Issues and Challenges for Women Entrepreneurs in India

Lesley Gillespie, the cofounder of Australia’s most successful bakery, Baker’s Delight, has shown many, if not all, of the traits required to be a successful entrepreneur, and is now on the BRW Rich Women 2015 list. In an equal partnership with husband Roger, her position as joint chief executive puts her on the list of a minority of business owned by women, especially in the 1980’s when Bakers Delight was opened. Though she has said that she has not faced many barriers to being a woman in business, apart from a few instances, a woman would likely not have made it to be so successful without focus, thinking of those around her, passion, self motivation and without being a hard worker, all of which are traits required to be an entrepreneur.

In the world today, women have a say in what they want to do and things that they desire to do. Back in the day, before the 1800’s, women had to be submissive to their male counterparts and do according to what was required of them. In the end, this led to the demeaning of the woman and the concept that women were inferior to men. Even though this concept and perception changed, there have been some countries and regions of the world that have not yet recognized the equality that women deserve. Such areas do not allow women to vote, attend school, have a say in the community, and the women are at the mercy of their husbands, fathers or male superiors (Hartmann, Susan M).

These women, although they lived in a third world country, have the skill and gumption to go into business for themselves, and “be their own boss”. In the United States, more women have the ability

More middle- and upper-class females now go to work, although they are still generally relegated to clerical or support positions. However, women are increasingly becoming doctors, dentists, or teachers. When this will carry over into the business world remains to be

A recent survey by Catalyst says Indian women hold only 9.5% of all board seats in BSE 200 companies. Indian companies who want to promote women have very little talent left to choose from. The incongruity of fewer women continues with "the higher, the fewer" phenomenon or the leaky pipeline metaphor.

There have been groups of women though out history that have acknowledged that not everyone is born equal and has a fair voice. In 1919, The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) held a conference in Zurich, Switzerland. Some of the things that they examined were women’s equality, women’s marriage rights and their kin, economic efforts, and peace and liberty for all people. In the past 97 years since the conference, there has been a great deal of progress in equal rights for all women. While there has been progress there is still more work to be done for women’s rights. Looking back since 1919 we can see how far women have come and still have to go today in our culture.

The problem is that the entire legal, economic and productive system is still dominated by men, and they see women as threats, more than competition, to their traditional business activities (Silva,,2016). A Male dominated society believes that women are only born to reproduce and take care of the household as well as making sure, the man is taken care of in all the possible

In the last year and a half, there has been a tremendous outcome with the program; over 90 women have been trained with great achievement. Seventy of them have either started their own company, become managers, or bookkeepers. The other 20 have gone back to school to get degrees in marketing, finance, or a related field. In the past year, 35 women have started their own business in all sorts of areas from cafes, bow shops, coffee shops, bookstores, and so many other wonderful places. The U.S. Bureau of Labor claims that 75% of new businesses survive the first year and 69% survive the second. So far all of the new businesses are staying strong and successful. Since many of these women are doing this for the first time they do not have a lot

There are many research studies that have been performed to establish the work-family equilibrium phenomena. This type of research establishes the topics of “the changes in the organization of work, family, and gender relations that occurred in the latter half of the 20th century and continue today” (Wharton 2012, p. 221). Work-family studies analyze the sociological push factors that influence women decision to enter the workforce and work for somebody else’s companies, but it does not establish the options of self-employment and its consequences.

19). This can help future generations of women in starting to be more respected in the business place while giving young men a chance to work with women in a business setting to make it less of an uncommon occurrence. This is not going against their culture per se in that women are striving for their equality in the country already, but is offering these opportunities for growth in these areas.

"Look at women in business today, and you see a distinct new generation of Entrepreneurs. They are experienced, educated and have an appetite for growth." – Julie Weeks, Director of Research, Center for Women's

Without economic opportunities and freedom women remain impoverished and are unable to secure any type of social mobility. According to statistics from the UN, “‘poverty has a women’s face’ and that 70 per cent of the world’s poor were female… poverty is lack of income, but it also consists of lack of access to services and opportunities for human development, lack of a voice in political life and decision making, and social subordination and exclusion” (Bhat 639). When women have access to financial security they can improve their quality of life, their newfound economic independence allows them to create a new lifestyle where they will not be disappointed by unreliable people. Veever’s speech uses specific stories to highlight the importance of investing in women so they can feel successful and independent. Zora Rakhmatullaeva was a disabled woman who used to sit at home feeling useless, but when she was given the opportunity to create a viable business she gained confidence in her ability to do something productive. She is now the head of the Association of Business Disabled Women demonstrating how investing in women results in important social and economic mobility for vulnerable women (Veever 1).

The increase of the number of women entering the workplace, especially those issued from higher education has resulted in a movement of change within businesses,

Another trait possessed by successful women entrepreneurs is persistence. Starting a business is one thing; but sticking to the entrepreneurial process is another. Nothing good comes easy; you must give a good fight and persist on what you want; if you are to really achieve success in the business world. Without persistence, I don’t think you can become a successful business woman.

The study is based on a random sample survey of 275 micro entrepreneurs, conducted in four different slums of Mumbai namely Sathenagar, Dharavi, Vasinaka and Chithacamp. We have used structured questionnaire for the collection of data. Randomly 27 micro enterprises from Sathenagar, 73 micro enetrprises from Dharavi, 24 from Vasinaka and 151 from Chithacamp have been collected. Vasinaka and Dharavi are examples of developed slums and rest are marginalized slums. Mumbai is a place in India which is known as financial capital of India and which provides employment opportunities to a large number of people. So several people have migrated from various parts of India to Mumbai and have taken refuge in the slums of Mumbai. Out of these 275 entrepreneurs, 118 have migrated from other parts of India and 157 are from Mumbai. Generally migration took place due to marriage, or for work purpose of any other member of the family. But it is observed that almost all of the migrated entrepreneurs have migrated more than ten years ago.