Women Entrepreneurship: An Opening to Bravery

Abstract ::

Entrepreneurship introduces a vital element of vigor into an economic system. The process of globalization and liberalization has introduced two sets of changes - the first is the apparent introduction of dynamism into the system through process of globalization, while new opportunities have opened up in the domestic market due to international products serving well to the domestic market. 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 and account for 60% of the working force but comprise only 10% of the world's economy and surprisingly own less than 1 % of the real estate. They have little access to productive resources and negligible control over family income. This discrimination is the result of gender bias, which forms an inherent part of the global society.

Women are almost one half of the world's population having enormous potential but being underutilized or unutilized for the economic development of the nation. There is need to support and rationalize the role of women in the development of various sectors by harnessing their power towards nation building and to attain accelerated economic growth. Majority of women do not undertake entrepreneurial ventures. The paper tries to analyze the features, the role and the leadership qualities of women entrepreneurs in India. The paper examines the opportunities available to the women entrepreneurs which can be made use of, for their social and economic empowerment. It also examines challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in India. The paper is concluded with a series of suggestions that can be made in to practice in order to strengthen the entrepreneurship abilities among women. This paper has special relevance in this age of wide gender inequality and subsequent socio-economic problems which come in the way of women.

Introduction ::

Entrepreneurship introduces a vital element of vigor into an economic system. The process of globalization and liberalization hs introduced two sets of changes - the first is the apparent introduction of dynamism into the system through process of globalization, while new opportunities have opened up in the domestic market due to international products serving well to the domestic market. 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 and account for 60% of the working force but comprise only 10% of the world's economy and surprisingly own less than 1 % of the real estate. They have little access to productive resources and negligible control over family income. This discrimination is the result of gender bias, which forms an inherent part of the global society.

The general observation is that there are fewer female entrepreneurs than male entrepreneurs. This reflects the trends also prevailing in other spheres of economic activities where males greatly outnumber females. Entrepreneurship is a Herculean task, which is fraught with struggle, entailing both risk and efforts. While women have to go through same stages of setting up an enterprise as do men, and 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. Removing these impediments in the existing set up of micro enterprise development has assumed a critical significance for the economic development of women. The need today is to help women overcome these blockades and draw maximum participation from them to set up micro enterprises, which will help them, achieve self reliance and place them at par with their male counterparts.

Meaning::

The word entrepreneur is derived from the French verb enterprendre, which means "to undertake". This refers to those who undertook the risk of new enterprises. In economics and commerce, an entrepreneur is the economic leader who possess the ability to recognize opportunities for the successful introduction of new techniques, new commodities and new sources of supply, and to assemble necessary plant and equipment, management and labour force, and organize them into a running concern. Whatever the political and economical set up of a country, entrepreneurship is essential for economic growth.

According to Peter Drucker, "Entrepreneur is one who always searches for change, responds to it and exploits it as an opportunity. Innovation is a specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit change as an opportunity for different business or services."

The concept of Women Entrepreneurs:

In common parlance Women Entrepreneurs are the women or a group of women who initiate, organize and operate a business enterprise. The government of India notes women entrepreneurs as "an enterprise owned and controlled by women saving 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". According to Kamal Singh "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"

Women Entrepreneurship in India::

Women are almost one half of the world's population having enormous potential but being underutilized or unutilized for the economic development of the nation. There is need to support and rationalize the role of women in the development of various sectors by harnessing their power towards nation building and to attain accelerated economic growth. Majority of women do not undertake entrepreneurial ventures. Entrepreneurship is a key to economic development of a country. History is full of instances of individual entrepreneurs whose creativity had led to the industrialization of many nations.

The position of women and their status in any society is an index of its civilization. Women are to be considered as equal partners in the process of development. But, because of centuries of exploitation and subjugation, Indian women have remained at the receiving end. Women in India have been the neglected lot. They have not been actively involved in the mainstream of development even though they represent equal proportion of the population and labour force. Primarily women are the means of survival of their families, but are generally unrecognized and undervalued, being placed at the bottom of the pile.

During the last two decades, Indian women have entered the field of entrepreneurship in greatly increasing numbers. With the emergence and growth of their businesses, they have contributed to the global economy and to their surrounding communities. The routes women have followed to take leadership roles in business are varied. Yet, most women entrepreneurs have overcome or worked to avoid obstacles and challenges in creating their businesses. The presence of women in the workplace driving small and entrepreneurial organizations creates a tremendous impact on employment and business environments.

Women as an independent target group, account for 495.74 million and represent 48.3% of the country's population, as per the 2001 census. No country can achieve its potential without adequately investing in and developing the capabilities of women. In the interest of long-term development it is necessary to facilitate their empowerment. In many developing countries, including India, women have much less access to education, jobs, income and power than men. Even after six decades of planned development Indian women have not achieved expected success in the mainstream of life. Our country will be unable to have a competitive edge over others until and unless the status and role of women is improved.

The role of women entrepreneurs in India has been realized since long. The role of women entrepreneur was not up to the mark because of the lack of government support at every stage. The Govt. of India has rightly realized that there is a need to develop strategy and launch different schemes for the upliftment of women entrepreneurs. After the enactment of the first industrial policy of 1956, there was no such proposal for the encouragement of women entrepreneurs. It was during the Sixth Five Year Plan that a new chapter was created for the integration of women in the development stream. The new industrial policies of 1980 and 1990 have considerably emphasized the need of Entrepreneurial Development Programmes (EDPs) in urban as well as rural areas for the upliftment of the status of women in the economic and social sector.

The women now occupy much larger though far from equitable percentage of middle management better than the previous years. A study carried out by Coke India Ltd. reveals that women are key-decision makers behind the purchase of new products. The study further emphatically points out that the women also bring elegance, composure and sensitivity to the work place. From the 7th plan till 10th Five Year Plan the Govt. of India has eagerly stated that women entrepreneurs have to be accorded special gratitude and should be provided and equipped with all fundamentals and crucial incentive for bringing them into the mainstream of economic growth. They should be given different foray in social strata and should be made aware of the numerous agencies and sponsor programmes of the Development Banks, District Industrial Centre (DIC) and other Financial Institutions especially meant for women entrepreneurship development.

Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs in India::

At present, there are few organizations, which are contributing to the upliftment of women entrepreneurial development in the country. All India Manufacturers Organization (AIMO), set up on December 30, 1987, is one of them. The main objective of this organization is to promote, motivate and provide assistance to potential women entrepreneurs to set up industries. This organization has been doing services in the development of women entrepreneurship and thereby opening galore vistas for generation of women employment in particular. In India small scale industrial units are owned both by men and women. Table reveals that among the small scale industrial units owned by women entrepreneurs in India, Kerala tops the list with 1.39 lakh units, followed by Tamil Nadu with 1.30 1akh units. Tamil Nadu ranks second in the total number of small-scale units owned by women entrepreneurs in India. Lakshadweep has the lowest number of small-scale units owned by women entrepreneurs (67 units).

State-wise distribution of small scale industrial units owned by women Entrepreneurs

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Mr. Chintan Vora
B,Com; MBA; UGC-NET.
Assistant Professor
Shri G.H. Gosrani Comm. & Shri D.D.Nagda BBA College, Jamnagar.
Cell: 9428670304.
Email: vora_chintan_2004@yahoo.co.in

Mrs. Khushboo Malde
B.Com; MBA.
Assistant Professor
Shri G.H. Gosrani Comm. & Shri D.D.Nagda BBA College, Jamnagar.
Cell: 9824570633
Email: khushboomalde@gmail.com