Women Entrepreneurs
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
Concept
An enterprise owned and controlled by women having a minimum financial interest of 51percent of the capital and giving at least 51 percent of the employment generated by the enterprise to women
- Government of India
A woman entrepreneur can be defined 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
- Kamal Singh
Characteristics/Traits
Women entrepreneurs share the following common characteristics: -
• Self-motivated and self-directed • High need for achievement • Internal locus of control • Risk taking propensity • Competence in finance and business management skills • Strong interpersonal (and communication) skills • Consensus building competencies
Problems of Women Entrepreneurs
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 sceptical 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, 1995).
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
Concept
An enterprise owned and controlled by women having a minimum financial interest of 51percent of the capital and giving at least 51 percent of the employment generated by the enterprise to women
- Government of India
A woman entrepreneur can be defined 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
- Kamal Singh
Characteristics/Traits
Women entrepreneurs share the following common characteristics: -
• Self-motivated and self-directed • High need for achievement • Internal locus of control • Risk taking propensity • Competence in finance and business management skills • Strong interpersonal (and communication) skills • Consensus building competencies
Problems of Women Entrepreneurs
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 sceptical 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, 1995).
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