Entrepreneurship is a herculean task enveloped with risks and struggles. Only an entrepreneur can understand the trials and triumphs, their breed goes through. Some of the challenges are common to all entrepreneurs, irrespective of their gender. However, there is a distinct set of factors that handicaps the growth of womentrepreneurs. In this patriarchal society, identity of a woman is based on her relationships and the way she nurtures her family. These social norms come at a heavy cost: A woman’s dreams, ambitions and desires. Over the past decade there has been a steady growth in the number of women entrepreneurs, but it’s very slow. Let’s read about a few barriers that women have to overcome to achieve success, which are also the reasons for womentrepreneurs: So few, why?
Socio-Cultural Atmosphere
Patriarchal Society
Our stereotype society personifies women as Goddess Durga. Alas hypocrisy! When it comes to where women stand in the society, it’s never at par but always below men. Our culture relates women with hearth and home. Their roles are confined to being wives, mothers and daughters. Sadly, they think if a woman is empowered it renders a man powerless. This keeps women away from formal education.
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Illiteracy
Illiteracy is one of the biggest obstacles which, chains the growth of women. Absence of proper education leads to lack in skills and knowledge. This results in women not being aware and lacking the required confidence in building an enterprise. Educated and well informed women can get acknowledged for their struggles irrespective of the challenges and obstacles that the society thrusts on them.
Family Support
Family support is the greatest motivator for a woman entrepreneur, setting up her new enterprise. Mostly, Indian families are orthodox. Neither do they appreciate the decision of a woman to start her very own venture nor do they believe in her entrepreneurial capabilities. This scares a woman she thinks, she will not be able to maintain a balance between her work and family. Lack of family support hinders a woman from going out and generating income.
Balance between Work and Home
Maintaining a work and personal life balance is tough for all entrepreneurs. Women, however have to struggle more. Women are multi-taskers. This is a well celebrated fact. But, when you are struggling with your enterprise you are bound to be less entertaining towards your family. This is expected from the males in the family. But, god forbid!, a woman once fails to fulfill her family needs she becomes a not-so-suitable wife and daughter-in-law. This fear of imbalance demotivates a woman.
Women: Not to be taken Seriously!
Investors, workers, everyone takes women for granted. A woman might come up with the next revolutionary, million dollar business plan. She will still not be taken seriously. Males have a tendency to believe women lack in skills and brains. Women now believe they have to think eat, work, and behave like a man to be taken seriously. People have a tendency to think, “Oh! You are the CEO, definitely your father/husband invested in your project.” or “The backbone of this enterprise is some male!” At every step a woman has to prove herself, her ideas, managerial skills and capabilities.
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Lack of Exposure
Women lack education, forget about career guidance. They have absolutely no idea about the opportunities in the field of business. They do not have access to technology. Lack of exposure and information terrifies a woman. It restricts her from testing her true potential as an entrepreneur.
An Everyday Battle: Receiving Finance
If we say that the society isn’t a sexist one, and a woman has successfully started her own start-up. What happens when money needs to be raised? Women entrepreneurs have less access to finance as compared to their male counterparts. Venture capitalists perceive that women are less competent as compared to men. While granting finances or loans to a man apart from degree of innovation only risk calculation is done. But, for women apart from aforesaid capitalists try to judge her skills and success abilities just because she is a woman. They are more interested in knowing how she will juggle work with her family or are her in-laws supportive. This discrimination is one of the major reasons why we see so few women entrepreneurs.
Lack of Self-Confidence
Be it illiteracy, lack of skills or no family/society support whatsoever, all this leads to lack of self-confidence. Every time a woman is forced to prove her abilities her self-confidence decreases. A women is continuously grilled for her ideas, funding, working methods, managerial skills, etc. All this demotivates her. Instead of boosting her confidence, she is constantly given a reality check that she is a woman and she is inferior in her skills. This reduces her self confidence to such a level that she herself doubts her skills as a womentrepreneur.
Also Read: Yes, I am a woman and I dare to dream big!
Risk Taking
Women tend to withdraw, exhibiting low risk-taking abilities. From their childhood women see money matters and decisions to be handled by male heads of the family. They are accustomed to men taking the decisions be it financial or otherwise. Women thus are socialized to being more soft-spoken and reserved. Thus, investors find men to have more risk-taking and leadership traits.
Oddly, Safety
Womentrepreneurs’ biggest challenge is their safety. Crime rates have increased alarmingly. They face the decision of possibly risking their lives while working late hours. When they attend a seminar, the number of womentrepreneurs is very few. This less number scares a lady she is threatened of her security and thus women prefer to rather not work.
Women need the urge, determination and passion to overcome all the obstacles. The society has changed, but the change is very slow. It’s a long journey for women to be accepted at par. However, one should keep this fact in mind that, the economy, GDP of a developing country like India, will only increase when both the genders work hand in hand. Thus, the society should motivate more womentrepreneurs.
