Challenges faced by women entrepreneurs

Introduction :
Each year, more and more women set out on the journey to become successful
founders and CEOs of their own companies. While these business-savvy ladies are
inspirational to women with dreams of launching a startup, entrepreneurship
remains a traditionally male-dominated territory, and there are still some
significant obstacles that many female business owners have to face. Here are five
of the biggest challenges of women entrepreneurs today, and how to overcome
them.
Defination :
It may be define as a women or group of women
who initiate organise or run business enterprise.
Government of India has defined women enterpreneurs as an enterprise owned And
controlled by women having a minimum financial interest of 51% of the Capital
and giving atleast 51% of the employment generated in the Enterprise to women

REASONS FOR SLOW PROGRESS OF WOMENS ENTREPRENEURS

IN INDIA:
Womens family and personal obligations are sometimes a great barrier for
succeeding in business career. Only few women are able to manage both home
and business efficiently, devoting enough time to perform all their
responsibilities in priority. The educational level and family backgrounds of
husband also influences women participation in the field of enterprise.
Absence of proper support, cooperation and back-up for women by their own
family members and the outside world people force them to drop the idea of
excelling in the enterprise field. They are always making many pessimistic
feelings to be aroused in their minds and making them feel that family and not
business is a place meant for them
Many women take the training by attending the Entrepreneurial Development
programme without an entrepreneurial bent of mind. Women who are
imparted training by various institutes must be verified on account of aptitude
through the tests, interviews, etc. High production cost of some business
operations adversely affects the development of women entrepreneurs. The
installations of new machineries during expansion of the productive capacity
and like similar factors discourage the women entrepreneurs from venturing
into new areas. Lack of awareness about the financial assistance in the form of
incentives, loans, schemes etc. by the institutions in the financial sector.

1. Family

ties:

Women in India are very emotionally attached to their families. The women
enterprises continued to receive family support at different areas at later stages also
but at much lower level.They are supposed to attend to all the domestic work, to look
after the children and other members of the family. They are over burden with family
responsibilities like extra attention to husband, children and in laws which take away
a lots of their time and energy & also in our soceity, male support remains inevitable
even in women manage enterprises. In such situation, it will be very difficult to
concentrate and run the enterprise successfully.

2. Male dominated society:

Even though our constitution speaks of equality between sexes, male chauvinism is
still the order of the day. Women are not treated equal to men. Their entry to
business requires the approval of the head of the family. Entrepreneurship has
traditionally been seen as a male preserve. All these puts a break in the growth of
women entrepreneurs.

3. Social barriers:
The traditions and customs prevailed in Indian societies towards women sometimes
stand as an obstacle before them to grow and prosper. Castes and religions dominate
with one another and hinders women entrepreneurs too. In rural areas, they face
more social barriers. They are always seen with suspicious eyes.

4. Limited mobility:
Women mobility in India is highly limited and has become a problem due to
traditional values and inability to drive vehicles. Moving alone and asking for a room
to stay out in the night for business purposes are still looked upon with suspicious
eyes. Sometimes, younger women feel uncomfortable in dealing with men who show
extra interest in them than work related aspects.

5. Legal formalities:
Fulfilling the legal formalities required for running an enterprise becomes an
upheaval task on the part of an women entrepreneur because of the prevalence of
corrupt practices in government offices and procedural delays for various licenses,
electricity, water and shed allotments. In such situations women entrepreneurs find
it hard to concentrate on the smooth working of the enterprise.

6. Exploitation by middle men:

Since women cannot run around for marketing, distribution and money collection,
they have to depend on middle men for the above activities. Middle men tend to
exploit them in the guise of helping. They add their own profit margin which result in
less sales and lesser profit.

Unlike above ,at present, the Government of India has over 27 schemes for women
operated by different departments and ministries. Some of these are: Integrated
Rural Development Programme (IRDP), Khadi And Village Industries Commission
(KVIC) ,Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment (TRYSEM) , Prime Ministers
Rojgar Yojana (PMRY) ,Entrepreneurial Development programme (EDPs)
,Management Development programmes

Conclusion:
:
Entrepreneurship among women, no doubt improves the wealth of the nation in
general and of the family in particular. Women today are more willing to take up
activities that were once considered the preserve of men, and have proved that they
are second to no one with respect to contribution to the growth of the economy.
Women entrepreneurship must be molded properly with entrepreneurial traits and
skills to meet the changes in trends, challenges in global markets and also to be
competent enough to sustain and strive for excellence in the entrepreneurial arena.
The government schemes, incentives and subsidies have stimulated and provided
support measures to women entrepreneur.
There

are

two

examples

of

the

Famous

Entrepreneurs

of

India

are:

Ekta Kapoor (who single handedly founded and made BALAJI telefilms) ,
Shahnaz Hussain (One of the most prominent personality of the corporate world ,her
company Shahnaz Hussain herbals achieved a tremendous growth).