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INTRODUCTION 1
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Page 1: WOMEN Empowerment ENT

INTRODUCTION

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INTRODUCTION

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

It Is Estimated that women entrepreneurs presently comprise about

10% of the total number of entrepreneurs in India, with the percentage

growing every year. If the prevailing trends continue, it is likely that in

another five years, women will comprise 20% of the entrepreneurial

force. With corporates eager to associate and work with women-owned

businesses, and a host of banks and non-governmental organisations

keen to help them get going, there has rarely been a better time for

women with zeal and creativity to start their own business.

Endowed with the famous female intuition that helps them make the

right choices even in situations where experience and logic fail, women

have innate flair for entrepreneurship. Although men and women may

be motivated by different goals and expectations (In her book, When

Money Isn't Enough, Connie Glaser reports that male entrepreneurs are

motivated by the potential to earn lots of money, while women start

their own companies because they seek greater control over their

personal and professional lives.) women entrepreneurs are just as

competent, if not better, than their male counterparts.

Women are more likely than men to admit when they do not know

something and ask for help. They are natural networkers and

relationship builders, forging powerful bonds and nurturing

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relationships with clients and employees alike. They are also more

inclined to seek out mentors and develop supportive teams. In

business this translates into establishing rapport with clients and

providing great customer service. This perhaps is the reason why many

women tend to launch businesses that are client based or service-

oriented.

Sometimes, however, a lack of training and prior experience can

render women entrepreneurs susceptible to a number of pitfalls. The

following guidelines are aimed at helping women entrepreneurs cross

some of the typical pitfalls that may crop up on their path to success:

Don't undervalue your abilities. Women typically tend to give away too

much and charge too little. This is a common phenomenon in service-

based industries where they may charge by the hour instead of

charging a fee on the merit of knowledge or service rendered.

Adopting value-based charges and charging per project (not on weekly

or monthly basis), will help women entrepreneurs gain the actual worth

of the services rendered.

Learn to juggle family with business. Unlike men, it is difficult for

women to completely ignore family obligations when pursuing

business, and they can quickly lose sight of their desire to have a

balanced life in the face of a demanding new business. It is important

to sustain a personal life and balance family obligations with

professional ones, if they are to be successful and happy.

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Women also need to be twice as persistent and assertive to make their

presence felt in a predominantly male business world. Network, but in

a way you feel comfortable with. Establish limits and do make sure that

you are well within your comfort zone when networking with others.

Do not forget you are running a business. Piling on work/life benefits

will not do anyone any good if doing so cuts too deeply into the

company's bottom line. You have to learn to be attentive to people's

needs and still run a profitable business. Women typically fight shy of

self-endorsement. Do not be afraid to promote yourself.

Remember, if you want a thriving business you must market yourself

and take credit for your achievements. If your marketing is shoddy no

one will know what you have to offer Though sidelined as the `weaker

sex' for long, with encouragement, support and a conducive

environment, woman entrepreneurs are fast becoming a force to

reckon with in the business world.

ECONOMIC REFORM TODAY NUMBER TWO 1997 15 16 NUMBER TWO

1997 ECONOMIC REFORM TODAY

There was a reason for the separation. We felt that since we were a

part of a larger organization, we were unable to work independently on

certain issues which are very important to women. After so many years

in existence, FIWE did not even have its own offices or permanent

staff. But we still work together with FISME. Now that FIWE is a

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separate organization, its principal goal is to foster the economic

empowerment of women by helping

them to become successful entrepreneurs. Another objective is to

bring women business persons together to voice their needs and

demands in such a way that government enacts policies beneficial to

their interests. ERT: What types of members does FIWE have now?

MRS. AGGARWAL: Our membership is varied. FIWE as a whole has

approximately 10,000 members coming from the 17 local associations

that are affiliated with it. (Their membership in turn varies anywhere

from 350 to 2,000 members.) Small-scale entrepreneurs account for

approximately 60% of our combined membership, large ones represent

15%, and cottage and micro entrepreneurs comprise the remainder.

They work in a wide gamut of sectors, from tailoring shops, beauty

parlors, printing facilities to steel manufacture. ERT: How important is

it for women’s business associations to play an advocacy role before

government bodies, both legislative and executive?

MRS. AGGARWAL: This point was recognized sometime in 1993.

Everyone felt we are working successfully on a local basis, but that we

had no say at the national government policy level. Now the main

objective for FIWE is to interact with national government policymakers

so that they understand the needs of women entrepreneurs, and these

needs are at the grassroots level. I wouldn’t claim that we have

achieved major changes on this front thus far. But I feel that as we

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continue to work we’ll be able to bring about some of them, possibly

by 1998. Given that we have more membership applications and more

of our programs have been useful to individuals and local groups, the

government will have to realize that women entrepreneurs must be

involved at the policy level. There has been some progress. At a recent

OECD meeting, I was pleased to report that, with the help of the

Finance Ministry, FIWE was able to get women entrepreneurs on the

boards of all of

The main objective for FIWE is to interact with national government

policymakers so that they understand the needs of women

Entrepreneurs.

India’s major financial institutions, government agencies, purchasing

organizations, and corporations. As a result, in the future the needs

and requirements of women-owned businesses are more likely to be

taken into consideration. Of course, due to the fast political changes

India has witnessed in the last two years we’ve experienced some loss

of continuity. However, I feel that if we follow up persistently we will

achieve other objectives by next year. ERT: How do you see FIWE’s

mission developing in the future? What role would you like to see the

organization play over the next five to ten years? MRS. AGGARWAL: I

would like FIWE to become a stronger organization which can work on

all important issues related to women entrepreneurs. Interaction with

policymakers should occur on a regular basis, so that at any point in

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time they are aware of our organization and the interests it represents.

They should really consider the viewpoints of our association when

making any kind of policy affecting women entrepreneurs. I think the

approach we are taking will support this kind of advocacy. Our

leadership is very keen to strengthen FIWE. The 20 members of the

Executive Committee, our principal governing body, are in constant

touch with each other and regularly contact and write to national

ministers about key issues of concern to our members. We also have a

steering committee which basically functions as the New Delhi chapter,

and it focuses on helping to solve the problems that our members face

in that city.

ERT: How big an issue is financing for women entrepreneurs? How do

you effectively channel women entrepreneurs into mainstream

financing channels? MRS. AGGARWAL: The government has granted

several concessions that benefit women entrepreneurs. For example,

the Small Industries Development Bank of India and state-level

government banks

now require that women entrepreneurs raise a smaller percentage of

the capital they need. If a man is starting a business, he has to have a

funding ratio of 1 to 3; that is, he must put up one rupee for every

three he obtains from the banks. But in the case of women, they must

put up just 10% and can obtain financing for the remaining 90%. The

only limitation is that this kind of credit can be given only to very small

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businesses. Still, this is a very positive change. There are two major

problems that need to be resolved. First, the commercial banks have

failed to provide concessionary interest rates to women-owned

businesses. The government defines such businesses as those in which

women hold at least 51% of the equity and 51% of all the jobs. The

second issue is that the Bank of India and the government have

defined small-scale enterprises as those having a capital of up to 10

million rupees. Because 10 million rupees is much more than the

capital of most small enterprises, most of the commercial bank credit

continues to go to the larger companies in this range. We have tried to

bring this point to their attention. However, since changes only occur

gradu-

There are other ways in which FIWE can help women entrepreneurs.

Every

bank in India has failed to promote entrepreneurship among women.

Through our organization, we can help bridge the gap. For women

entrepreneurs who cannot approach the banks directly, we try to work

like a bridge for them. ERT: Are you able to determine which women

have good business plans and are the best candidates to apply to the

banks for loans?

MRS. AGGARWAL: I find that out of fifty women who approach us, only

fifteen are genuinely interested in starting a business. The rest of them

are simply forced by their husbands to go forward in order to get some

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benefits from the government. But if we see a woman entrepreneur

who really knows what she is talking about—and that it’s not just that

her husband wants her to go into business—we’ll do what we can to

help her request a loan.

Initially we were making mistakes by forwarding every application to

the banks, and the banks would say many of the applicants were not

genuine Entrepreneurship.

CIPE has launched an interactive forum to promote discussion of

economic

reform, business development and democratic institutions.Visit the

Forum on Economic Freedom—CIPE’s online information service—to

participate in our discussion of the role of public policy institutes and

other timely issues.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF WOMEN SCIENTISTS AND TECHNOLOGISTS

Science and technology have been an integral part of Indian civilization

and culture. Women and men have been active in science from the

inception of human civilization. One of the defining marks of humanity

is the ability to affect and predict our environment. Science is the

creation of structure. For our world and technology, the use of

structure has been stepping stone to our progress. Women and men

have researched and solved each emerging need. At a glance, women

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in general might look like one of the many housewives – simple, docile,

unassuming and humble. But make no mistake, for behind this simple

straight face is a razor sharp brain, and an uncanny ability to execute,

to convert thought into action without much ado.

Since Independence, Indians have been promoting science and

technology as one of the most important elements of national

development. The Scientific Policy of 1958 and the Technology Policy

Statement of 1983 enunciated the principles on which growth of

science and technology in India has been based over the past several

decades and inspires us till date. The major scientific revolutions of

the last century have opened the doors to many remarkable

technologies in the fields of health, agriculture, communication and

energy, among many others. Science and Technology are powerful

instruments in the tasks of national reconstruction, economic

resurgence and maintenance of national security.

The very first technical name was male – Imhotep – the architect of the

first pyramid and the second was female – En Hedu’Anna (c. 2354BCE).

Certainly women were questioners and thinkers long before that, but

unfortunately it was an untapped resource Most myths and religions

place the beginnings of agriculture, laws, civilization, mathematics,

calendars, time keeping and medicine into the hands of women.

Women contributed in all the spheres of technical advancement of

humanity. They held the same burdens of scholarship as the men did,

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and accomplished just as much. Women were and are resourceful,

passionate and creative about their work as any other male scientist.

In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries most women did not have access

to institutions of higher learning and laboratories, which prevented

them from participation in the scientific revolution. The singular

exceptions in the 19th century being Mary Somerville and Agnes

Pockels. The Academie des Sciences of Paris, The Royal Society of

London did not allow women into their meetings and were strictly male

bastions. The Academie des Sciences of Paris was founded in 1666

and elected its first female member in 1962, The Royal Society of

London was founded in 1662 and elected its first female member in

1945. These societies were important meeting places for the

observation of new experimental results and the discussions of new

ideas.

The Third World Organisation for women in Science (TWOWS) officially

launched in 1993, is the first international forum to unite eminent

women scientists and scientific institutions in the South, with the

objective of strengthening their role in the development process and

promoting their representation in scientific and technological

leaderships.

Although we are a traditional country where women are respected as “

MatriShakti” over the years women have overcome the traditional

mind sets and have excelled in professions like teaching, medicine and

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pure sciences. Women have made important contributions in all walks

of life and made inroads into new fields like engineering and

information technology. Of the women science graduated 88 % of the

science degree holders are in pure science , 8% in medicine and 3% in

engineering and technology.

However, there has been a recent spurt of women joining the

engineering and information technology fields. The field of

biotechnology has revolutionized the industrial growth of the world. In

India, our own Kiran Mazumdar is an example for women

entrepreneurs to follow and emulate. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, biotech

entrepreneur and CEO of Biocon India group, is one of the many

scientists India should be proud of. She started Biocon in 1978

collaborating with an Irish firm, started two joint ventures,

Biochemizyme and Biocon-Quest India Ltd. She has held positions in

industry councils, including Vice-President, Association of Women

Entrepreneurs of Karnataka. She was awarded Rotary Award for Best

Model Employer, National Award for Best Small Industry and most

noteworthy is the Padmashri in 1989 from the Government of India.

She was accorded a very prestigious assignment as a Chairperson of

the Vision Group on Biotechnology to draw up the State’s Biotech

Policy.

In 1978, the world’s first test tube baby, Louise Joy Brown was

conceived. In India, Dr Indira Hinduja produced first scientifically

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documented test tube baby. In 1986, India’s first test tube baby

Harsha was born. Female ovum is fertilized with male sperm in a test

tube, with suitable environmental conditions, and observed under

microscope for more than three days. The fertilized egg is then put

back into mother’s womb and hence called test tube baby. Producing

test tube babies is not an easy task even in advanced countries, Dr

Indira Hinduja has rejected opportunities to settle abroad so that she

can serve our country/India.

The world’s first programmer was Lady Augusta Ada Lovelace of

England in 1852. She is credited with telling a machine what to do by

using punch cards to programme algebraic patterns. Indian women

have excelled in almost all fields which hitherto were fortified by men.

Women are storming Information and Technology field and in the late

nineties the number of women in computing and internet industries

has registered a sharp rise. The IT landscape is full of women who are

busy writing programmes, running network systems and delivering

applications to clients on time. Recently a Japanese magazine

concluded that Indian women are number one amongst women from

various countries in acquiring and applying IT knowledge.

Deb Agarwal, a top scientist at a national laboratory and Radha

Ramaswami Basu, a high-tech entrepreneur, are the two Indian women

among the top 25 women on Web award winners for this year.

Agarwal, a computer scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National

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Laboratory, serves the comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Organisation as an expert in the area of reliable multicast

communication. Basu is CEO, www.support.com. She was general

manager for international software at Hewlett Packard. She is also the

co-founder of Maitri, an empowering organization for South Asian

Women in the Bay Area.

In June 1963, Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman astronaut, made

48 orbits in Vostok 6. Sally Ride and Kathryn Sullivan alongwith five

men were aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1984 for the first

time. It was the first time a US woman Kathryn Sullivan walked in

space. Kalpana Chawla from Haryana was qualified from over 2962

applicants to earn herself a place in space shuttle Columbia for a 16

day out of the world experience. The NASA chief called her a “Terrific

Astronaut”.

Women have also accepted the challenges of the oceans and have

participated in expeditions dealing with ocean research. Dr Aditi Pant

is the first Indian woman to participate in the cruise to the icy

continent, Antarctica. The expedition was for a period of 4 months and

the participants had to explore this continent under rough weather

conditions.

Shahnaz Husain is the mother of all herbal cosmetics in world. Her

creams and lotions have found their way into salons in different parts

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of the globe. She has 650 salons at 104 countries. It is all due to her

sheer innovation, determination and hard work.

Madhuri Mathur, an intelligent lady made the life of ladies in kitchen

easier by bringing out the idea of, a kitchen machine that would blend,

chop, mince and grind that culminated into sumeet mixer.

Although there is no disparity existing in the emoluments of male and

female scientists and technologists an imbalance does exist in the

decision making policies and in the exercise of authority which is solely

dominated by men. Women do not get scientific recognition and are

rarely recommended and nominated for awards, expertships. But the

pattern occupying positions of authority has changed progressively

during the past years and the trend appears to be encouraging. Many

women with high qualifications and experience have reached the top.

From these observations, it can be concluded that given the requisite

qualifications and opportunities the women in science and technology

in India can be achievers and thereby boost the growth of science and

technology of our country.

From the days when entrepreneurship was seen as a proposition

meant either for those who were already well off and so could afford to

get into 'business' or for those who could not find jobs or were not so

well educated, we have come a long way. Over the last decade, thanks

to the success stories of Infosys, Satyam, Spectramind, Indiaworld and

several others, there has been a major transformation in the profile of

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'entrepreneurs', the approach to 'entrepreneurship' and the resultant

mindset towards entrepreneurship. Yet, when compared with the

proportion of men, women entrepreneurs in the IT industry are a

miniscule number. If we were to analyze the proportion of women

employees in IT organizations, there has been a healthy growth which

on an average stands at 20-25%-which was less than 10% a decade

ago. The expanding business, exposure to opportunities, access to the

right education and 'the right fit' IT industry offers to women, have

made this possible. However, these factors have not helped in women

taking on the mantle of entrepreneurship in the IT Industry as a

noticeable trend. Despite the fact that freelancing as an independent

consultant has been in vogue more due to the convenience of the

individuals and companies concerned, the ecosystem required to

succeed as a woman entrepreneur is absent in the country.

How about the entrepreneurial women we find in some other sectors,

why do they take the entrepreneurial route? Most of these ventures fall

into one of these categories-traditional and 'safe' zones familiar to

women like catering or assisting husbands in their shops/business;

professional expertise based which is self-run like running a dispensary

as a doctor

remain an insignificant number. What then are the key challenges

which inhibit women from becoming IT entrepreneurs?

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The first challenge lies in the definition of entrepreneurship itself.

Entrepreneurship involves the ability to identify the right opportunities,

risk taking and access to capital/market. Largely women like to 'play it

safe' and do not 'network' amongst business circles as much as men

do

Setting up the business, raising capital, going and seeking customers,

doing 'deals' as the opportunities come along and creating conviction

among the male dominated stakeholders regarding their seriousness

about their venture- when it comes to financing, are not easy matters.

Further, if a woman is married and has a family to take care of, it

brings additional limitations especially into the entrepreneurial

venture. An entrepreneur has to breathe and live his/her dream 24x7,

physically and mentally, and is required to be available to attend to the

call of the business whether from the customer, the employees or the

market forces. This calls for the ability to put up with tremendous

amount of pressure and stress which do not come easy to most women

when they also do not have an effective support system from the

family or society to become 'the daredevil entrepreneurs'

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER

Isn’t the most seductive thing to be your own boss? Be answerable to

no one but yourself. Set your own goals. Work at your pace. Be

responsible for your own success. Seductive and Scary. More and more

women are starting their own businesses right out of home and forging

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ahead. Working from home is not a limiting factor. There are choices

for everyone. Have a look.

SKILL BASED BUSINESS

You can harness your God given or hard earned skills. For instance, if

you are a good artist, you can start anything from art classes to display

and selling your creations to an art showroom in your garage. If you

are a qualified C.A. find smaller clients who will give you the flexibility

to write their accounts from your home. An interior designer can tie up

with a larger firm to do the designing aspect out of home and leave the

onsite work to the contractors.

A great example amongst us is Tarla Dalal. She started cookery classes

out of home and has revolutionarised the whole industry. Says Sanjay

Dalal, her son who manages her kitchen empire, “She started small

teaching five students at a time and her empire was built over 15

years. She has a passion for her work and that is what has made a

business such a success”

Franchises are coming of age in India. You can start your own franchise

with a business model already in place. From playschools to flower

shops. Dance classes to medical diagnostic centres. There are

franchises available for everything. But remember franchising will

require a deeper commitment in terms of time and money. You may

also need to have a separate work place and employees according to

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the requirements of the franchisor. If you have the time and money,

franchisees are great business models to go with.

Amway, Avon, Modicare, Tupperware, Times Books, what do these

names invoke in your mind? A business opportunity for women to work

flexitime. You can affiliate with any of these organisations to sell an

established product and have full marketing support. A word of caution

here - Make sure you have enough selling power by way for selling

skills and contacts because this line of work can be profitable only if

your sales are at a higher level. There will also be an initial investment

by way of buying a starter kit and some promotional material. Do

ensure you are not lured into repeatedly buying promotional material.

If you have the eye for it, you may also be able to market product from

another place which are not available in your city. Hemangini Bali, a

mother of two has found a wholesaler of Gujarati textiles and

handicrafts in her hometown Valsad and sells them in the uptown

Versova in Mumbai.

Internet Sales is a great way to go too. You can set up your website to

market your products or services. Another emerging opportunity is

buying and selling on the internet on websites like Ebay. After

assessing the demand market on the internet, you can procure your

product and sell it for a mark up on the internet. For establishing

yourself as a successful seller you need to sell consistently good

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quality product at competitive rates. Says DeepaThomas,

Spokesperson, Ebay India, “The unique business model implemented

on eBay India provides a platform for Indian women sellers to sell local

products/ hand made items (using existing talents) across the country

& to buyers across the world. Women sellers can also use the eBay

opportunity to extend an offline business to online with zero upfront

investment.”

You can also take up an agency. The most common one of course is in

insurance. Says Seema Nair, who took voluntary retirement from ONGC

to become an agent of TataAIG Life Insurance, “It took a lot of hard

work but today I am one of their top selling agents. I did not want to

just become an agent for namesake. The time is flexible but often I am

working on Sundays to meet my clients when they are available.”

You can also be an agent for selling mutual fund units, open a share

shop from home etc. You can also start an agency, which supplies

people with specialised skills (don’t get naughty, I do not mean

massage parlours) like nurses, odd jobs man like plumber carpenter

etc

PROUD WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS BECOME BOAT OWNERS

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Women in the Dashmath fishing community along the coastal belt of

Orissa are able to enjoy the benefits of their hard work after they

became owners of boats with the help of World Vision.

Following the Orissa Super Cyclone, World Vision’s response saw the

emergence of ADP Nirman to bring sustainable development to the

communities devastated by the tidal waves.

Rebuilding the livelihood security of the people was a key aspect of the

programme and various activities had been undertaken to increase the

income base of families dependant on agriculture, fishing and casual

labour.

In the fishing village of Dashmath both men and women depend on the

fish that they get from the backwaters for their livelihood. 'Though the

people got more fish, they couldn’t enjoy the profit because they had

to pay a rent for the boats they hire', says Darmendra Nayak,

Programme Manager of Nirman ADP.

Getting a boat on rent also meant that the people also had to handle

issues of availability of boats, fixed timings apart from the money they

will have to pay for the day.

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Women Self Group were determined to come out of this situation and

with the help of ADP Nirman provided 15 women with 6 ‘dangs’ (a boat

that can accommodate 2 – 3persons).

'Now women own these boats, they are able to take the boats any time

they want, sometimes as early as 3 a.m. and get lot of fish. The profit

of the sale is shared among them and sometime they market this for

export through other agencies', says Darmendra.

Women entrepreneurs in India symbolise a set of women who have

broken away from the beaten path and are discovering new views.

They had to face many challenges, family oppositions, pessimistic

remarks from their fellow workers in the process of establishing

themselves as independent entrepreneurs. “Wanting to do something

positive” in their lives urged and compelled them to be an

entrepreneur.

Smt JayaLakshmi Devaraj after her husband Mr Devaraj passed away

took over Sri Vigneshwara Group of Industries. She took up the

challenging job of running the business instead of closing it down. She

had provided employment to around 200 people. In the year 1989 she

won the Codissia Award for the best women entrepreneur. Roma

Malkani left India in 1967. In 1979 she and her father founded an

Information System and Network Corporation in the US. In a years time

she took charge of the company turned the company into the largest

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woman-owned US government contractor. She was listed by the

esteemed Washington Magazine as one of the 100 most powerful

women living in the US capital.

Most importantly the fundamental difficulty faced by a woman is that

“she is a woman”. She has responsibility towards her family and the

society. In spite of the legal equalities and the other equalities

provided by the constitution the attitude of the men is tradition-bound.

Finally not every business is started off from a single idea. Franchises

offer better opportunities. Many women have been successful by

taking over the family businesses.

The most important hurdle faced by woman in addition to

discrimination is choice. Some intelligent woman chooses having

children as being their first priority. Some cases, women are able to

balance both the choices. Most times, it is difficult to balance time,

leading to a situation where an upwardly mobile, all time consuming

and well paying careers are sacrificed.

Culturally such a perception is changing worldwide. Especially in the

west, noticeable changes are apparent. But, nature of the job is such

that, both developing and developed world should have cultural or

social shift to accomplish substantial amount of women entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneur Woman

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If you check this blog you will see a very common problem around the

internet business (much more than we would like to believe) -

SCAMMERS.

They are smart, and normally attach small entrepreneurs because they

know we normally DO NOTHING when we get scammed. I have decided

to do differently and start to speak out what happen to me. Do you

know what is the beauty of all of that? Feel I am helping others.I had

no one to help me do not get scammed and I am ashamed myself to

speak that out and loud, however if I do not publish my experiences

and warn others, the scammers will make more and more victms.

There is no better feeling than to know I am being at service and

helping people.

ENTREPRENEURS’ LIFE IS NOT EASY

Suppliers - every entrepreneur need one - no matter if you

manufucature yourself or if you act as agent, you need suppliers,

unless you produce all your raw-materials too.

When you are building something from scratch and don’t have

anybody to tell you or advice you on how to do something is even

harder to be an entrepreneur. Find suppliers in something you have

never done before can be very, very hard.

To find my suppliers, I had to do a lot of research on the net, take

contact with people and ask where to find this or that. For me things

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were even harder because to find local artisans in Brazil i definetely

cannot use the net or even telephone. It is crucial be there - now come

the question, how did I do as I am living in Finland? Simple answer, I

have grown there, have friends and family there and I had to envolve

everybody I know to get to those people. It is impossible to have a

local center where you can just go and buy whatever you want. I need

to make my family and friends go to the places, talk to the people and

keep a relationship with them on my behalf, otherwise I cannot buy

from these people.

Fortunately I do have my contacts and this have help me, however I

have to constantly be looking for other things and rely on my family to

do a job that I should be doing. Do you believe that sometimes I want

talk with one of my suppliers and I have to call my family to get in

contact with them? In the most simple and poor places, local artisans

dont even have telephone what make our straight relationship even

harder.

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To study the concept of Women entrepreneurship development programme or

process..

To study the various types of Small Scale Industries.

To study the impact of Globalization on Small Scale Enterprises.

To study the policies governed by Government for overcome this problem.

To study the various dominating factor which the global companies have.

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SCOPE & IMPORTANCE

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SCOPE & IMPORTANCE

Women entrepreneurs encounters only one third of all entrepreneurs. And as half the

population on this planet is women there is an unnatural gap between genders. There is

thus potential to enhance the level of women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs have

a massive potential which are yet to be unleashed. Not only due to the gender gap, but

also because women bring in diversity to the innovation process. More women will

provide per se entrepreneurs with a more diverse perspective. Solutions to market

inequalities are not solved just by male entrepreneurs with male thinking innovation.

Now women also brings in solutions to market inequalities and their innovations may not

be alike those of the man. Thus women entrepreneurship is to be seen as part of the

diversity question. One good example here relates to user driven innovation. Where

consumer needs are the key driver for innovation. In order to produce user driven

innovation the agent needs to adapt the need from the consumer5. The results of that are

bound to be different whereas the agents are a man or a woman Women entrepreneur’s

can possibly lead to another kind of innovation. Women entrepreneurs are mainly

employed in the service sector that is tourism, ICT, health, social services etc. A common

factor is the great potential of these sectors. Together with creative and new ways of

thinking innovation, involving the consumer and the gender gap the potential in

promoting women entrepreneurs are obvious. Women entrepreneurship receives a great

deal of attention in The OECD and European commission6. They conclude that among

other changing mindsets, adapt policies to allow better family life and work balance by

using specific instruments like tax regulation, allowances, leave provision etc. will

promote women entrepreneurship.

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The paper provides the reader with a view of regional and national initiatives in women

entrepreneurship in the Nordic countries and compares this to American experiences. A

brush up on the discussions and lessons learned from the seminar: Nordic Women

Entrepreneurs” held in Stockholm on the 21st of May 2007, concludes on the discussions

from the seminar in Stockholm focusing on the challenges and possibilities for Women

entrepreneurs. From sets up policy recommendations based upon the different initiatives

in the Nordic countries as well as the lessons learned from the seminar in Stockholm.

5 Nordic Innovation Center has user driven innovation as one of their key interests, see

Call for expressions of interests – Support for User driven Innovation. 6 See the LEED

(Local Economic and employment Development Program, programme launched for 2005

- 2007) from OECD, Gender and economical development (OECD, 2003), BEST-report

on promoting entrepreneurial culture among women (The European Commission, 2004),

The role of women entrepreneurs in local development (OECD, seminar Ljubiana 2003).

Women Entrepreneurship – A Nordic Perspective The paper is presented as in following

order: To draw a baseline on women entrepreneurship the paper outlines the lessons

learned from the seminar being the obstacles and initiatives towards women

entrepreneurship, which are presented in the lessons learned are combined with the small

amount of present data regarding Nordic women entrepreneurship to form the challenges

for enhancing women entrepreneurship. The challenges are presented in chapter 4 and in

succession different Nordic initiatives are presented. Combining the Nordic initiatives

with the challenges the paper presents several recommendations towards initiatives and

programs towards enhancing women entrepreneurship.

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TOPIC DETAIL

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TOPIC DETAIL

Countries enjoy an advantage over those in developing countries in that they have access

to greater support from women mentors and role models and easier access to formal

training in the principles of business planning and organisation. Furthermore, access to

capital and the acceptance of women as business owners and women in the workplace has

dramatically improved (Sherman, 2003). Where women in developed countries do face

obstacles, these are societal and based on old norms. Women entrepreneurs are a driving

force in today’s modern economy. They shape and redefine the workplace, business

networks, financial institutions and culture. There are a number of initiatives designed to

motivate women entrepreneurs. Studies show that the experience of women in business is

different from those of men. There are profound gender differences in both women’s

experiences of business ownership, and the performance of women-owned firms (Carter,

2000). Most of the research on women entrepreneurs, limited largely to women in

developed countries, has tended to concentrate on unique aspects of the entrepreneurship

of women. The studies investigate the demographic characteristics of women (Hisrich

and Brush, 1983; Watkins and Watkins, 1983), their motivations/reasons for startup

(Watkins and Watkins, 1983; Cromie, 1987; Sundin and Holmquist, 1991) and the

constraints/ barriers that women face in starting up. There are few studies that look at

differences in individual characteristics across groups of women (Brush, 1992; Carter and

Cannon, 1992; Pelligrino and Reece, 1982). The research that has been done indicates

that women face different issues, depending on the stage of their personal life cycle

(Kaplan, 1988) region or industry of location (Holmquist and Sundin, 1988), and role

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perceptions in business ownership (Goffee and Scase, 1985). Understanding the different

goals that women have for entrepreneurship in the global context, and the relationship

between these goals and the structural factors that influence women‘s entrepreneurship,

will be of great help to researchers, planners, as well as practitioners working to promote

women entrepreneurs in developing countries, especially on the African continent. This

understanding can lead to the development of an “African paradigm”, more finely tuned

policies and programmes of support for women entrepreneurs.

A BRIEF HISTORY - WOMEN ENTREPRENCURS

In most countries, regions and sectors, the majority of business owner/managers are male

(from 65% to 75%). However, there is increasing evidence that more and more women

are becoming interested in small business ownership and/or actually starting up in

business. In addition, rates of self employment among women are increasing in several

EU countries. Although there are no official statistics relating businesses to the gender of

their owner/manager, there is a good deal of evidence to suggest a significant increase in

female entrepreneurship. One consequence of this is that women are a relatively new

group of entrepreneurs compared with men, which means that they are more likely to run

younger businesses. This in turn has some implications for the problems they face and

their ability to deal with them.

A key issue, therefore, is whether women entrepreneurs face specific problems in setting

up in business that are different from those faced by male-owned businesses. Like young

entrepreneurs, women may have particular problems with raising finance and may have

had less chance than most men to accumulate the confidence, skills and contacts

necessary to start and run a successful business. In addition, gender discrimination by

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finance and support providers, customers or employees may be an issue. Some previous

research has suggested that it is more difficult for women to raise start-up and recurrent

business finance than men and that women are more likely to encounter credibility

problems when dealing with bankers (Carter and Cannon,

1992).

In this context, Carter (2000) has identified four areas of financing that previous research

has noted can pose particular problems for women. Firstly, women may be disadvantaged

in their ability to raise start-up finance. Second, guarantees required for external finance

may be beyond the scope of most women’s personal assets and credit track record. Third,

once a business is established, finance may be more difficult for female entrepreneurs to

raise than for their male counterparts, because of the greater difficulties that women face

in penetrating informal financial networks. Finally, the relationship between female

entrepreneurs and bankers may suffer from sexual stereotyping and discrimination.

Certainly, recent evidence suggests that female entrepreneurs use substantially less

capital at start-up than male owners, although intra-sectoral similarities demonstrate that

gender was only one of a number of variables affecting the business financing process

(Carter and Rosa, 1998).

This chapter utilises the information collected through the survey of support and

membership organisations, and through case studies of 11 female-run businesses, to

investigate these issues.

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Support and membership organisations for women entrepreneurs

Organisations that stated that their primary purpose was to support and/or represent

women entrepreneurs. Fifty six such organisations responded to the survey, 52 from the

EU countries and 4 from the 6 CEE countries covered by the survey.

General support or membership organisations stated that they provided some services

catering for women entrepreneurs. Just under two-fifths of the 586 general organisations

stated that they provided such services: 41% of general business support or membership

organisations in EU countries but only 29% in the CEE).

General support or membership organisations that have a policy specifically

concerning women entrepreneurs. This was the case for 119 organisations (24%). Again,

EU organisations are more likely than those in CEE to have specific policies.

General support or membership organisations that have a specific department, group

or individual dealing with women entrepreneurs. Just under one quarter of organisations,

but only 17% in CEE, had such institutional arrangements.

LIFE AND BUSINESS COACHING FOR WOMEN TREPRENEURS  

Are you wondering if women's business coaching is the right move for you, or if this is

the right time?  Only you can answer that, and to make an informed decision you

should know more about what business coaching can provide for you.

Business coaching for women makes an enormous difference in creating the success you

want, right now, not someday/maybe. There is no need to "get ready" for coaching,

because part of the power of coaching is that it starts with exactly where you are right

now.

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There are only a few reasons why most people don't have the success they dream of. If

you have your own business, or want to start one, small business coaching is the simplest,

most effective and inexpensive way to make the changes and create the strategies you

need to succeed.  Life and business coaching for women entrepreneurs provides a regular

time out, a focused time for you to look at your life and business and see where you are

going, and to get crystal clear about your goals and make a powerful plan for achieving

them.

And here's the best part -- you can explore further if coaching is the right move for you

right now, by scheduling a FREE, no strings attached, exploratory Coaching

Consultation.  The Complimentary Coaching Consultation is an excellent way to find out

how coaching can benefit you and what kind of powerful results you will get from

working with a professional coach.  Call today at 401 338-5551 and we'll schedule your

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WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: A GROWING AND PROMISING HENOMENON

Women entrepreneurs have become increasingly common in the business world. This

IVCJ article examines women's relative advantages as well as some of the obstacles that

persist in today’s business environment.

The topic of women entrepreneurs is of increasing interest to educators, businesspeople

and government officials. Research findings have shown a high positive correlation

between the level of national women’s entrepreneurial activity and growth in gdp,

suggesting that countries that are successful in promoting entrepreneurship among

women could experience a positive impact on economic growth rates. In israel, as in

many other countries, entrepreneurship by women is expanding steadily. There was been

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a rise of 52 percent in the total entrepreneurial activity (tea) index among israeli women

in 2004, compared to 2002, and in contrast to a tea decline of 22 percent among israeli

men during the same period. Israeli women entrepreneurs tend to be married with grown-

up children, educated and achievement motivated, and they generally have high self-

esteem. Women entrepreneurs: the advantages a refreshing new approach to

entrepreneurship by women emphasizes relative advantages of women and how they can

be leveraged into entrepreneurship. There is solid scientific evidence that women, on

average, take a broader perspective than men do, and think contextually and holistically.

They also display more mental flexibility, make more intuitive and imaginative

judgments, and have a greater tendency to plan long term. These female traits are

important tools for entrepreneurs.

As technology changes and globalization and competition accelerate, the business world

is becoming increasingly complex and dynamic. More business leaders and consultants

are drawing away from rewarding the linear, component-by-component atomistic and

focused approach to business that is adequate to masculine thinking, and are now

emphasizing the importance of system thinking that provides a framework for seeing the

whole picture and interrelationships. The feminine propensity to look at business

problems contextually and to concentrate on the whole of the issue rather than its parts, is

more in tune to the preferable system thinking of today. Since businesswomen weigh

more variables, consider more alternatives and outcomes, recall more points of view and

see more ways to proceed, they can bring valuable innovation and creativity to

entrepreneurship.

Women have a penchant for long term planning and the ability to tolerate ambiguity and

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changes better than men do. As competition increases, today’s entrepreneur must be able

to alter plans quickly and frequently. A woman’s innate mental flexibility should be a

valuable planning asset for every venture. A women's talent with words and negotiations

is useful in marketing the vision and product of a new venture to prospective investors,

suppliers and customers. A preference for networking and cooperation with other women

are also helpful in entrepreneurial activity. Women in israel, on average, have more

formal and academic education than israeli men have. This can help in reducing the gap

caused by a long history of subordination of women in the business and military worlds.

Rapidly changing technology should enable even more women to go into business for

themselves – at home. Consequently, the work-family conflict can be minimized.

Women's enterprises are more likely to stay in business. Us businesses owned by women

have a two-year success rate of 80 percent, well over the national average of about 50

percent. Obstacles facing women entrepreneurs despite the empowering approach

presented above, one cannot ignore the fact that women in israel, similar to other

countries, are almost half as likely to be entrepreneurs as men. Why? In pursuing

entrepreneurship, women are impacted by barriers in a similar way that they are affected

by barriers in the labor market. There are internal barriers such as low self-esteem, low

need for achievement and a fear of failure. External barriers include lack of role models,

insufficient institutional and family support, and absence of sufficient management

experience in senior positions. As a result, women have less business skills, fewer

connections and reduced access to formal and informal networks. Women also face

barriers associated with access to capital. Gaining access to appropriate levels of finance

is a challenge to many business owners. However, evidence indicates that women have

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additional disadvantages associated with gender. Some of the reasons stem from

stereotypes created by the masculine mentality in the banking industry. Women are

entering an environment constructed by men, therefore they may be perceived as less

legitimate in the eyes of prospective financial backers.

There is also a growing body of evidence showing how the history of gender

disadvantage in the salaried sector and military spills over into entrepreneurship. It is

argued that continuing subordination in the workplace has constrained the accrual of

social, cultural, human, and financial capital and places limitations upon a woman's

ability to amass personal savings, invest, generate sufficiently attractive credit histories

for lenders, or engage the interest of venture capitalists. Obviously, chronic under-

capitalization and financial constraints will impede the full realization of a woman's

business potential. Those barriers, particularly the financial limitations, contribute to a

propensity to establish firms in poorly performing segments of the service sector, which

struggle to survive and/or grow and reinforces the negative image of women in self-

employment. Summary and onclusions women entrepreneurship is beneficial for women

as well as for the economy. The increasing number of women entrepreneurs can facilitate

economic mobility and self-fulfillment for individuals, promote economic and social

equity, create employment, encourage trade, improve the use of valuable human capital

and bolster national economic prosperity. A new perspective emphasizes the claim that

women don’t have to replicate men’s entrepreneurial experience and the masculine

mentality of “doing business.” Women and investors can see feminine traits and talents as

sources of power with valuable advantages for entrepreneurship. Still, in pursuing

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entrepreneurship, women face many barriers and are exposed to new subordination

phenomena, particularly in financing their ventures.

It seems that free market forces will continue to put women at a disadvantage in the labor

market. Therefore, intervention programs aimed at eliminating the obstacles and

simultaneously leveraging distinct female advantages in entrepreneurship are necessary.

This article appeared in the israel venture capital & private equity journal (ivcj). Ivc

research center publishes the israel venture capital & private equity journal, a quarterly

review of trends and developments in the israeli-related venture capital industry. Ivcj,

distributed worldwide, is dedicated to provide wide-range coverage of israel's venture

capital industry. For more information please visit

FINANCING ESPECIALLY CHALLENGING FOR WOMEN

ENTREPRENEURS

In their Submission to the Prime Minister's Task Force on Women Entrepreneurs (1993),

Women Entrepreneurs of Canada identifies access to capital for women led and women

owned business for development and growth as the number one issue challenging women

entrepreneurs. While women owned and women led businesses provide 1.7 million

jobs in Canada, compared to 1.5 million jobs provided by Canada's top 100 companies,

and women generate approximately 40% of new start up businesses in Canada, and

women owned businesses are still having trouble raising the money they need to start and

grow their businesses.

And because women entrepreneurs are more likely than men to depend on their business

earnings and personal debt for financing, women business owners are being held back

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In the same document, Women Entrepreneurs of Canada points out that 58 percent of

SMEs (Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises) that are majority-owned by women

entrepreneurs are in a slow-growth stage of development - mainly because of a lack of

access to financing. There IS a higher turn down rate for loans to women business

owners, perhaps because women entrepreneurs tend to own and operate smaller firms,

and because women tend to own and operate businesses in slower growth and higher risk

sectors such as retail and service.

The upshot is that women owned SMEs don't have the same access to capital and services

that male owned businesses do. In their Submission to the Prime Minister's Task Force on

Women Entrepreneurs, Women Entrepreneurs of Canada recommends that financial

institutions set and monitor targets to ensure that women entrepreneurs are receiving a

proportionate share of loans. They also recommend that the federal government develop

and implement an economic assistance program to support the financing of SMEs,

particularly for women owned businesses.

FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS TAKE CARE OVER LOCATION

Recent research suggests that women setting up in business for themselves

tend to do so close to home because of family commitments

Where are you going to locate your new business? For many entrepreneurs, the first

office – at least while starting out – is the kitchen table or back room. This is, of

course, fair enough given how difficult it can be to find affordable premises while

your business is still finding its feet.

But where you decide to base your new business can have significant effects on its

growth; studies show that entrepreneurs benefit from setting up near to each other

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and interacting. However, new research by academics at Rotman School of

Management suggests that women in Canada tend to set up their businesses in

areas where there are up to 20 per cent fewer other entrepreneurs operating nearby.

They also tend to choose areas where there is less economic activity overall.

Sometimes this is because women choose to keep their work close to home (the

women studied had commutes an average of 20 per cent shorter than male

entrepreneurs) because of family or caring responsibilities. In other cases it’s

because they feel excluded from business networks dominated by “old boys’

clubs”, leading to a type of gender segregation of enterprise that in turn leads to lost

economic opportunities for the country as a whole, the researchers say.

Tanya Hine, president of the British Association of Women Entrepreneurs

(BAWE), says that the situation is quite different in the UK. Here, women locate

their businesses where there is most demand for their products or services, despite

feeling left out of male business networks. “The majority of our women

entrepreneurs are based in big cities such as London, Birmingham and Sheffield,”

she says. “But we do feel excluded from the old boys’ club. Obviously they have

been at it much longer than we have. They go off together, go to football together

and it’s quite difficult for women to break into that.” However, BAWE represents

women who run good-sized enterprises with employees, rather than sole traders or

those who operate “lifestyle businesses”, where work-life balance is more

important than big profits. Incorporate these second two groups and the picture – at

least as far as a desire to work close to home – is much more similar to the

Canadian model.

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RELATED INTERNET LINKS

Jackie Brierton, the policy director at Prowess, a network of organisations that

supports women entrepreneurs, says that in recent years there has been a significant

growth in the number of self-employed and entrepreneurial women in rural areas:

“The reasons are quite complex but the obvious ones are women choosing to work

nearer home because they have caring responsibilities.”

Rather than missing out on networking opportunities as a result of their gender or

location, they’re setting up their own contact groups to keep in touch. “I think that

women are pretty good at forming their own networks, even though they might

look quite different from old boys’ clubs,” Brierton says.

There’s also the question of finance, says Sally Goodsell, the cheif executive of

Finance South East, a regional funding organisation. While a lifestyle business

brings many benefits and may be exactly what a woman leaving the corporate rat-

race is looking for, women who want to build high-growth businesses will need

monetary backing. “And that is where the lack of financial networks can hold them

back,” Goodsell says. Women entrepreneurs are often very uncomfortable about

borrowing money. They don’t want to ask, and when they do they don’t ask for

enough, she says. “They tend to be very risk-aware and don’t want it to get out of

control.” What’s needed from their finance networks isn’t access to venture

capitalists and business angels so much as support to develop their business plans –

and confidence in asking for money.

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INDIA WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

over the last few years undertaken a range f initiatives to promote and support the

economic empowerment of women. These include the holding of a number of

conferences, the establishment of the Indian Women’s Empowerment Network, and

commissioning of studies looking at the internal operations and

external impact of both the dti and its associated institutions from a gender perspective.

The women’s empowerment thrust has the backing of the top decision-makers in the

department and ministry. As we move forward, working hard towards fasttracking and

advancing women’s economic empowerment, we have realised the importance of having

reliable current information on the status as well as the profile of our women

entrepreneurs. Such information is critical to us and will play a vital role in assisting us to

make a fair assessment of the representation and participation of women in business in

our economy. Many conclusions have been drawn in the past on the status and profile of

Indian women in business, particularly those owning and managing small- to medium-

sized enterprises. Unfortunately, such conclusions are based on

opinions and perceptions of individuals, largely supported and perpetuated by the media.

As a leading economic government department, we believe it is our responsibility to

initiate a process of generating factual, comprehensive and proven data about women

entrepreneurs. This is the main key towards ensuring our programmes encourage the

economic empowerment of women in a more valuable way. We are committed to finding

ways of promoting the economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs, whether they be

small, survivalist operators or businesswomen engaging in larger enterprises. This could

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be achieved, on the one hand, by ensuring that existing programmes take account of

women’s situation. On the other hand,

it might also involve some women-targeted programmes to fast-track empowerment.

Reliable data lies at the center of this. It is the basis for planning successful interventions.

This research report details the outcome of our first literature survey to assess the need

for a much broader indepth study.I trust it provides some light to many of us who want

to make a diffrence out there and grow women entrepreneurship for a prosperous

Indiaeconomy. Lindiwe Hendricks: MP The Former Deputy Minister of Trade and

Industry

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS ARE ILL-EQUIPPED

educationally and financially. Training requires preparation of targets, budgets and

knowledge of business performance. Communication technologies, in some instances,

still contribute towards the negative or degrading portrayal of women (Brohman, 1996;

Cabinet Memorandum, 1996, unpublished; Maistry, 1999; Ndu, 1997). Access to finance

Black women entrepreneurs are denied access to affordable financial services (Brohman,

1996; the dti, 2004; World Bank, 1990). The nature of the many challenges and obstacles

facing women entrepreneurs suggest that their full economic potential is not actualised

and women do not feature on the mainstream of the economic agenda. In summary, the

major constraints on women entrepreneurs in South Africa include: . Social and cultural

barriers; Infrastructural barriers; . Educational and occupational barriers; . Role barriers;

and . Behavioral barriers. (Bolas and Valle, 2003)

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SUPPORT FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Support provisioning for women entrepreneurs includes: . Education from dependency

and entitlement to self-sufficiency and economic growth; . Development/facilitation of

information and communication technologies that bridge the gap between new enterprises

and established businesses; . Establishment of networking links, international

partnerships, community participation and access to national and global markets; .

Development of partnerships between stakeholders (government, private sector, NGOs,

trading partners); . Provision of business skills training, facilitation of business

incubation, mentoring and support services; . Establishment of appropriate changes to

trade, investment and tax policies that promote sustainability and does not stifle the

economic dream of women entrepreneurs; and . Review/changing of regulatory

frameworks that stifle women entrepreneurs and accelerate economic growth (Nasser, du

Preez and Hermann, 2003).

IDENTIFYING POLICY/PROGRAMME MEASURES TO SUPPORT WED

The main objective of the field visits to Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania was toobtain

information that would enable an assessment of the strength of the support environment

for the development of women’s enterprises, particularly topromote future growth. The

application of the integrated framework (Figure 1) was guided in its application by a list

of questions for each of the framework’s component: namely, policy coordination and

leadership; promotion; financing; training and mentoring; business support and

information; associations and networks; premises; regulatory and legal environment; and

research (see Annex 3). The lists of questions that were developed served to highlight

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where gaps existed and where further actions would be required. It should be noted that it

was not expected that any one individual government would be able to answer “yes” to

all of the questions in the list, and several might have to qualify the extent to which

actions were being implemented in particular areas.

Nevertheless, the list provides a useful template for assessing the degree to which women

are taken seriously as a target group for MSE support, and the extent to which integrated

actions are already underway and in place. The outcome of this assessment is a series of

recommendations and good practices specific to each of the three countries, and these

have been itemized in detail in the respective country reports. What follows is a

discussion of the overall observations of the activities found in all of the three countries

as they relate to each of the framework components, along with a summary of the

recommendedactions. It is important to remember that the framework’s components are

interconnected, and that actions may be necessary in each area to affect the desired

changes in the environment for women entrepreneurs generally, and for growthoriented

enterprises specifically.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

“Research Methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem”. It

may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In

research methodology, we not only talk about the research methods but also consider the

logic behind hem methods.

A RESEARCH DESIGN

“Research Design is the plan, structure & survey of investigation conceived so as to

obtain answer to research questions & to control variance.

There are several ways of studying & taking a problem. There is no single perfect

design. Different types of research design have emerged an account of different

perspective from which a research study can be viewed.

DATA COLLECTION

The task of data collection begins after a research for problem is defined & research

design/plan chalked out. While deciding about researcher should keep in mind two types

or data viz: primary & secondary.

The Secondary data can be collected by sources:-

Websites

Magazines

Newspapers

Journals

The main accentuated method is secondary data information from websites magazines,

newspapers and journals.

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FINDING

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FINDING

The educated women do not want to limit their lives in the four walls of the house. They

demand equal respect from their partners. However, Indian women have to go a long way

to achieve equal rights and position because traditions are deep rooted in Indian society.

Despite all the social hurdles, many women have become successful in their works.

These successful women have made name & wealth for themselves with their hard work,

diligence, competence and will power. Following is the list of few top Women

Entrepreneurs in India:

Indra Nooyi

Indian born American businesswoman, Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi born October 28,

1955 is the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PepsiCo, one of the

world's leading food and beverage companies. On August 14, 2006, Nooyi was named

the successor to Steven Reinemund as chief executive officer of the company effective

October 1, 2006. On February 5, 2007, she was named Chairperson, effective May 2,

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2007. Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 and was named president and CFO in 2001. Nooyi

has directed the company's global strategy for more than decade and led PepsiCo's

restructuring, including the 1997 divestiture of its restaurants into Tricon, now known as

Yum! Brands. Nooyi also took the lead in the acquisition of Tropicana in 1998, and

merger with Quaker Oats Company, which also brought Gatorade to PepsiCo. In 2007

she became the fifth CEO in PepsiCo's 44]year history.

Nooyi's key contributions include promoting and supporting socially responsible business

practices, including taking on one of the planet's most pressing problems, climate change.

Her commitment to global citizenship is evidenced by her multi]year growth

strategy, .Performance with Purpose.. Nooyi was named on Wall Street Journal's list of

50 women to watch in 2007 and 2008, and was listed among Time's 100 Most Influential

People in The World in 2007 and 2008. Nooyi has been named 2009 CEO of the Year by

the Global Supply Chain Leaders Group (GSCLG).

Dr. Kiran Mazumdar]Shaw

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Entrepreneur Dr. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman & Managing Director of Bioon Ltd.

She was educated at the Bishop Cotton Girls School and Mount Carmel College in

Bangalore. She founded Biocon India with a capital of Rs.10,000 in her garage in 1978

the initial operation was to extract an enzyme from papaya. Her application for loans

were turned down by banks then on three counts biotechnology was then a new word,

thecompany lacked assets, and (most importantly) women entrepreneurs were still a

rarity. Today, her company is the biggest biopharmaceutical firm in the country. to take

charge of the company.

Entrepreneur Dr. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman & Managing Director of Bioon Ltd.

She was educated at the Bishop Cotton Girls School and Mount Carmel College in

Bangalore.

She founded Biocon India with a capital of Rs.10,000 in her garage in 1978 the initial

operation was to extract an enzyme from papaya. Her application for loans were turned

down by banks then on three counts biotechnology was then a new word, thecompany

lacked assets, and (most importantly) women entrepreneurs were still a rarity. Today, her

company is the biggest biopharmaceutical firm in the country.

In 2004, Biocon went for an IPO and the issue was over]subscribed by over 30 times.

$ 480 million).

Anu Aga

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This woman became the Chairperson of Thermax Engineering after the death of her

husband Rohinton Aga. The company’s condition was critical at that time. Its share price

dipped to Rs. 36 from Rs. 400. Anu Aga, the then Director of Human Resource,

Thermax, was compelled to take charge of the company.

In order to make the company profitable, she brought a consultant from abroad and

restructured the company. The strategy worked and the company saw profit again. She

stepped down from the post of chairperson in 2004. Now, she spends most of her time in

social activities. Bombay Management Association awarded her Management Woman

Achiever of the Year Award 2002]2003. After retiring from Thermax, she took to social

work, and 2010 was awarded the Padma Shri (Social Work) by Govt. of India.

Sulajja Firodia Motwani

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Sulajja Firodia Motwani is Joint Managing Director of Kinetic Engineering Ltd, she is

the in charge of the Company’s overall business developmental activities. She is also

very well performing the role of the Director of Kinetic Motor Company Limited and

Kinetic Marketing Services Limited. She as made an incredible contribution in making

the firm reach heights of success.

Prior to joining Kinetic Company, Sulajja worked for a period of four years with a well

known investment analytics company, BARRA International, based in California. She

has been an active participant in setting the operations of the company in India.

Throughout her studies, she has been a rank holder. She has always cleared exams with

merit. Her name appeared in the toppers list in the SSC examinations and HSC

examinations. She graduated from the Pune University. Thereafter, she went to the

United States for pursuing further studies. She is an MBA degree holder from the reputed

Carnegie Mellon University at Pittsburgh.

She is an epitome of boldness and courage. With her strong determination and courage,

she has been able to establish a niche for the firm in the business world. The Company

has witnessed tremendous expansion during her tenure. From being a mere moped

manufacturer, today, it has set its foothold in the industry as a manufacturer offering a

complete range of two wheelers right from mopeds, scooters to motorcycles.

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Ekta Kapoor

Ekta Kapoor, creative head of Balajji Telefilms, is the daughter of actor Jeetendra, and

sister of actor Tushar Kapoor. She has been synonymous with the rage of soap operas on

Indian TV, after her most famous venture 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi', which

started airing on STAR Plus in 2000. Ekta dominates Indian television, producing more

than eight television soaps. At the 6th Indian Telly Awards 2006, she bagged the Hall of

Fame award for her contributions. Most of her creations begin with the letter'K' due to

her superstition that it brings her good luck.

She is `a smart woman with a definite agenda` and has also been appropriately termed as

Asia`s most powerful communicator and the lady no.1 in Hindi serials and movies

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Simone Tata

With her visions, she changed a small unknown cosmetics company, one of the

subsidiaries of Tata Oil Mills, into one of the leading cosmetic companies of India.

Lakme changed the face of Indian fashion and cosmetics forever. For her success,

Simone N. Tata is also known as Cosmetic Czarina of India. Simone joined Lakme in

1961 and became Chairperson in 1982.

Eyeing growth in the retails sector, in 1996 Tata sold off Lakmé to Hindustan Lever

Limited (HLL), and created Trent from the money it made through the sale. All

shareholders of Lakmé were given, quivalent share in Trent. The Westside brand and

stores belongs to Trent.Simone Tata was the wife of late Naval H. Tata and is stepmother

to current Tata group chairman Sri Ratan Naval Tata.

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Vidya Manohar Chhabria

The wife of late Manohar Rajaram Chhabria, is now leading Jumbo Group, a Dubai based

$1.5 billion business conglomerate. She became chairperson of the company after the

death of her husband in 2002. She runs the business with the help of her three daughters.

She was ranked 38th most powerful women by the Fortune magazine in 2003.

The interests of the Jumbo Group include consumer electronics and durables, tyres and

tubes, brewing and distilling products, chemicals, machinery and equipment. The group's

Indian companies have interests in brewing and supply]chain management.

She manages to also attend to household chores and spend time with her daughters. A

great lover of Indian cuisine and music, at present, her dream is to develop Jumbo as a

focused global entity.

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Priya Paul

Priya Paul (born 1967), is a prominent woman entrepreneur of India, and currently the

Chairperson of Appeejay The Park Hotels chain of boutique hotels. She joined the

company, after finishing her studies in Economics at the Wellesley College (US) working

under her father, as Marketing Manager at the Park Hotel, Delhi, at the age of 22. After

the death of Surrendra Paul, she succeeded him in 1990 as the Chairperson of the

Hospitality Division of the Apeejay Surendra Group.Her contributions to industry and

commerce, particularly in the field of Hospitality Industry have been repeatedly

recognized and she has received several awards and citations, including the following:

• The Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India conferred on her Young

Entrepreneur of the Year award (1999]2000),

• She was nominated for The Economic Times Awards as the Businessperson of the year

(2002]2003), and

• UK’s Tatler magazine rated The Park (Bangalore, India), a part of her Group, as one of

the 101 Best Hotel Worldwide in 2003.

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Women Entrepreneurs may be defined as the women or a group of women who initiate,

organize and operate a business enterprise. Government of India has defined women

entrepreneurs as an enterprise owned and controlled by a women having a minimum

financial interest of 51% of the capital and giving at least 51% of employment generated

in the enterprise to women. Like a male entrepreneurs a women entrepreneur has many

functions. They should explore the prospects of starting new enterprise; undertake risks,

introduction of new innovations, coordination administration and control of business and

providing effective leadership in all aspects of business. Push-Pull factors and Women in

business

Women in business are a recent phenomenon in India. By and large they had confide

themselves to petty business and tiny cottage industries. Women entrepreneurs engaged

in business due to push and pull factors. Which encourage women to have an independent

occupation and stands on their on legs. A sense towards independent decision-making on

their life and career is the motivational factor behind this urge. Saddled with household

chores and domestic responsibilities women want to get independence Under the

influence of these factors the women entrepreneurs choose a profession as a challenge

and as an urge to do some thing new. Such situation is described as pull factors. While in

push factors women engaged in business activities due to family compulsion and the

responsibility is thrust upon them. Problems of Women Entrepreneurs in India Women in

India are faced many problems to get ahead their life in business. A few problems cane

be detailed as; 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

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way towards business success. Male members think it a big risk financing the ventures

run by women.

2. The financial institutions are skeptical 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 HRD India), "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.

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

nations have little access to funds, due to the fact that they are concentrated in poor rural

communities with few opportunities to borrow money (Starcher, 1996; UNIDO, 1995a).

The women entrepreneurs are suffering from inadequate financial resources and working

capital. The women entrepreneurs lack access to external funds due to their inability to

provide tangible security. Very few women have the tangible property in hand.

4. Women's family obligations also bar them from becoming successful entrepreneurs in

both developed and developing nations. "Having primary responsibility for children,

home and older dependent family members, few women can devote all their time and

energies to their business" (Starcher, 1996, p.The financial institutions discourage women

entrepreneurs on the belief that they can at any time leave their business and become

housewives again.

5. Indian women give more emphasis to family ties and relationships. Married women

have to make a fine balance between business and home. More over the business success

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is depends on the support the family members extended to women in the business process

and management. The interest of the family members is a determinant factor in the

realization of women folk business aspirations.

6. Another argument is that women entrepreneurs have low-level management skills.

They have to depend on office staffs and intermediaries, to get things done, especially,

the marketing and sales side of business. Here there is more probability for business

fallacies like the intermediaries take major part of the surplus or profit. Marketing means

mobility and confidence in dealing with the external world, both of which women have

been discouraged from developing by social conditioning. Even when they are otherwise

in control of an enterprise, they often depend on males of the family in this area.

7. The male - female competition is another factor, which develop hurdles to women

entrepreneurs in the business management process. Despite the fact that women

entrepreneurs are good in keeping their service prompt and delivery in time, due to lack

of organisational skills compared to male entrepreneurs women have to face constraints

from competition. The confidence to travel across day and night and even different

regions and states are less found in women compared to male entrepreneurs. This shows

the low level freedom of expression and freedom of mobility of the women

entrepreneurs.

8. Knowledge of alternative source of raw materials availability and high negotiation

skills are the basic requirement to run a business. Getting the raw materials from different

souse with discount prices is the factor that determines the profit margin. Lack of

knowledge of availability of the raw materials and low-level negotiation and bargaining

skills are the factors, which affect women entrepreneur's business adventures.

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9. Knowledge of latest technological changes, know how, and education level of the

person are significant factor that affect business. The literacy rate of women in India is

found at low level compared to male population. Many women in developing nations lack

the education needed to spur successful entrepreneurship. They are ignorant of new

technologies or unskilled in their use, and often unable to do research and gain the

necessary training (UNIDO, 1995b, p.1). Although great advances are being made in

technology, many women's illiteracy, strucutural difficulties, and lack of access to

technical training prevent the technology from being beneficial or even available to

females ("Women Entrepreneurs in Poorest Countries," 2001). According to The

Economist, this lack of knowledge and the continuing treatment of women as second-

class citizens keeps them in a pervasive cycle of poverty ("The Female Poverty Trap,"

2001). The studies indicates that uneducated women donot have the knowledge of

measurement and basic accounting.

10. Low-level risk taking attitude is another factor affecting women folk decision to get

into business. Low-level education provides low-level self-confidence and self-reliance to

the women folk to engage in business, which is continuous risk taking and strategic

cession making profession. Investing money, maintaining the operations and ploughing

back money for surplus generation requires high risk taking attitude, courage and

confidence. Though the risk tolerance ability of the women folk in day-to-day life is high

compared to male members, while in business it is found opposite to that.

11. Achievement motivation of the women folk found less compared to male members.

The low level of education and confidence leads to low level achievement and

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advancement motivation among women folk to engage in business operations and

running a business concern.

12. Finally high production cost of some business operations adversely affects the

development of women entrepreneurs. The installation of new machineries during

expansion of the productive capacity and like similar factors dissuades the women

entrepreneurs from venturing into new areas.

HOW TO DEVELOP WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS?

Right efforts on from all areas are required in the development of women entrepreneurs

and their greater participation in the entrepreneurial activities. Following efforts can be

taken into account for effective development of women entrepreneurs.

1. Consider women as specific target group for all developmental programmes.

2. Better educational facilities and schemes should be extended to women folk from

government part.

3. Adequate training programme on management skills to be provided to women

community.

4. Encourage women's participation in decision-making.

5. Vocational training to be extended to women community that enables them to

understand the production process and production management.

6. Skill development to be done in women's polytechnics and industrial training

institutes. Skills are put to work in training-cum-production workshops.

7. Training on professional competence and leadership skill to be extended to women

entrepreneurs.

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8. Training and counselling on a large scale of existing women entrepreneurs to remove

psychological causes like lack of self-confidence and fear of success.

9. Counselling through the aid of committed NGOs, psychologists, managerial experts

and technical personnel should be provided to existing and emerging women

entrepreneurs.

10. Continuous monitoring and improvement of training programmes.

Activities in which women are trained should focus on their marketability and

profitability.

11. Making provision of marketing and sales assistance from government part.

12. To encourage more passive women entrepreneurs the Women training programme

should be organised that taught to recognize her own psychological needs and

express them.

13. State finance corporations and financing institutions should permit by statute to

extend purely trade related finance to women entrepreneurs.

14. Women's development corporations have to gain access to open-ended financing.

15. The financial institutions should provide more working capital assistance both for

small scale venture and large scale ventures.

16. Making provision of micro credit system and enterprise credit system to the women

entrepreneurs at local level.

17. Repeated gender sensitisation programmes should be held to train financiers to treat

women with dignity and respect as persons in their own right.

18. Infrastructure, in the form of industrial plots and sheds, to set up industries is to be

provided by state run agencies.

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19. Industrial estates could also provide marketing outlets for the display and sale of

products made by women.

20. A Women Entrepreneur's Guidance Cell set up to handle the various problems of

women entrepreneurs all over the state.

Independence brought promise of equality of opportunity in all sphere to the Indian

women and laws guaranteeing for their equal rights of participation in political process

and equal opportunities and rights in education and employment were enacted. But

unfortunately, the government sponsored development activities have benefited only a

small section of women. The large majority of them are still unaffected by change and

development activities have benefited only a small section of women i.e. the urban

middle class women. The large majority of them are still unaffected by change and

development. The reasons are well sighted in the discussion part of this article. It is

hoped that the suggestions forwarded in the article will help the entrepreneurs in

particular and policy-planners in general to look into this problem and develop better

schemes, developmental programmes and opportunities to the women folk to enter into

more entrepreneurial ventures. This article here tries to recollect some of the successful

women entrepreneurs like Ekta Kapoor, Creative Director, Balaji Telefilms, Kiran

Mazumdar Shaw, CEO, Biocon, Shahnaz Husain and Vimalben M Pawale, Ex President,

Sri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad (SMGULP).

Microcredit helps women entrepreneurs in India With Loans, Poor South Asian Women

Turn Entrepreneurial By CRIS PRYSTAY Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET

JOURNALPage B1May 25, 2005 CHERVUANNARAM, India -- Every morning,

Sarjoni Nandyala puts a few bars of Unilever PLC's Lifebuoy soap and sachets of Clinic

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shampoo in a canvas bag and sets off to sell them to her neighbors in this dusty farming

village in southeastern India. For Mrs. Nandyala, who took out a $200 loan from a state-

run microcredit agency to start her business, the work is challenging and the returns

modest -- $16 a month is her average profit. But Hindustan Lever Ltd., Unilever's Indian

subsidiary, is counting on thousands of women like 40-year-old Ms. Nandyala to sell

more goods to tens of millions of low-income rural consumers it couldn't reach before.

Today, about 13,000 poor women are selling Unilever's products in 50,000 villages in

India's 12 states and account for about 15% of the company's rural sales in those states.

Overall, rural markets account for about 30% of Hindustan Lever's revenue. "There's

incredible potential in rural markets," says Sharat Dhall, Hindustan Lever's director of

new ventures and marketing services. "That's where the growth will come from." And

that is where the microcredit connection comes in. Microcredit blossomed in South Asia

in the early 1990s, when development agencies began giving loans of $100 or so to poor

women to help alleviate rural poverty. Villagers used the money to make handicrafts, buy

cattle or seeds and fertilizers to expand family farms. In India and Bangladesh, state

governments eager to boost local incomes got in on the act, as did private banks, which

found that repayment rates were high enough to make microlending profitable.

Development agency CARE International, for example, has hooked up Canadian shoe

maker Bata Ltd. with its microcredit clients in Bangladesh, who now sell inexpensive

flip-flops and sandals in villages that Bata can't otherwise reach. And Max New York

Life Insurance Co. Ltd., a joint venture of New York Life Insurance Co. and Max India

Ltd., has created co-branded insurance products with CARE India that are sold through

the nongovernmental organization's microcredit clients. Hindustan Lever, meanwhile, has

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expanded its own program into Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and its African units plan to

adopt it by next year. About 70% of India's population lives in villages, but many

companies still focus on urban areas, where competition is intensifying as the economy

expands and profit margins are thin. "For many fast-moving consumer good companies,

the bottom of the pyramid is not marginal anymore -- that's where the market is," says

C.K. Prahalad, a professor at the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of

Business, Ann Arbor, Mich., and an author of several books on rural marketing. "It's not

about making cheap stuff, or being nice to poor people. Western markets are saturated."

When executives at Hindustan Lever were plotting how best to reach untouched markets

in rural India in 1999, they noticed that dozens of agencies were lending microcredit

funds to poor women all over the country. These would-be microentrepreneurs, the

company thought, needed businesses to run. So Hindustan Lever approached the Andhra

Pradesh state government in 2000 and asked for access to clients of a state-run

microlending program. The government agreed to a small pilot project that quickly grew.

The initiative, dubbed Project Shakti (which means strength in Hindi), has expanded to

12 states. Agencies such as CARE India, which oversees one of the subcontinent's

biggest microcredit programs, also have teamed up with the company. "For the women, it

provides a livelihood," says Hindustan Lever's Mr. Dhall. "For us, it is a great one-to-one

medium for brand communication and consumer education." When one of Mrs.

Nandyala's neighbors, who used a knock-off soap called Likebuoy that comes in the same

red packaging as Unilever's Lifebuoy brand, balked at paying an extra rupee (about two

U.S. cents) for the real thing, Mrs. Nandyala gave her a free bar to try. A skin rash caused

by the fake soap cleared up after a few days, and the neighbor converted to Lifebuoy.

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When another neighbor asked why she should pay more for Unilever's Wheel detergent

than a locally made bar of laundry soap, Mrs. Nandyala asked her to bring a bucket and

water and some dirty clothes. "I washed the clothes right in front of her to show how it

worked," she says.

Project Shakti women aren't Hindustan Lever employees. But the company helps train

them and provides local marketing support. In Chervuannaram, a Hindustan Lever

employee, who visits every few months, demonstrates before a gathering of 100 people

how soap cleans hands better than water alone. Dressed in a hospital-style smock, she

rubs two volunteers' hands with white powder, then asks one to wash it off with water

alone and the other to use soap. She shines a purple ultraviolet light on their hands,

highlighting the specks of white that remain on the woman who skipped the soap. As the

crowd chatters, the Hindustan Lever worker pulls Mrs. Nandyala to the front of the hall,

and tells the crowd she has got plenty of soap to sell. Mrs. Nandyala wasn't always

comfortable with her new, public role. She first applied for a microloan from a

government-run agency to buy fertilizer and new tools for her family's small lentil farm

four years ago. In 2003, the agency introduced her to a Hindustan Lever sales director

from a nearby town. She took out another $200 loan to buy sachets of soap, toothpaste

and shampoo -- but was too shy to peddle them door to door. So a regional Hindustan

Lever sales director accompanied Mrs. Nandyala and demonstrated how to pitch the

products. Mrs. Nandyala has repaid her start-up microloan and hasn't needed to take

another one. Today, she sells regularly to about 50 homes, and even serves as a

miniwholesaler, stocking tiny shops in outlying villages a short bus ride from her own.

She sells about $230 of goods each month, earning about $16 in profit. The rest is used to

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restock products. Hindustan Lever says it isn't making much profit from Project Shakti

yet, because of support, marketing and other start-up costs. Still, the distribution gambit

pays for itself and it is growing. The company aims to expand Project Shakti to 40,000

rural women by 2006. Project Shakti could account for as much as 25% of the company's

total rural sales within the next three to five years, Mr. Dhall says. For NGOs, such

commercial link-ups have meant shedding distrust of big business. "At first we were

unsure about it," says Vipin Sharma, director of CARE India. "But in the long run, we

think the poor will benefit from learning about retailing, distribution and marketing."

CARE, meanwhile, hopes to use Hindustan Lever's marketing expertise to promote other

small, rural businesses. In one state, Hindustan Lever agreed to help create packaging and

branding for pickles and spices made by a local group of CARE's microentrepreneurs.

Those women now sell their own brand of spice, called Jyoti, alongside Hindustan

Lever's products.

ERT: What are the most important services a women’s business association should

provide its members ?MRS. AGGARWAL: The most important service we provide is

counseling because most of the time women don’t know where to start or what kind of

enterprise they should take up. So our main thrust is to guide them towards making a

decision based on their situation; in other words, assessing the kind of environment they

are in or the kind of family support they have. Based on this information we try to help

them identify options and make a decision. Second, we try to see that most of the women

get help with the formalities required by the government and with acquiring financing.

Government purchases are important to many businesses and learning how to tender

offers to the government is important to their success. For example, someone may have a

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tailoring shop but doesn’t know how to sell its services to the military. We try to help

them out in filling out the tenders, getting their organization registered, etc. It’s a form of

marketing support. Training programs are another service we provide. There are women

running very small enterprises who don’t even have the most basic level of business

know-how. In India, the Ministry of Industry has established the Small Industries’

Institute that has facilities in all themajor cities where women (and men) can get training

on manufacturing agricultural products, jewelry, and other products.We assist women

entrepreneurs to obtain training at these government-owned facilities, as well as at others

established by some private companies. Fourth, women often are not able to get the

information they need to run their businesses.We provide it to them because often their

involvement in family affairs is so great that they do not have time or they are not able to

gain access to information they need for their businesses.We also encourage them to

come least two or three times to one of our local chapters and interact with other

members. Newsletters are also an important means of providing essential information to

our membership. We find it useful to ask members for different topics and ideas for our

newsletter. ERT: How is the Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs (FIWE)

structured and what are its goals?

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CONCLUSION

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CONCLUSION

India is brimming with the success stories of women. They stand tall

from the rest of the crowd and are applauded for their achievements in

their respective field. These women leaders are assertive, persuasive

and willing to take risks. They managed to survive and succeed in this

cut throat competition with their hard work, diligence and

perseverance.

Ability to learn quickly from her abilities, her persuasiveness, open

style of problem solving, willingness to take risks and chances, ability

to motivate people, knowing how to win and lose gracefully are the of

the Indian women entrepreneurs.

In a recent survey it is revealed that the female entrepreneurs from

India are generating more wealth than the women in any part of the

world. The basic qualities required for entrepreneurs and the basic

characters of Indian women, reveal that, much potential is available

among the Indian women on their entrepreneurial ability. This potential

is to be recognized, brought out and exposed for utilization in

productive and service sectors for the development of the nation.

Support needs of women entrepreneurs

Specialist organisations representing and/or providing support to women entrepreneurs

were asked to suggest what types of policy assistance might be of greatest benefit to their

clients or members. In addition, they were asked to state whether they thought that the

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need for support in different areas was greater than the needs of small businesses in

general. Respondents were given a number of options to choose from, and also had the

opportunity to suggest policies or initiatives that were not listed on the questionnaire.

Finally, respondents were asked to put forward what they felt to be the main success

factors in the provision of support for women entrepreneurs.

Case study interviews with women entrepreneurs also explored their perceptions of the

types of support that might be most helpful for them in addressing the issues and

problems that they are facing.

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LIMITATIONS

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LIMITATIONS

During the winter training research the researcher came across the following limitations-:

The time period was very short.

The data collected for the report is secondary which can be modified as per the

requirements.

The verification and purity of report data cannot be promised.

The required stuff can be drawn from various journals that are not updated so

may be current records cannot be fetched from them.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Bruni. A, Gherardi. S, & Poggio. B. (2004). Entrepreneur-Mentality, Gender and

the Study of Women Entrepreneurs. Journal of Organizational Change

Management. Vol. 17 No. 3. (pp. 256-268). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

2. Buttner. E. H. & Moore. D. P. (1997) Women’s Organizational Exodus to

Entrepreneurship: Self-Reported Motivations and Correlates with Success.

Journal of Small Business Management. (pp. 34-46).

3. Gundry. L. K., Ben-Yoseph. M., & Posig. M. (2002). Contemporary Perspectives

on Women’s Entrepreneurship: A Review and Strategic Recommendations.

4. Journal of Enterprising Culture. Vol. 10, No. 1 (pp. 67-86).

5. Helms. M. (1997) Women and Entrepreneurship: The Appealing Alternative.

Business Perspectives. Vol. 10, i1 (pp. 16-19). Gale Group – Information

Integrity.

6. Weiler. S. & Bernasek. A. (2001) Dodging the Glass Ceiling? Networks and the

New Wave of Women Entrepreneurs. The Social Science Journal, 38, (pp.85-

103). Elsevier Science Inc.

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