Women Entrepreneurs – Rise of Indian Women in Business

The ‘She Can, You Can’ Tupperware advertisements on prime-time television showcasing their corporate social responsibility initiative for instilling confidence in Indian women to take up socially relevant businesses of their own, have managed to share some tales of success of the Women Entrepreneur. The Indian Woman Entrepreneur today is empowered and in stride with men in running successful businesses.

For any woman in business, two things are of undeniable importance – idea and monetary resources. Firstly, they just need a little cranking of the brain and an out-of-box approach. From homemade dabba service to selling hairbands or even customized cupcakes, the requirement of a consumption driven economy such as India ensures a wide girth for women entrepreneurs to start their own businesses, thriving solely on innovation and new ideas. The internet is riddled with success stories of women entrepreneurs with even ditty inventions such as Remya Jose’sExercise-cum-Washing Machine that earned her a spot on Discovery’s Indian Inventors. Even in urban setups, women entrepreneurs have been noticed, and how; some popular examples beingAnu Aga of Thermax Ltd and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw of Biocon Limited. While one must aspire to become big entrepreneurs like these icons, the trick is to stay realistic when starting an entrepreneurial venture and recognizing the challenges.

The greatest challenge with entrepreneurship is finances. However, hesitation must be put aside, when you are about to begin a venture. The simplest form of monetary funding is for one to either fuse the business with their own money or borrow in part from a partner (perhaps a friend wishing to be part of it, a self help group type setup or a stray aunt with deep pockets). If these aren’t options, in India small scale and medium size women start-ups are encouraged by banks. Statistics indicate that women in business are less likely to default and as banks consider them to take calculated risks unlike aspiring businessmen, and thus banks feel more comfortable funding a woman’s business.

It goes one step further than that, with banks across India providing special schemes for women entrepreneurs. Bank of India’s Priyadarshini Yojana scheme allows for Small Scale Industry (SSI) units to take a loan of Rs.5 lakh without any collateral security (a form of secondary protection sometimes required by a bank and intended to guarantee a borrower’s performance on a debt obligation), moreover providing women lenders a relief of interest rates from 0.5 to 1%. This is not the only scheme, Oriental Bank of Commerce provides upto 2% concession and doesn’t require collateral security for women wishing to start ventures with an initial capital of upto 10 lakhs and 25 lakhs for an SSI, under the Orient Mahila Vikas Yojana.

State Bank of India and Canara Bank have special cells for women entrepreneurs. With a little research, it is thus easy for women entrepreneurs in India to find loans suitable to their requirement and at concessional rates too. Additionally, a woman entrepreneur has the flexibility of varying the size of the business to determine the start-up costs with a business venture.

An entrepreneurial endeavor works as it provides the chance to allocate time as per ones convenience. That means, unlike jobs where one is bound by a contract to work certain hours to earn the pay check, a woman can tailor her business to fit household time restrictions, sudden unplanned emergencies and even work from a space of their convenience. So it becomes the perfect setup for a woman intending to juggle house and work.

There is no age too late to start a venture and no biodata requirements for a woman to being a business. Statistics of Web Women & Entrepreneurship in India 2012 Study indicate that women as young as 20 are starting their own ventures. Perhaps this large number is motivated to try their hands at business because of the creative free-reign that entrepreneurial outfits offer or even the ability to make something out of the most uncommon idea. An added advantage is that one has the benefit of being one’s own boss.

The fact that a number of women entrepreneurs are growing can be assimilated by simply noticing that Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs (FIWE), a national organisation today has 15,000 members and 28 member associations spread throughout the country. FIWE provides women wishing to start their own ventures business counselling, networking opportunities and brings businesswomen on a common forum to ensure that their visions are collectively and effectively taken up with policy makers and other agencies. Their goal remains to ensure development of opportunities for women entrepreneurs.

So, with a support platform, loan schemes and ample opportunity, the only thing that remains is initiative on the part of women wishing to enter the business world.

Now when are you starting?

Source:http://www.aneklog.com/blog/women-entrepreneurs-rise-of-indian-women-in-businesshttp://www.aneklog.com/blog/women-entrepreneurs-rise-of-indian-women-in-business