Unit 3-

Women entrepreneurs problems

1. Problem of Finance:

Finance is regarded as “life-blood” for any enterprise, be it big or small. However, women
entrepreneurs suffer from shortage of finance on two counts.

Firstly, women do not generally have property on their names to use them as collateral for
obtaining funds from external sources. Thus, their access to the external sources of funds is
limited.

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Secondly, the banks also consider women less credit-worthy and discourage women borrowers
on the belief that they can at any time leave their business. Given such situation, women
entrepreneurs are bound to rely on their own savings, if any and loans from friends and relatives
who are expectedly meager and negligible. Thus, women enterprises fail due to the shortage of
finance.

2. Scarcity of Raw Material:

Most of the women enterprises are plagued by the scarcity of raw material and necessary inputs.
Added to this are the high prices of raw material, on the one hand, and getting raw material at the
minimum of discount, on the other. The failure of many women co-operatives in 1971 engaged
in basket-making is an example how the scarcity of raw material sounds the death-knell of
enterprises run by women

3. Stiff Competition:

Women entrepreneurs do not have organizational set-up to pump in a lot of money for
canvassing and advertisement. Thus, they have to face a stiff competition for marketing their
products with both organized sector and their male counterparts. Such a competition ultimately
results in the liquidation of women enterprises.

4. Limited Mobility:

Unlike men, women mobility in India is highly limited due to various reasons. A single woman
asking for room is still looked upon suspicion. Cumbersome exercise involved in starting an
enterprise coupled with the officials humiliating attitude towards women compels them to give
up idea of starting an enterprise.

5. Family Ties:
In India, it is mainly a women’s duty to look after the children and other members of the family.
Man plays a secondary role only. In case of married women, she has to strike a fine balance
between her business and family. Her total involvement in family leaves little or no energy and
time to devote for business.

Support and approval of husbands seem necessary condition for women’s entry into business.
Accordingly, the educational level and family background of husbands positively influence
women’s entry into business activities.

6. Lack of Education:

In India, around three-fifths (60%) of women are still illiterate. Illiteracy is the root cause of
socio-economic problems. Due to the lack of education and that too qualitative education,
women are not aware of business, technology and market knowledge. Also, lack of education
causes low achievement motivation among women. Thus, lack of education creates one type or
other problems for women in the setting up and running of business enterprises.

7. Male-Dominated Society:

Male chauvinism is still the order of the day in India. The Constitution of India speaks of
equality between sexes. But, in practice, women are looked upon as abla, i.e. weak in all
respects. Women suffer from male reservations about a women’s role, ability and capacity and
are treated accordingly. In nutshell, in the male-dominated Indian society, women are not treated
equal to men. This, in turn, serves as a barrier to women entry into business.

8. Low Risk-Bearing Ability:

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Women in India lead a protected life. They are less educated and economically not self-
dependent. All these reduce their ability to bear risk involved in running an enterprise. Risk-
bearing is an essential requisite of a successful entrepreneur.

In addition to above problems, inadequate infrastructural facilities, shortage of power, high cost
of production, social attitude, low need for achievement and socioeconomic constraints also hold
the women back from entering into business.
7 Challenges That Women Entrepreneurs Face In 2021
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With approximately, 1/3rd of the entrepreneurs in the world being women, it has never looked
better for them on papers. Unfortunately, these numbers only tell a part of their story and men
still run a very big part of the business. Just like in most sectors of the world today, gender norms
are greatly affecting the ecosystem of entrepreneurship and creating major challenges for women
all over.

Here are some of the points to highlight the various disparities faced by women entrepreneurs
around the world:

Social expectations: In a society when women are stereotyped as the ones who are meant to stay
at home and put all their attention on their family, it is often looked down upon for them to
venture out and establish a career for themselves. Not just that, even after establishing their
business they often take more time than their male counterparts to gain trust and recognition
from the public.

Lack of capital: It is often said that “Money is to a business what food is to the human body and
is vital for any business, big or small.” Unfortunately, in this day and age even after women have
proved themselves time and again that they are more than capable, people find it hard to believe
and hesitate to invest in a business venture which is established by women entrepreneurs. It is
also disappointing to see that banks do not consider women as credit-worthy as they believe that
they can give-up their business at any time. Therefore, women entrepreneurs do not have any
alternative other than to rely on their savings, or maybe take the financial help of their family.

Lack of support: Lack of mentors and advisors is another major setback for women
entrepreneurs. According to a survey, 48% of female entrepreneurs said that the lack of mentors
and advisors restrain their professional growth. In a world where high-level business is
dominated by men, it becomes difficult for women to excel in their profession without someone
showing them the right way.

No business networks: According to a survey, women were not a part of business networks
which would help them build a network to grow their business, find customers, partners,
suppliers, build connections, and more which come very naturally to male entrepreneurs but
women do not belong to these networks.

Lack of confidence: A lot of women struggle with confidence and they need help with
understanding their skills, their value on what they bring to businesses and organizations. Very
often, women tend to underestimate their capabilities and so they need a lot of support to gain
that confidence and understand the value that they possess.

Personal and professional life balance: There is this unsaid rule that women all over the world
are expected to take care of their home as well as manage a successful business. Finding the right
balance between them is essential but unfortunately, in our society, a woman is required to give
more importance to her family rather than her career.
Building market access: This is the challenge of every entrepreneur, more so women
entrepreneurs as their networks are usually smaller and therefore they do not have much access
to the market when they start.

It is observed that the larger consensus when it comes to challenges that woman entrepreneur
faces in Indian cities is that they stem from socio-cultural notions that define what a woman’s
role is in the Indian society. While those notions need to change and are certainly changing focus
also needs to change on improving the ease of doing business for women entrepreneurs be it
getting loans more easily or helping in better networking opportunities.

Having said that, I also strongly believe that this is the time for women and women
entrepreneurs. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter whether you are a man or a woman, as long
as you have the drive and passion and your goal is backed by a solid plan, anyone can score big.

Achievements of women enterprenur

A woman entrepreneur bears all hardships and takes up the challenges and strategies to be
successful in life through self-made mistakes. She never stops until what she wants is what she
has. But never will she let her mistakes and failures cloud her judgment of what is right and what
is wrong.

• They take what they do seriously. ...

• They make it all about the customer. ...
• They make the big decisions carefully. ...
• They aren't scared of the road less traveled. ...
• They harness technology. ...
• They invest in themselves. ...
• They are constantly learning. ...
• They're not afraid of risks.

Role models of women enterprenur

She is ANY woman you look up to. She is a woman who makes a difference, whether it is in
the little things she does in her everyday life or the grand gestures made in the public eye. Being
a female role model requires a confidence not rooted solely in career or status, but in seeing the
value in herself.
Women & the Community

Creating a space for women’s voices to be heard is key since historically they have been
overlooked and silenced (see Rosalind Franklin, The US Presidents, Shirley Chisholm, Amelia
Earhart, any history book). Women oftentimes have to work much harder than their male
counterparts just to be heard. Because of this, being a community leader takes incredible
determination and resilience.

Elizabeth Warren, the first female senator of Massachusetts, has been making waves in the
media. Her strong beliefs in affordable and accessible education as well as gender equality have
led her to be the voice of the future. Senator Warren is a big proponent of bringing young people
into the political conversation and fighting for legislation that often gets overlooked. Her
dedication to the community and determination to make change gives us serious confidence that
women’s voices will be heard (see: “Nevertheless, she persisted”).

Gretchen Carlson, former Miss America and TV commentator, chooses to speak out when
society suggests we stay silent. As a woman in television, she’s faced her fair share of criticism
and sexism. When Gretchen spoke out against sexual harassment in the workplace, she made it
easier for other women to do the same. It is women like her, who are brave when others try to
silence her, that help others feel their voices deserve to be heard.

Authenticity

Part of being a female role model is being true to yourself. Being able to stay true to your values
and what you believe in can inspire others around you. The female role models we applaud also
use their platform to highlight others whose voices are often overlooked.

When we look at female role models, we’ve been looking at women who are well established in
their careers, but actress Yara Shahidi is using her burgeoning career to speak up on women’s
rights. With her strong social media presence, Shahidi has been making headlines as she uses her
platform to represent those young women who feel underrepresented. She speaks up about
representation of women of color on TV and how important it is for girls to see themselves on
the screen in a positive light.

Shahidi speaks candidly about her experiences as a mixed race actress in the industry. In a
conversation with Teen Vogue, she discusses her hopes for the future roles for women of color.
“I want to see somebody who looks like me as the doctor and the criminal and the successful
businessperson and the woman barely making a living. I want to see the spectrum.”

Diversity

Including diversity in the conversation is important in helping all women feel represented. Many
times discussions of feminism can exclude some groups, but many women are working to bridge
that gap.
Tina Tchen, Former Executive Director of The White House Council on Women and Girls, is a
woman who fights for gender equality every day and strives to make the government reflect the
population. In an interview with Makers, Tchen said, “Our public officials should reflect the
diversity in our country and when women are half of our population, to have them not even close
to half of our public officials is a problem.” Her work and drive to bring diversity into the
government has led her to be the Executive Director of the Council of on Women and Girls. She
also recognizes that there is work to be done for the transgender community and wants to ensure
safety for ALL women.

Seeing such a diverse group of powerful and revolutionary women is truly inspiring. It is easy
for girls to look at the media and become discouraged when they do not see themselves
represented. However, our female role models continue to show us that women are making
tremendous strides in our society and are the catalysts for change. Celebrating these women is
one of the ways we can appreciate female role models, but supporting women in our everyday
lives is how we can take action. We cannot succeed alone, but with a support system and
mentors to help, success is inevitable. At Ellevate, we believe developing this support is key in
accomplishing our goals, gaining success and connecting with incredible female role models.

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