Women Entrepreneur in India

Business Ethics & Corporate Governance

Defining Women Entrepreneur

An enterprise owned and controlled by a women having a minimum financial interest of 51% of capital and giving at least 51% of the employment generated by the enterprise to women. - Government of India A women entrepreneur can be defined as a confident, innovative and creative women 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

Importance of WE
50% of the population Traditionally outside the domain of economic activities They must be made part of the economic development, because it will not only ensure the economic & social development of the women along with providing more human resources to strengthen the economy of the country. The economic status of women is now accepted as an indicator of a societys stage of development.

 When women move forward, the family moves, the village moves and the Nation moves. -Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru

Factors influencing women entrepreneurs

Economic independence Establishing their own creativity Establishing their own identity Achievement of excellence Building confidence Developing risk-taking ability Motivation Equal status in society Greater freedom and mobility

Status of WE
Traditionally W had insignificant role 1970s witnessed some of the W entering the no-womens land of business entrepreneurship, risk taking and financial adventure. According to official stats 50% of population own & operate less then 5% of economic activity. Their participation is 60% in SSI, 15% in large and rest in cottage & micro segment. They work primarily in sectors such as trade & services to tailoring, beauty parlors, and printing. Their participation in manufacturing is minimal. However, their contribution is much greater then shown in stats because much of it is in informal sector & household. Women contribution paradox. Presently W from every strata of the society from metros to the backward regions of the country are entering.

 The trend has arisen mainly because of the changes in the social attitude, breakup of the traditional joint family system, rising standard of living, opportunities for higher education for W, growing awareness for economic independence, consciousness of their potential, and credit & other facilities provided by the G & NG organizations. Future knowledge economy will make it possible for woman to contribute to economic activities along with keeping pace with their multiple responsibilities & socio cultural & bio disabilities.

Challenges in the path of WE

The essence of E requires- the existence of economic opportunity, sympathetic cultural forces, supportive Government action and strong personal values & traits. These facilitating factors are certainly not in favor of Women. It is relatively easier for W from upper strata to face above challenges. But it is a real challenge to bring the vast majority of disadvantaged into the mainstream of economic activity.

Basically it is the familial & social conditioning that reduces the confidence, independence & mobility of women; and Insensitivity to the gender issues that result into problems in the way of WE.

Challenges in the path of WE - Women

Entrepreneurship Environment

The overall context of We can be described into three spheres: Micro sphere: unequal power relation with men; male possessiveness & dominance; social resistance to womens economic environment. Meso sphere: organizations providing support services to E are lacking awareness about womens concerns & insensitive towards gender issues. Macro sphere: comprises many interconnecting structures & dynamics, including laws and regulations, economy, international trade, availability of finance & credit, labor market human capital, tech, physical infrastructure & natural resources.

Challenges in the path of WE

Lack of skills & Training Lack of confidence Problems of long term & short term finance Socio-cultural barriers Production problems Inefficient marketing arrangements

Strategies for the development of WE

Overcoming family resistance Shouldering dual responsibility & Time Management Acquire education, Skills & go for confidence building trainings Financial assistance Effective & efficient use of IT Marketing Support Financial Management Group entrepreneurship Programs and policies taking in to consideration special needs and concerns of Women Mentorship support (SHGs)

Institutions supporting WE in India

Consortium of WE in India Federation of Indian women entrepreneurs Federation of Ladies Organization (FLO) Women India Trust Special Schemes by Banks: Cent Kalyani NABARD State Governments Scheme for Development of Women and Children in rural areas SIDBI Self-Employed Womens Association (SEWA)

Some Eminent WE
Vidya chabria Anu aga Sullajja Firodia Motwani Ekta Kapoor Kiram Mazumdar Shaw Shahnaz Hussain Ritu kumar Amrita Patel Priya Paul Swati Piramal Anuradha Desai

Women Organizatios Supporting WE

Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad; www.lijjat.com Mahila Bunkar Sahakari Samitiu, UP SABAL: Crafting Exports of Indian Handicrafts; www.sabalaindia.com www.indiatogether.org

Assignment
Choose any successful women entrepreneur in India, study her profile and discuss in your group the challenges she has faced and find out how she has overcome the same.

Assignment
Choose any successful entrepreneur from your nearby location, study his profile and discuss with him the challenges he has faced and find out how he has overcome the same. Also find from him what he learnt from his mistakes?