empowerment Corporation

http://www.wecindia.org

Success Stories of Women Entrepreneurs in India

Story of Dream Weavers which started with Rs 500 and now makes Rs 25 lakhs, click
here to read the story.

Story of Patricia Narayan, Winner of Ficci Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award, click
here to read the story.

Story of Sarala Bastian who set up a successful mushroom business with just Rs
15000, click here to read the story.

Success story of Kiran Majumdar Shaw, the Biocon Queen, click here to read the story.

Success story of Saloni Malhotra, founder of DesiCrew, click here to read the story

Story of Revathi Krishna, the founder of Coffee, Books and More, click here to read the
story

Story of Lata Manohars boutique - Vishuddi, click here to read the story

Story of Radha Rajakrishnan, a successful entrepreneur in apparel business, click here to

read the story.