Push-Pull factors and Women in business

Women in business are a recent phenomenon in India. By and large they had confide
themselves to petty business and tiny cottage industries. Women entrepreneurs engaged in
business due to push and pull factors. Which encourage women to have an independent
occupation and stands on their on legs. A sense towards independent decision-making on
their life and career is the motivational factor behind this urge. Saddled with household
chores and domestic responsibilities women want to get independence Under the influence
of these factors the women entrepreneurs choose a profession as a challenge and as an
urge to do some thing new. Such situation is described as pull factors. While in push factors
women engaged in business activities due to family compulsion and the responsibility is
thrust upon them.

Problems of Women Entrepreneurs in India

Women in India are faced many problems to get ahead their life in business. A few problems
cane be detailed as;

1. The greatest deterrent to women entrepreneurs is that they are women. A kind of
patriarchal male dominant social order is the building block to them in their way towards
business success. Male members think it a big risk financing the ventures run by women.

2. The financial institutions are skeptical about the entrepreneurial abilities of women. The
bankers consider women loonies as higher risk than men loonies. The bankers put
unrealistic and unreasonable securities to get loan to women entrepreneurs. According to a
report by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), "despite
evidence that women's loan repayment rates are higher than men's, women still face more
difficulties in obtaining credit," often due to discriminatory attitudes of banks and informal
lending groups (UNIDO, 1995b).

3. Entrepreneurs usually require financial assistance of some kind to launch their ventures -
be it a formal bank loan or money from a savings account. Women in developing nations
have little access to funds, due to the fact that they are concentrated in poor rural
communities with few opportunities to borrow money (Starcher, 1996; UNIDO, 1995a). The
women entrepreneurs are suffering from inadequate financial resources and working
capital. The women entrepreneurs lack access to external funds due to their inability to
provide tangible security. Very few women have the tangible property in hand.

4. 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, p. 8).The financial institutions discourage women
entrepreneurs on the belief that they can at any time leave their business and become
housewives again. The result is that they are forced to rely on their own savings, and loan
from relatives and family friends.
5. Indian women give more emphasis to family ties and relationships. Married women have
to make a fine balance between business and home. More over the business success is
depends on the support the family members extended to women in the business process
and management. The interest of the family members is a determinant factor in the
realization of women folk business aspirations.

6. Another argument is that women entrepreneurs have low-level management skills. They
have to depend on office staffs and intermediaries, to get things done, especially, the
marketing and sales side of business. Here there is more probability for business fallacies
like the intermediaries take major part of the surplus or profit. Marketing means mobility
and confidence in dealing with the external world, both of which women have been
discouraged from developing by social conditioning. Even when they are otherwise in control
of an enterprise, they often depend on males of the family in this area.

7. The male - female competition is another factor, which develop hurdles to women
entrepreneurs in the business management process. Despite the fact that women
entrepreneurs are good in keeping their service prompt and delivery in time, due to lack of
organisational skills compared to male entrepreneurs women have to face constraints from
competition. The confidence to travel across day and night and even different regions and
states are less found in women compared to male entrepreneurs. This shows the low level
freedom of expression and freedom of mobility of the women entrepreneurs.

8. Knowledge of alternative source of raw materials availability and high negotiation skills
are the basic requirement to run a business. Getting the raw materials from different souse
with discount prices is the factor that determines the profit margin. Lack of knowledge of
availability of the raw materials and low-level negotiation and bargaining skills are the
factors, which affect women entrepreneur's business adventures.

9. Knowledge of latest technological changes, know how, and education level of the person
are significant factor that affect business. The literacy rate of women in India is found at low
level compared to male population. Many women in developing nations lack the education
needed to spur successful entrepreneurship. They are ignorant of new technologies or
unskilled in their use, and often unable to do research and gain the necessary training
(UNIDO, 1995b, p.1). Although great advances are being made in technology, many
women's illiteracy, strucutural difficulties, and lack of access to technical training prevent
the technology from being beneficial or even available to females ("Women Entrepreneurs in
Poorest Countries," 2001). According to The Economist, this lack of knowledge and the
continuing treatment of women as second-class citizens keeps them in a pervasive cycle of
poverty ("The Female Poverty Trap," 2001). The studies indicates that uneducated women
donot have the knowledge of measurement and basic accounting.

10. Low-level risk taking attitude is another factor affecting women folk decision to get into
business. Low-level education provides low-level self-confidence and self-reliance to the
women folk to engage in business, which is continuous risk taking and strategic cession
making profession. Investing money, maintaining the operations and ploughing back money
for surplus generation requires high risk taking attitude, courage and confidence. Though
the risk tolerance ability of the women folk in day-to-day life is high compared to male
members, while in business it is found opposite to that.

11. Achievement motivation of the women folk found less compared to male members.
The low level of education and confidence leads to low level achievement and advancement
motivation among women folk to engage in business operations and running a business
concern.

12. Finally high production cost of some business operations adversely affects the
development of women entrepreneurs. The installation of new machineries during expansion
of the productive capacity and like similar factors dissuades the women entrepreneurs from
venturing into new areas.

How to Develop Women Entrepreneurs?

Right efforts on from all areas are required in the development of women entrepreneurs and
their greater participation in the entrepreneurial activities. Following efforts can be taken
into account for effective development of women entrepreneurs.

1. Consider women as specific target group for all developmental programmes.

2. Better educational facilities and schemes should be extended to women folk from
government part.

3. Adequate training programme on management skills to be provided to women

community.

4. Encourage women's participation in decision-making.

5. Vocational training to be extended to women community that enables them to understand

the production process and production management.

6. Skill development to be done in women's polytechnics and industrial training institutes.

Skills are put to work in training-cum-production workshops.

7. Training on professional competence and leadership skill to be extended to women

entrepreneurs.

8. Training and counselling on a large scale of existing women entrepreneurs to remove

psychological causes like lack of self-confidence and fear of success.

9. Counselling through the aid of committed NGOs, psychologists, managerial experts and
technical personnel should be provided to existing and emerging women entrepreneurs.

10. Continuous monitoring and improvement of training programmes.

11. Activities in which women are trained should focus on their marketability and
profitability.

12. Making provision of marketing and sales assistance from government part.

13. To encourage more passive women entrepreneurs the Women training programme
should be organised that taught to recognize her own psychological needs and express
them.

14. State finance corporations and financing institutions should permit by statute to extend
purely trade related finance to women entrepreneurs.

15. Women's development corporations have to gain access to open-ended financing.

Women Entrepreneurs: Concept and

Functions of Women Entrepreneurs
Women entrepreneur may be defined as a woman or group of women who
initiate, organize, and run a business enterprise. In terms of Schumpeterian
concept of innovative entrepreneurs, women who innovate, imitate or adopt a
business activity are called women entrepreneurs.

Kamal Singh who is a woman entrepreneur from Rajasthan, has defined

woman entrepreneur as a confident, innovative and creative woman 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.
The Government of India has defined women entrepreneurs based on women
participation in equity and employment of a business enterprise. Accordingly,
the Government of India (GOI2006) has defined women entrepreneur as an
enterprise owned and controlled by a women having a minimum financial
interest of 51 per cent of the capital and giving at least 51 per cent of the
employment generated in the enterprise to women. However, this definition is
subject to criticism mainly on the condition of employing more than 50 per
cent women workers in the enterprises owned and run by the women.

In nutshell, women entrepreneurs are those women who think of a business

enterprise, initiate it, organize and combine the factors of production, operate
the enterprise and undertake risks and handle economic uncertainty involved
in running a business enterprise.

Functions of Women Entrepreneurs:

As an entrepreneur, a woman entrepreneur has also to perform all the

functions involved in establishing an enterprise. These include idea generation
and screening, determination of objectives, project preparation, product
analysis, and determination of forms of business organization, completion of
promotional formalities, raising funds, procuring men, machine and materials,
and operation of business.

Frederick Harbison (1956) has enumerated the following five functions

of a woman entrepreneur:

1. Exploration of the prospects of starting a new business enterprise.

2. Undertaking of risks and the handling of economic uncertainties involved in
business.

3. Introduction of innovations or imitation of innovations.

4. Coordination, administration and control.

5. Supervision and leadership.

The fact remains that, like the definition of the term entrepreneur, different
scholars have identified different sets of functions performed by an
entrepreneur whether man or women.

All these entrepreneurial functions can be classified broadly into three

categories:

(i) Risk-bearing

(ii) Organisation

(iii) Innovations

What are the types of Women Entrepreneur in India ?

Women entrepreneurs in India are broadly divided into the following categories:

1. Affluent entrepreneurs
2. Pull factors
3. Push
4. Self-employed entrepreneurs
5. Rural entrepreneurs
1. Affluent Entrepreneurs:

Affluent women entrepreneurs are those women entrepreneurs who hails from rich business
families. They are the daughters, daughter-in laws, sisters, sister-in-laws and wives of affluent people
in the society. Many of them are engaged in beauty parlour, interior decoration, book publishing,
film distribution and the like. The family supports the above type of entrepreneur in carrying out
their responsibilities

2. Pull Factors:

Women in towns and cities take up entrepreneurship as a challenge to do something new and to be
economically independent. These are coming under the category of pull factors. They belong to
educated women who generally lake up small and medium industries where risk is low. Under this
category, women usually start service centres schools, food catering centres, restaurants, grocery
shops etc.

3. Push Factors:

There are some women entrepreneurs who accepts entrepreneurial activities to overcome financial
difficulties. The family situation forces them either to develop the existing family business or to start
new ventures to improve the economic conditions of the family. Such categories of entrepreneurs are
termed as push factors.

4. Self-employed Entrepreneur:

Poor and very poor women in villages and town rely heavily on their own efforts for sustenance. They
start tiny and Small enterprises like brooms making, wax candle making, providing tea and coffee to
offices, ironing of clothes knitting work, tailoring firm etc. Such women are called self-employed
entrepreneurs.

5. Rural Entrepreneurs:

Women in rural areas/villages start enterprises which needs least organising skill and less risk. Dairy
products, pickles, fruit juices, pappads and jagger making are coming under this category of Rural
entrepreneur.

What are the Characteristics of Woman Entrepreneur in India?

Article shared by Sameer

1. Management and Control:

A woman or a group of women manages the whole business of

enterprise. She prepares various plans and executes them under her
own supervision and control. There may be some persons to help her
but ultimate control lies with the woman.
2. Employment to Women:

A woman entrepreneur must provide at least 51 percent of the

employment generated in her enterprise to women.
3. Risk-taking:

Risk means uncertainty. It is the condition of not knowing the

outcome of an activity. A woman entrepreneur takes calculated risk.

She faces uncertainty confidently and assumes risk. She has to tie up
capital and wait for good returns. A woman entrepreneur likes to take
realistic risks because she wants to be a successful entrepreneur.

4. Good organizer:

The most critical skill required for industrial development is the ability
of building a sound organization. A woman entrepreneur assembles,
co-ordinates, organizes and manages the other factors namely land,
labor and capital. She obtains factors of production from the society
and supplies them finished product.

5. Self confidence:

It is essential to be a self confident for a woman entrepreneur. She

should have faith in herself and in her abilities. She should have the
confidence to implement the change and overcome any resistance to
change. A woman entrepreneur should have courage to own the
mistakes and correct them.

6. Decisionmaker:

The main function of a woman entrepreneur is to make decision. She

takes various decisions regarding the activities of her enterprise. She
decides about the type of business to be done and the way of doing it.
A woman entrepreneur must be clear and creative in decision making
process.

7. Visionary:

A woman entrepreneur is one who incubates new ideas, starts her

enterprise with these ideas and provides added value to society based
on their independent initiative.

8. Hard worker:

A distinguishing feature of a woman entrepreneur is the willingness to

work hard. She has to follow the principle, Hard-work is the key to
success.

9. Achievement oriented:

A woman entrepreneur is an achievement oriented lady, not money

hungry. She works for challenge, accomplishment and service to
others. Achievement orientation is a derive to overcome challenges, to
advance and to grow.

10. Optimistic:

A woman entrepreneur must be optimistic. She should approach her

venture with a hope of success and attitude for success rather than
with a fear of failure. The positive thinking of woman entrepreneur
can turn the situation favorable to her.
11. Technically competent:

The success of an enterprise largely depends upon the ability of

woman entrepreneur to cope with latest technology. Technical
competency refers to the ability to devise and use the better ways of
producing and marketing goods and services.

12. Bold and brave:

Women entrepreneurs face the adversities boldly and bravery. She has
faith in herself and attempts to solve the problems even under great
pressure.

13. Mentally sound:

A woman entrepreneur is energetic, single-minded, having a mission

and a clear vision. She should be a lady of creative thinking and
analytical thinking. She must be intelligent, adaptable and problem
solver.

14. Leadership:

Leadership quality is one of the most important characteristic of a

woman entrepreneur. It is the process of influencing and supporting
others to work enthusiastically towards achieving objectives.

8 Strategies Successful Women Entrepreneurs

Share With Their Corporate Counterparts
Its always exciting to see someone you know in my case, Sharon Hadary
publish a book. Even better when your interests overlap with the topic of the
book. I thought I would see how the factors that Hadary and Laura Henderson
laid out in How Women Lead: 8 Essential Strategies Successful Women
Know apply to the women entrepreneurs Ive written about.

1) Empower the woman leader within. Women lead differently than

men; qualities such as being holistic, collaborative, inclusive, and consultative
are strengths that will help you succeed in a global economy.

Theresa Daytner is founder of Daytner Construction Group, which manages

and constructs multi-million dollar projects. The company is one of Inc.s 2011
500 Fastest Growing Companies. Daytner places great importance on shared
vision, values, and goals. She included her staff when developing the
companys vision and goals. Everyone who works for Daytner knows how each
person contributes to the bigger picture, which makes the company more
successful, she says.
For Jana Francis, founder and president of Steals.com, a network of daily deal
sites aimed at women, its not just about her employees, but her customers
and vendors as well. She takes the concerns of customers seriously. The sites
dont overwhelm women with tons of offers. Each site focuses on two deals per
day, each specifically geared to the women who visit the site. Products are in
stock and ship the same day. Vendors dont get more orders than they can
handle and customers get their order almost immediately. Not so for other
daily deal sites.

Successful women entrepreneurs dont just take time to consult with others;
they listen to them as part of their strategic planning process. For Cristina
Mariani-May, Co-CEO of Banfi Vintners, a family winery, listening is how
shes built a thriving business. The right relationships can help you enter new
markets, expand product offerings, source suppliers and employees, spot
challenges and grow the business.

2) Own your destiny. In Women CEOs Dish: 4 Secrets to Fast Growth, the
women I interviewed discussed how coming up with their own definition of
success allowed them to become masters of their destinies.

If you push only to the edges of your comfort zone, content with what you
have, your growth may be stifled. "If you have your mind on growth and
success, that will flow to your employees and support team," says Deborah
Sweeney, CEO ofMyCorporation, a document-filing service company.
"Engaged leaders who think big and are passionate about business growth are
far more likely to see growth and success than those who are merely content."

Whenever Dareth Colburn reaches a goal, she sets a higher one. The founder
of USABride sells wedding accessories online, used to think that making $1
million was an impossible dream. After all, she'd started with five veils and
five tiaras, $30,000 in debt, and work out of her apartment. But when the first
$1 million came, she moved her target to $3 million, then to $5 million.

"Entrepreneurs who made it really big also lost really big," says Gloria Larkin,
president of TargetGov, which helps companies sell to government agencies.
Women are uncomfortable with losing but unless you're willing to risk it all,
you cant win it all. Or, as Woody Allen said, "If you're not failing every now
and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative."
3) Be the architect of your career. Im taking liberties with this strategy
and interpreting it differently than the authors intended. For entrepreneurs,
building success includes putting together networks that can connect you to
money, markets, management and suppliers.

Who you know does matter. To speed up business growth and avoid pitfalls
that can stunt growth, you need multiple networks: those that provide support
and those that provide connections. Often, the two overlap; sometimes they
are separate.

The value of networks to improve access to financing, innovation, and

resources is a given. As the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 2010 Womens
Report found overall, the men and women entrepreneurs who had larger and
more diverse networks, and those who emphasized non-private advisors
(business, professional, etc.) reported greater levels of innovation,
internationalization, and growth expectations.

Yet, even though women are great communicators and collaborators, we dont
excel at building networks. Our networks tend to be small and less diverse
than men. "Women don't know how to build and use their business networks,
said Jeanne M. Sullivan, General Partner, StarVest Partner, a venture capital
firm. Men do this by playing sports or grabbing a beer or meal. Women are
hesitant to do this with people they don't know well." It's not just meeting in-
person that builds networks. I've had success building meaningful business
relationship viasocial networking.

During the past decade or two, organizations have formed to help women
entrepreneurs build the networks they need to succeed as high-growth
companies. Astia and Springboard Enterprises not only help high-growth,
women-led companies make connections, but also train women entrepreneurs
to make a good impression. Women Presidents' Organization is a peer
advisory group for women presidents of multimillion-dollar companies. Its
members, all women who lead large companies, learn from each other.

Growing your company also means stepping back. In the beginning, you may
do much of the day-to-day work of your organization, but to grow, you must
delegate those jobs so you have time to run the business, as Margery Kraus,
CEO of APCO Worldwide, a global consulting firm, and Hester Taylor Clark,
founder of The Hester Group, a project management company, explain
in Growing Means Learning to Work On Your Business Not In It.

4) Advocate unabashedly for yourself. Building street cred by increasing

your visibility can take many forms, from pushing an industry agenda to
winning awards.

Sandra Wilkin is president of Bradford Companies, which provides project

and budget management for large public construction projects. She is
advancing her industry construction -- while advancing her own business by
organizing an industry conference about technology for construction. She is
being selfless a character trait many women possess but she is also being
selfish advancing her own agenda -- which more women need to do.

Colleen Molter is president of QED National, which provides IT staffing and

systems solutions. Karen Barbour is president ofThe Barbour Group, which
provides surety bonding and commercial insurance. Both women have built
their reputations by advocating on behalf of small businesses.

Winning awards is great way to show you have the right stuff. Dont be shy:
Nominate yourself.

5) Translate the stories that numbers tell to drive strategic

results. To run a successful company, you must understand the financial
fundamentals of your company.

Women put their heads in the sand when it comes to doing their
financials. Their company numbers often arent in order or presented well.
Its not enough to want something, you have to prepared to receive it, says
Nina Vaca, founder of Pinnacle, which supplies contingent IT labor to Fortune
500 companies. You have to have the balance sheet, all the number of things
prepared ahead of time. Shelly Sun CEO of BrightStar Care, which provides
homecare, has some great advice about what you need to know about finances
and how to get that knowledge.