Women Entrepreneurs

Women Entrepreneurs- Definition Profile of a typical women entrepreneur Personality differences between Men & Women Male vs. Female Entrepreneurs – A Comparison Professional Women: Problems & Perceptions Barriers to Women Entrepreneurs How can the problem be overcome? Schemes for Women Entrepreneurs

Women Entrepreneurs- Definition

An enterprise owned and controlled by one or more women having a minimum financial holding of 51% or more, giving 51% or more employment to women

Some Facts:

Women Constitute not only half of the World’s population but also sway the growth of the remaining half

They produce half of the world’s food supply

They account for 60% of the work force

Own less than 1% of the real estate

Profile of a typical women entrepreneur

First born child of middle class parents Atleast one of the parents are self employed College educated Married First significant venture in early 30s Previous experience in a new venture Desire for independence and job satisfaction Self confident and moderate risk taker High tolerance for ambiguity High energy levels Start up problems: Obtaining credit, access to information,

marketing, lack of experience in financial planning, taxation, cash flow management, personnel management

We need to understand…

• Whether women can contribute significantly towards the national economy

• Do they have equal potential?

• If so, why are there fewer women entrepreneurs today?

• What are their difficulties?

• How can we address them?

Personality differences between Men & Women

In a patriarchal society like that of India, the exploitation and subjugation of women is commonplace

Women are equally achievement oriented, aggressive, independent, risk takers, self confident, hard working etc as their male counterparts

Male vs. Female Entrepreneurs – A Comparison

Women Entrepreneurs do things differently, as compared to male entrepreneurs

Women tend to work more in teams

Are less self-centered

Personal ego to them is less important for them than success of the organization or business idea they are pursuing

It is a known fact that personal characteristics as well as social aspects clearly play some role in developing entrepreneurship but entrepreneurs can also be developed through conscious action

Professional Women: Problems & Perceptions

When one tries to explore the root cause of the underachievement of women as professionals, one finds that reasons are actually different from the commonly attributed “lack of commitment and competence” on part of women professionals

The underlying reasons are more related to the social reality of Indian women which imposes certain socio-cultural role-models & stereotypes leading to a conditioning of people’s psyche

Barriers to Women EntrepreneurshipLevel

BarriersIndividual Household

/FamilyBusiness Community/

Government

Financial Women look for security

Men decide about expenses

Less income= less property= no security= no loan

In some countries, signature of husband required for loan

Economical Women get less education

Women lack support for household work

Lack of management know-how

Women discriminated in terms of access to economic resources

Socio-Cultural

Independent thinking is not allowed to women

Violence against women by husband

Limited mobility – problems with the marketing, transportation & selling of goods

In male dominated industries, women entrepreneurs are not accepted

Barriers to Women Entrepreneurship

Level

Barriers

Individual Household/Family

Business Community/Government

Political-Legal Women act privately, not politically

Women have got less influence and negotiation power in the family

Less means to exert power/less protection by the state for women entrepreneurs

Lack of knowledge about women Entrepreneurs to be able to develop appropriate policies

Psychological-Philosophical

Low self-esteem, do not dare to demand rights

Women are divided

Women are afraid to be more successful than men/husbands

State views men as the ones who publicly represent the family

How can the problem be overcome?

Women have to go through the same stages of setting up an enterprise as do men

They face similar challenges, irrespective of gender based social impediments like social stigma, unfavorable infrastructure, support systems, etc. which block their entry and reduce their pace of growth

The need today is to help women overcome these blocks and draw maximum participation from them to set up enterprises, which will help them

Educate/train the women entrepreneurs

Help then in setting up of home based businesses

Make easy finance available

Develop special schemes for women entrepreneurs

Achieve self reliance and place women entrepreneurs at par with their male counterparts

Develop gender sensitivity

Examine the processes of gender inequality

Acquire skills of identification of potential women entrepreneurs

How can the problem be overcome?

Empowerment is not only an external process, but a process that has to bring about intrinsic changes in women as well as in men

When women get organized and raise their consciousness about their disempowerment and use their critical understanding to organize themselves and struggle for greater access to resources, there are very few problems they could face

Schemes for women entrepreneurs

Seed capital scheme National equity fund Prime minister’s employment guarantee scheme Single window scheme DIC scheme KVIC scheme Bank schemes for women entrepreneurs Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal (MAVIM) Mahila Udyog Nidhi and Mahila Vikas Nidhi Priyadarshan Yojana

Seed Money Assistance

Funds for unemployed youth and women aged 18 to 35 years, with minimum qualification- Std. VII th pass @ 10%

Maximum seed capital available Rs.5 Lakh

Assistance percent is 10% to 15% of total fixed capital, 22.5% for backward classes

Repayment period- 7 years

Prime Minister’s Employment Guarantee Scheme

Maximum age of 35 years, with qualification- X th pass

Assistance by way of loans up to 95% of project cost

15% subsidy is made available

Subsidy of up to 15% or Rs.7,500, whichever lesser provided by government of India

Parents of the candidates cannot have annual income exceeding Rs.24,000

DIC scheme

Encouragement to start women entrepreneurship in areas with population of less than Rs. 1 Lakh

Investment in machinery up to Rs.2 Lakh is allowed

20% of this investment is granted as seed capital

For backward classes, the seed capital is up to 30%

The interest rate is 4%

Remaining capital needs to be financed by banks/financial institutions

Single Window Scheme

Scheme by SIDBI to provide fixed and working capital from a single source

Project cost excluding working capital and margin money, can go up to Rs. 20 Lakh

Repayment period-10 years

Founder’s capital- Minimum 25%

Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal (MAVIM)

Established on the 24th February,1975

Schemes: Maharashtra Rural Credit Programme (MRCP), Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Swayamsiddha Programme (IWEP), Mahila Swavalamban Nidhi (MSN), Ramai Mahila Shakshamikaran (SCP), NABARD Add-On Project, Rashtriya Samvikas Yojana (RSY), Krushi Saptak Yojana and Tribal Development Project (TSP)

Activities/objective: Self employment of women, training them in various product and service industries, assisting them to start business and manage it

Mahila Udyog Nidhi and Mahila Vikas Nidhi

Started by SIDBI in 1990

Provides finance up to Rs.10 Lakh through state financing corporation and SIDC

Financial assistance provided as concessional rate

Mahila Vikas Nidhi also provides assistance in training women entrepreneurs