women

ARTICLE: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN INDIA Author: Mrs.Madhusmita Das .[Faculty, Vignan Institute of Technology and Management, Berhampur, Orissa] Abstract: . Women entrepreneurship development is an essential pre-condition to the development of the nation as a whole. Entrepreneurship amongst women has been a recent concern The development of women entrepreneurship is very low in India, especially in the rural areas. Women have become aware of their existence, their rights and their work situation. The educated women do not want to limit their lives in the four walls of the house. They demand equal respect from their partners. However, Indian women of middle class as well as in rural areas have to go a long way to alter their role and to achieve equal rights and position because traditions are deep rooted in Indian society. The progress is more visible among upper class families in urban cities.. This paper focuses on Indian women entrepreneurs who continue to inspire us with their versatile abilities, persuasiveness, problem solving abilities, willingness to take chances and risks and the ability to motivate people around them. The paper talks about the status of Indian women entrepreneurs and the problems faced by them when they ventured out to carve their own niche in the competitive world of business environment. 1. Introduction Women in India have come a long way from being just 'homemakers'. The world now sees them with a different eye and a new respect. Women entrepreneurship in India has come a long way from women working only part time. Successful women entrepreneurs in India have made their presence felt in every field be it the world of politics, music, fashion, movies and entertainment or business. Hindu scriptures defines women as the embodiment of 'Shakti' and she lives up to image every time, whether it is problem solving at home or running a successful business. Women constitute around half of the total world population. So is in India also. They are therefore regarded as the better half of the society. In traditional societies, they were confined to the four walls of houses performing household activities and small businesses focused on fashion, food and other services sector. In modern societies, they have come out of the four walls to move rapidly into engineering industry with low labour intensity, manufacturing, construction and other industrial field... Women owned businesses are highly increasing in the economies of almost all countries. The hidden entrepreneurial potentials of women have gradually been changing with the growing sensitivity to the role and economic status in the society. Skill, zeal, wills, knowledge and adaptability in business are the five important determinants of women to emerge into business ventures. With the advent of media, women are aware of their own traits, rights and also the work situations. The glass ceilings are shattered and women have started plunging into industry also and running their enterprises from papad to power cables successfully. The challenges and opportunities provided to the women of digital era are growing rapidly that the job seekers are turning into job creators. They are flourishing as designers, interior decorators, exporters, publishers, garment manufacturers and still exploring new avenues of economic participation. In India, although women have been performing exceedingly well in different spheres of activities like academics, politics, administration, social work and so on , but the entrepreneurial world is still a male dominated one. . 2.Meaning and definitions ‘Women Entrepreneur’ is a person who accepts challenging role to meet her personal needs and become economically independent. A strong desire to do something positive is an inbuilt quality of entrepreneurial women, who is capable of contributing values in both family and social life. “Women entrepreneur refers equally to someone who has started a one women business to someone who is a principal in family business or partnership or to someone who is shareholder in a public company which she runs” Concept of Women Enterpreneur Enterprise- “ A small scale Industrial unit or Industry - related service or business enterprise, managed by one or more women enterprenuers in a concern, in which they will individually or jointly have a share capital of not less than 51% as shareholders of the private limited company, members of cooperative society”. The Government of India has defined a women entrepreneur - “ An enterprise owned and controlled by a women having a minimum financial interest of 51% of the capital and giving at least 51% of the employment generated in the enterprise to women “. Women Entrepreneurs may be defined as the women or a group of women who initiate, organize and operate a business enterprise. 3.Objectives of the Study 1.To know how to develop women entrepreneurs. 2.To study the present position of Indian Women Entrepreneurs. 3. To study the Problems of Women Entrepreneurship in India. 4. To suggest certain supportive measures to solve the problems of Women Entrepreneurship in Indian Economy. 4.Methodology of Study The study is mainly based on secondary data taken from the reputed Published Sources like various Books, Economic Survey and Websites on Internet. 5. 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. For all developmental programmes consider women as specific target group. 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. Women's development corporations have to gain access to open-ended financing. 7. The financial institutions should provide more working capital assistance both for small scale venture and large scale ventures. 8. Making provision of micro credit system and enterprise credit system to the women entrepreneurs at local level. 9. Repeated gender sensitisation programmes should be held to train financiers to treat women with dignity and respect as persons in their own right. 10. Infrastructure, in the form of industrial plots and sheds, to set up industries is to be provided by state run agencies. 11. Industrial estates could also provide marketing outlets for the display and sale of products made by women. 12. A Women Entrepreneur's Guidance Cell set up to handle the various problems of women entrepreneurs all over the state. 13. District Industries Centres and Single Window Agencies should make use of assisting women in their trade and business guidance. 14. Programmes for encouraging entrepreneurship among women are to be extended at local level. 15. Training in entrepreneurial attitudes should start at the high school level through well-designed courses, which build confidence through behavioral games. 16. State finance corporations and financing institutions should permit by statute to extend purely trade related finance to women entrepreneurs. 17. More governmental schemes to motivate women entrepreneurs to engage in small scale and large-scale business ventures. 18. Involvement of Non Governmental Organizations in women entrepreneurial training programmes and counseling 19. Skill development to be done in women's polytechnics and industrial training institutes. Skills are put to work in training-cum-production workshops. 20. Training on professional competence and leadership skill to be extended to women entrepreneurs. 21. Training and counseling on a large scale of existing women entrepreneurs to remove psychological causes like lack of self-confidence and fear of success. 22. Counseling through the aid of committed NGOs, psychologists, managerial experts and technical personnel should be provided to existing andemerging women entrepreneurs. 23. Continuous monitoring and improvement of training programmes. 24. Activities in which women are trained should focus on their marketability and profitability. 25. Making provision of marketing and sales assistance from government part. 26. To encourage more passive women entrepreneurs, the women training programme should be organized to recognize her own psychological needs and express them. 6. Present Position of Women Entrepreneurs It is only from the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-78) onwards women role has been explicitly recognized with a marked shift in the approach from women welfare to women development and empowerment .Out of the total 940-48 million people in India in the 1990’s of the female comprise of 465% of the total population. There are 126.48 million women work force (representing 28.9% of the female population) but as per the 1991 census only 185900 women accounting for only 4.5% of total self employed persons in the country were recorded. Majority of them are engaged in the un organized in the unorganized sectors like agriculture, agro based industries, handicrafts, handloom and cottage based industries. As per the 2001census report, there are women workers of the total working population including formal as well as informal sector. The Indian economy has been witnessing a drastic change since mid -1991, with new policies of economic liberalization, globalization and privatization initiated by the Indian government. India has great entrepreneurial potential. At present, women involvement in economic activities is marked by a low work participation rate, excessive concentration in the unorganized sector and employment in less skilled jobs Women Work Participation: Country /year Percentage India (1970-1971) 14.2 India (1980-1981) 19.7 India (1990-1991) 22.3 India (2000-2001) 31.6 7. Problems of Women Entrepreneurs Women Entrepreneurs encounter two sets of problems i.e. general problems entrepreneurs and problems specific to women entrepreneurs. These are discussed below, a. Lack of Skills and Knowledge in Business Administration –Due to lack of skills and knowledge in business administration women entrepreneurs are facing problems in handling the business activities successfully. Women must be educated and trained constantly to acquire the skills and knowledge in all the functional areas of business management. b. Lack of Confidence –Due to lack of confidence in Indian women for their strengths and competence, the family members as well as the society are reluctant to stand beside their entrepreneurial growth. To a certain extent, this situation is changing among Indian women and yet to face a tremendous change to increase the rate of growth in entrepreneurship. 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 in day to day life is high as compared to male members, while in business it is just opposite to that. c. Socio-cultural barriers – Women’s family and personal obligations are sometimes a great barrier for succeeding in business career. In India, only few women are able to manage both home and business efficiently, devoting enough time and energy to perform all their responsibilities in priority. The business success depends on the support of the family members extended to women in the business process and management. The interest of the family members is a determinant in the realization of women folk business aspirations. d. Changes in Marketing conditions –Indian women are neither fully aware of the changing market conditions nor can effectively utilize the services of media and internet 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. Due to stiff competition in the market and lack of mobility of women, a business woman finds it difficult to capture the market and depends on middleman. e. Lack of Interest and Motivation - In India, women are still illiterate. So, Illiteracy causes low level achievement and advancement motivation among women. Successful women entrepreneurs must be self motivated through setting up a mind and taking up risk and accepting social responsibilities on their shoulder. The other factors such as family support, government policies, financial assistance etc. are also important motivational factors to set up business. f. Lack of Awareness about the schemes , policies and financial assistance – Every woman entrepreneur may not be aware of those financial institutions who extend their maximum support in the form of incentives, loans, schemes etc.. So the sincere efforts taken towards the improvement of women entrepreneurs may not reach the entrepreneurs in rural and backward areas. g. Insufficient Training programs –In India, women are ignorant of new technologies or unskilled in their use, and often unable to do research and gain the necessary training . Due to lack of access to technical training programmes for women entrepreneurs, it becomes structural difficulties and prevent the technology from being beneficial or even available for them .Training programs and workshops for every type of entrepreneur is available through the social and welfare associations, based on duration, skill and the purpose of the training program. Such programs are really useful to new, rural and young entrepreneurs who want to set up a small and medium scale unit on their own. h. Problems in identifying the available resources – Women are hesitant to find out the access to cater their needs in the financial and marketing areas. In spite of the mushrooming growth of associations, institutions, and the schemes from the government side, women are not enterprising and dynamic to optimize the resources in the form of reserves, assets mankind or business volunteers. Getting the raw materials from different sources with discount prices is the factor that determines the profit margin. Lack of knowledge of the raw materials and low level negotiation and bargaining skills are the reasons which affect women entrepreneur’s business adventures. The failure of many co-operatives in 1971 engaged in based making is example how the scarcity of raw material sounds the death knell of enterprises run by women. i. Lack of availability of finance – Finance is regarded as life blood for any business organization/ enterprise. Indian women do not generally have property on their names to use them as collateral for obtaining funds from external sources. So that access to the external sources funds is limited. Again, many banks also consider women less credit – worthy and discourage women barrowers on belief that they can at any time leave their business. Women’s loan repayment rates are higher than men’s, women still face more difficulties in obtaining credit due to discriminatory attitudes of banks and informal lending groups . j. Male dominated society - The constitution of India speaks of equality between sexes. But in practice women are weak in all respects. In male dominated Indian society, women are not treated equal to men. This in turn serves as a entry- barrier for women to start their own enterprise. 8. Top 20 Leading Business women in India ( listed in alphabetical order ) Sr.No   Name Position Company 1 Akhila Srinivasan Managing Director Shriram Investments Ltd 2 Chanda Kocchar Executive Director ICICI Bank 3 Ekta Kapoor Creative Director Balaji Teleflims 4 Jyoit Naik President Lijjat papad 5 Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman & Managing Director Biocon 6 Lalita D Gupte, Joint Managing Director ICICI Bank 7 Naina Lal Kidwai Deputy CEO HSBC 8 Preetha Reddy Managing Director Apollo Hospitals 9 Priya Paul Chairman Apeejay Park Hotels 10 Rajshree Pathy Chairman Rajshree Sugars & Chemicals Ltd 11 Ranjana Kumar Chairman NABARD 12 Renuka Ramnath CEO ICICI Venture 13 Ravina Raj Kohli Media personality and ex-President STAR News 14 Ritu Nanda CEO Escolife 15 Shahnaz Hussain CEO Shahnaz Herbals 16 Sharan Apparao Proprietor Apparao Galleries 17 Simone Tata Chairman Trent Ltd. 18 Sulajja Firodia Motwani Joint Managing Director Kinetic Engineering 19 Tarjani Vakil Former chairman & Managing director EXIM Bank 20 Zia Mody Senior Partner AZB & Patners   9.Supportive Measures and Schemes for Women Entrepreneurs in India Remedial Measures and schemes for Indian women entrepreneurs can be represented into four category . These are discussed below Direct and indirect Financial Support Nationalized banks State Finance Corporation State Industrial Development Corporation District Industries Centers Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) State Small Industrial Development Corporations (SSIDC) Mahila Udyan Nidhi Yojna Schemes and Programme Nehru Rojgar Yojna Training of Rural Youth for Self- Employment (TRYSEM) Development of Women and Children in rural areas (DWCRA) Tecnological Training and Awards Stree Shakti Package by SBI Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India Women’s University of Mumbai National Institute of Small Business Extension Training (NSIBET) Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development (TREAD) Federations and Associations Indian Council of Women Entrepreneurs, New Delhi National Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs (NAYE) Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) World Association of Women Entrepreneurs( WAWE) Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka (AWEK) Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) 10. Women Entrepreneurship in India-2008-09 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   Maharastra 4339 1394 32.12   Gujrat 3872 1538 39.72   Karnatka 3822 1026 26.84   Madhya Pradesh 2967 842 28.38 Other States & UTS 14576 4185 28.71   Source: Economic Survey 2008-09 11.Women Corporate In Industrial Sectors - 2008-09 Sr. No Industry Percentage of Women Corporate 1 Transportation and Warehousing 15.1%   2   Agriculture Forestry Fishing and Hunting 14.6% 3   Whole Sale Trade 14.0% 4   Mining and Oil and Gas Extraction 13.5% 5   Manufacturing 13.3% 6 Management of Companies   12.4% 7   Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 11.8% 8   Administrative Support and Waste Management Remediation Service 10.0% Source : Economic Survey 2008-09 12.The additional business opportunities that are recently approaching for women entrepreneurs There are some additional business opportunities that are recently approaching for women entrepreneurs . They are: • Eco-friendly technology • Bio-technology • IT enabled enterprises • Event Management • Tourism industry • Telecommunication • Plastic materials • Mineral water • Sericulture • Floriculture • Herbal & health care, fashion • Food, fruits & vegetable processing 12. Conclusion – Empowering women entrepreneurs is essential for achieving the goals of sustainable development and the bottlenecks hindering their growth must be eradicated to entitle full participation in the business 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 moulded properly with entrepreneurial traits and skills to meet the changes in trends, challenges in global markets and also be competent enough to sustain and strive for excellence in the entrepreneurial arena.. Apart from training programs, Newsletters, mentoring, trade fairs and exhibitions also can be a source for entrepreneurial development. As a result, the desired outcomes of the business are quickly achieved and more of remunerative business opportunities are found. Henceforth, promoting entrepreneurship among women is certainly a short-cut to rapid economic growth and development. Let us try to eliminate all forms of gender discrimination and thus allow ‘women’ to be an entrepreneur at par with men.  13. References 1. Website www.google.co.in www.wikipedia.com www.yahoo.co.in 2. Rajendran N (2003) , "Problems and prospects of women Entrepreneurs" SEDME”, Vol. 30 no.4 Dec. 3.Sharma Sheetal (2006)  " Educated  Women , powered, women" Yojana Vol.50, No.12 4. Dhameja S K (2002) , Women Entrepreneurs : Opportunities, performance, problems, Deep Publications(p) Ltd, New Delhi, P 11 5. Rao Padala Shanmukha (2007) “Entrepreneurship Development among Women: A case study of self help Groups in Srikakulam District , Andhra Pradesh” The ICFAI Journal of Entrepreneurship Development Vol.IV No.1 6. Shiralashetti A S and Hugar S S “Problems and prospects of women entrepreneurs in North Karnataka District: A case study” The ICFAI Journal of Entrepreneurship Development Vol.IV No. 2