Popular wisdom has it that women do ‘lifestyle businesses’. Somewhere, there is an implication that these are bored hausfraus making some pocket money. Yet, the women I know who run businesses are dead serious about them. Big or small, many are seriously invested in their work. Where lies the truth?
What is driving so many women to start businesses? What challenges do they face? What helps them succeed? These were only some of the questions we had, and out of that emerged the Women’s Web Women & Entrepreneurship in India 2012 Study.
The study was conducted online between June 1st and 20th and answered by 114 women entrepreneurs across the country. Below is a summary of the results.
Key results: Women & Entrepreneurship in India survey
The largest chunk (58%) of entrepreneurs we surveyed had started their businesses between the ages of 20 and 30; interestingly, 25% had started up even before turning 25.
Bangalore was where the largest chunk of respondents operated from (28%) while Kolkata is the only absentee large metro (tucked away under ‘others’).
The majority of women-owned businesses are micro-enterprises or small/mid-sized businesses, with 73% reporting revenue of under Rs.10,00,000. Corresponding to this, the majority had under 5 employees (71%).
57% of women entrepreneurs had started their businesses alone, while 35% had a co-founder and 8% were part of teams that involved more than 2 co-founders.
What drove women to start businesses? The opportunity to work more creatively and the perceived benefit of being one’s own boss were the top reasons chosen.
60% of women entrepreneurs started their business with a capital of under Rs.1,00,000, and personal funds and savings were used to start the business in a majority of cases.
We asked women entrepreneurs to pick their challenges, both at the time of starting up and at present; they are not the same. Financial and Marketing related challenges emerge as the top pick at both times. People challenges however are stronger at present than while starting up indicating that as teams grow, so do the challenges associated with them. Personal challenges (bandwidth/time management) however, drastically taper off suggesting that women’s confidence in their own abilities as entrepreneurs has grown with the experience.
As for support in their entrepreneurial journey, besides friends and family (the top choices), the growing importance of the entrepreneurial community is reflected in the fact that 26% mentioned other entrepreneurs and entrepreneur groups. 23% also mentioned mentors and advisors.
Finally, we asked our respondents to consider the question of entrepreneurship through the prism of gender. What did they believe? In short: Yes, it is harder to start a business if you are a woman (55%). Yes, knowing other women who run businesses is a big support (73%). Yes, being a woman impacts decisions on how large/fast the business should grow (52%). On the question of whether a female mentor was better for women entrepreneurs, opinion was more divided.
By:Aparna V. Singh
Source: http://thehatch.in/women-entrepreneurship-in-india/http://thehatch.in/women-entrepreneurship-in-india/
This is a positive point that women has started business and are entrepreneurs from early age. With all these some more steps can boost their business. Entrepreneurship
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