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A research project report submitted in partial

fulfilment of
BACHELOR OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
A STUDY OF FACTORS INFLUENCING
MOTIVATION AND SUCCESS
(WITH REFERENCE TO AGRA DISTRICT)

By
Manish Sujanani (137513)

Under the supervision of


Prof. Shalini Nigam
Department of Management
Faculty of Social Sciences
Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra

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DAYALBAGH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE
DAYALBAGH, AGRA (U.P.)

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project entitled Women


Entrepreneurship: A study of factors influencing
motivation and success (with reference to Agra
district) submitted by Manish Sujanani (137513) for the
partial fulfilment of the award of Bachelor of Business
Management (Honours) degree of Dayalbagh Educational
Institute, Agra, embodies work done by him and has been
completed under mu supervision.

Dr. Shalini Nigam


Professor
Department of Management
Faculty of Social Sciences
Dayalbagh Educational Institute
Agra (U.P.)
DECLARATION

The project titled Women Entrepreneurship: A study of


factors influencing motivation and success (with
reference to Agra district) which is being submitted to the
Department of Management, Faculty of Social Sciences,
Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra, has been completed
under the supervision of Prof. Shalini Nigam. The information
provided herewith is authentic and true to the fullest of my
knowledge.

Manish Sujanani

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to pay my utmost gratitude to Professor Shalini
Nigam, who encouraged and motivated me take up this
research titled, Women entrepreneurship: A study of
factors influencing motivation and success (with
reference to Agra district).

I am in debt for her efforts and guidance, directing me all


throughout my work. I am highly obliged by her grace and
intellect to take me under her mentorship.

I would also like to pay homage to my mother who has


supported and been there for me in difficult times. I am
thankful for being endowed with such co-operative, supporting
and thoughtful teachers of the Department of Management of
Faculty of Social Sciences, Dayalbagh Educational Institute,
Agra.

I would also like to extend my gratitude towards the women


respondents of the research for their co-operation and help in
completing this research.

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CONTENTS

ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................. 1
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................... 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE......................................................................................... 4
PROBLEMS/CHALLENGES OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS........................................8
NEED OF THE STUDY.............................................................................................. 9
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY....................................................................................9
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.................................................................................... 9
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS..................................................................................... 10
SHEROES HANGOUT- AN EMERGING MODEL OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE.................19
WOMEN FITNESS - TECHNOLOGY DRIVEN ENTREPRENEURIAL VENTURE.............23
FACTORS INFLUENCING GROWTH, SUCCESS AND SUSTAINABILITY OF WOMEN
ENTREPRENEURS................................................................................................. 26
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................... 34
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY................................................................................. 34
SCOPE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH.........................................................................34
REFERENCES........................................................................................................ 35
APPENDIX............................................................................................................. 36

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Table 1: Problems/Challenges of Women Entrepreneurs in India...........................8


Table 2: Education Qualification of Respondents.................................................10
Table 3: Marital Status of Respondents................................................................10
Table 4: Area segmentation.................................................................................10
Table 5: Operating status..................................................................................... 11
Table 6: Registration status of respondents business..........................................12
Table 7: Awareness about Government schemes.................................................12
Table 8: Phi coefficient matrix of Registration and Awareness.............................13
Table 9: Motivational Factors................................................................................ 13
Table 10: Correlation matric of motivational factors............................................14
Table 11: Motivational entities............................................................................. 15
Table 12: Family assistance................................................................................. 16
Table 13: Expanding business..............................................................................16
Table 14: Premier NGO's promoting Women Entrepreneurship in India...............27
Table 15: Technology driven Start-ups in India.....................................................28

ABSTRACT

Entrepreneurship is a herculean task which is fraught with struggle, entailing


both the risk and effort. No one can truly understand the triumphs, trials and
tribulations of an entrepreneur other than the person involved. While women
have to go through the same stages of setting up an enterprise as do men, and
have similar challenges, irrespective of gender, women do have a distinct set of
factors that first impede their entry as entrepreneurs and later their survival as
successful business women.

This study seeks to identify the major motivational factors influencing women in
Agra to take up entrepreneurship. The factors are classified under the pull-push

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concept and it is found that women in Agra based on the results are
predominantly motivated by Pull factors, though a considerable amount is
pushed into entrepreneurship for their survival. There seems to exist a dual
continuum between the factors which are highly situational and at times a pull
for an individual can be a push for another. Thus, perceptual situational
determinants make pull and push factors dynamic variables. The motivational
intensity of various entities in the immediate surrounding of women is also
analysed.

The study incorporates two case studies pertaining to entrepreneurial ventures in


Agra itself illustrating different aspects of socio-cultural orientation and distinct
paths routed to the success of their business. On the basis of the inferences
drawn from the data so collected and sources of secondary data ranging from
annual Government reports, Journals, articles, blogs and opinion of successful
women entrepreneurs an attempt has been made to draw inferences about the
critical factors incidental to the success of women entrepreneurs in India. Family
support, socio-cultural restructuring, contribution of non-governmental bodies,
adapting to change- technical, economical, marketing based, access to finance
and role of government policy framework have been identified has major
determinants of success for women creating a conducive business environment
for them.

INTRODUCTION

Economic growth and development of the country is determined by human,


physical and financial resources. An economy can move on to the higher levels of
growth either by acquiring a larger quantum of the factors of production or
through technical progress. The objective of any planned development is to
develop human resources (entrepreneurs) to their brimming utilization.
Therefore, industrialization is one of the ways of bringing about socio-economic
development in any country.

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The word Entrepreneur is derived in the 17th century from French word
Entreprendre which means to undertake. Over the years this term is widely
used by social scientists and with the changing socioeconomic context, the
concept of entrepreneurship has further evolved as well as refined. The
characteristics of enterprising emerge from the interplay of behaviour and
activity of special segment of the population known as entrepreneurs. It is now
generally accepted that entrepreneurship is a driving force of economic
development in our country. It is not only considered as a powerful tool to
increase national as well as per capita income, but also as an essential
instrument to bring structural, social and cultural changes to the economy.

Entrepreneurial ventures are considered to be the most critical factors that


would help both urban and rural population through the creation of jobs, rescue
out of unemployment and poverty and thereby gives an impact on developing
skills, self-esteem and self-sufficiency of women. With the changing global
scenario, women entrepreneurship has emerged in the forefront. Women
business owners are continuing to demonstrate economic prowess worldwide.
According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), one in eleven (8.9%)
position among the 22 countries where 14.1% of womens have ventured into
entrepreneurship. The increase in the levels of entrepreneurial activities among
womens increases as levels of education rise especially among those who go
beyond education. Women, especially those belonging to low-income strata and
who have no other option for employment, are taking to entrepreneurship not
only to meet the survival needs of the family but also due to low barriers of entry
and flexibility.

You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its
women - Jawaharlal Nehru.

The Indian economy has been witnessing a drastic change since 1991, with new
policies of economic liberalization, globalization and privatization initiated by the
Indian Government. India has great entrepreneurial potential. At present, women
involvement in economic activities is marked by a low work participation rate,
excessive concentration in the unorganized sector and employment in less
skilled jobs. Any strategy aimed at economic development will be top-sided
without involving women who constitute half of the world population. Evidence
has unequivocally established that entrepreneurial spirit is not a male
prerogative. Women entrepreneurship has gained momentum in the last three
decades with the increase in the number of women enterprises and their
substantive contribution to economic growth. The industrial performance of Asia-
Pacific region propelled by Foreign Direct Investment, technological innovations
and manufactured exports has brought a wide range of economic and social
opportunities to women entrepreneurs. In this dynamic world, women
entrepreneurs are an important part of the global quest for sustained economic
development and social progress.

Promotion of women entrepreneurs requires a multipronged approach. Women


should be motivated to come out of their traditional occupation for accepting

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more challenging and rewarding economic activities. Today Indian government is
more concerned about the economic development of women and for this;
development of "entrepreneurship" among women has become an important
aspect of plan priorities. A special Chapter on Women's Development had been
included in the Seventh Five-Year Plan; it details the plan of action for
"Integration of Women in Development". The Industrial Policy Resolution of 1991
had highlighted the necessity to provide special training programmes to develop
women entrepreneurship and to increase the representation of women in the
field of small industry development and to enhance their economic and social
status. A broad based organizational arrangement for disseminating information,
conducting women oriented programmes by banks and financial institutions,
better linkage between institutes of entrepreneurship development and self-help
groups' entrepreneurship association at state level could pave the way for
speedy development among the women.

The development of women entrepreneurship has become an important aspect


of our plan priorities. Several policies and programmes are being implemented
for the development of women entrepreneurship in India. There is a need for
changing the mind-set towards women so to give equal rights as enshrined in the
constitution. The progress towards gender equality is slow and is partly due to
the failure to attach money to policy commitments.

In the words of president APJ Abdul Kalam,"Empowering women is a


prerequisite for creating a good nation, when women are empowered,
society with stability is assured.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defined the womens enterprise as a


small unit where one or more women entrepreneurs have not less than 50 per
cent financial holdings.

The Government of India has defined women entrepreneurs based on women


participation in equity and employment of a business enterprise. Accordingly, a
woman entrepreneur is defined as an enterprise owned and controlled by a
woman having a minimum financial interest of 51% of the capital and giving at
least 51% of the employment generated in the enterprise to a woman.

Women constitute around half of the total world population. So is in India also.
They are therefore, regarded as the better half of the society. In traditional
societies they were confined to the four walls of houses performing house hold
activities. In modern society they have come out of the four walls to participate
in all type of activities. The Indian women are also enjoying the fruit of
globalization marking an influence on the domestic and international sphere.
They have carved a niche for themselves in the male dominated world. Indian
women well manage both burden of work in household front and meeting the
deadlines at the work place. 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. Women entrepreneurship is gaining importance in India in the
wake of economic liberalization and globalization. The policy and institutional
framework for developing entrepreneurial skills, providing vocation education

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and training has widened the horizon for economic empowerment of women.
However, women constitute only one third of the economic enterprises. There
exist a plethora of successful business women entrepreneurs both in social and
economic fields breaking the shackles of stereotypic society of the nation which
formerly existed. India has risen to evolve and understand the importance of
women empowering them and creating a self-sustaining environment.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

1. Siri Terjesen and Ainsley Lloyd (2015) from The Global Entrepreneurship and
Development Institute states in their report titled The 2015 Female
Entrepreneurship Index- Analyzing the conditions that foster high potentials
female entrepreneurs in 77 countries.

Women entrepreneurs play a substantial role in growing their economies. When


a country does not achieve its full potential, the economy suffers. Fewer high
potential female entrepreneurs result in fewer ideas being realized, less
innovation, less export potential, and fewer jobs created. Through their
entrepreneurial activities, high-potential female entrepreneurs increase their own
economic welfare, and also improve the economic and social fabric of society
through job creation, innovative products, processes, and services, and cross-
border trade.

India was ranked 70 out of the 77 countries. The main reasons that the study
identifies for the country's poor score are lack of labour force parity and access
to first-tier finance (women entrepreneurs find even initial debt funding, required
for day-to-day operations, difficult to raise). However, the socio-economic
scenario in India is gradually changing for the better and a comparison with last
year's gender rating substantiates this point. Ainsley Lloyd, researcher at GEDI
and co-author of the 2015 research report, said India had actually improved by 4
ranks. Increasing access to bank accounts, financial training programs and
improving gender diversity across sectors were key areas for improvement
recognised in the report.

2. Trivedi and Gaur (2015), in their study titled The Role of Women
Entrepreneurs in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), classified
reasons for women entrepreneurs into Chanced, Forced or Created (pull)
entrepreneurs. Highlighted major factors affecting women entrepreneurship:
Access to finance
Access to markets
Access to trainings
Access to networks
Access to policy makers

Concisely threw light upon the major obstacles faced by women entrepreneurs:

Difficulty in obtaining loan from commercial banks i.e. credit facility

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Failure to convert profits into investments i.e. Business consultancy
Shortage of technical skills and poor managerial skills.
Low level of education

Other problems include lack of marketing knowhow, inadequate infrastructure,


shortage of working capital etc. The study however doesnt ponder or explicitly
mention social or family constraints as a roadblock for growth of women
entrepreneurship as it is evident from other studies.

Initiatives of the government are described to be driving measures and the


emergence of e-commerce or advancement of Information
communication technology has opened new opportunities for women to access
information, build and sustain business networks.

3. Hina Shah (2013) from United Nations Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) in her research titled Creating an enabling environment
for womens entrepreneurship in India, identified the emergence and trends in
the growth of women entrepreneurs. It was stated: Any strategy aimed at
economic development would be imbalanced without the involvement of women.
The hidden entrepreneurial potentials of women have gradually been changing
with the growing sensitivity to the role and economic status of women in the
society. Besides skill, knowledge and adaptability in business being the main
reasons for women to emerge into business ventures, there are various
environmental factors like Policies, Legal framework, Market and Geographical
areas which influence women entrepreneurship development process.

Lack of awareness amongst women about the financial assistance offered


(incentives, loans, and schemes) by the institutions in the financial sector is one
of the major challenges. Hence, in spite of financial policies and programmes for
women entrepreneurs, financial support has reached only few women
entrepreneurs. Achievement motivation is found to be scarce among women
because of the Indian socialization pattern and socio-cultural factors which are
gender biased. Their domesticated role is widely accepted and assumed.

4. Chander and Arora (2013) in their empirical study titled Study of Financial
problems of Women Entrepreneurs, among women entrepreneurs of Haryana
state wherein 189 enterprises from urban and rural areas where taken in
consideration focused on the critical aspect of availability of finance and credit
which are considered to be significant in the sustainability of enterprises run by
women. The results of the study show that women entrepreneurs faced the
problem in obtaining start-up capital and accepted it as a major obstacle. It was
observed that financial institutions show reluctance in granting credit facilities to
them. The behaviour of officials of these institutions is found to be discouraging.
Inadequate dissemination of information about financial schemes for women
entrepreneurs is also felt as a major problem. Shortage of finance is a major
problem for sustainability. In overcoming these obstacles, there are actions to be

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taken by government, financial institutions and policy makers by working closely
with women business associations.

5. Kumar Dharmendra (2014) in the study titled Socio-Cultural influence on


Women entrepreneurs: A study of Uttarakhand state, found that entrepreneurs
socio cultural status, their residential background has significant impact on the
opinion, views and behaviour of women entrepreneurs, research also concluded
that socio-cultural factors significantly affect women entrepreneurs and their
contribution towards state economy. Many of the socio-cultural factors are
identified highly influential on entrepreneurship. It was observed that there was
significant difference in the opinions of women from high socio-cultural and
urban backgrounds as compared to those from low and rural backgrounds. Such
a difference contributed significantly towards entrepreneurial ventures of
women. It was disclosed that socio-cultural factors like Socio-cultural diversity,
Socially acceptable choice of enterprise, Lack of intermediaries, Socio-cultural
support, Values and beliefs, Socio- cultural stereotypes, Family responsibilities
and pressure, Customer attitude and Societys attitude are identified most
influential factors that has major influence on women entrepreneurs.

6. Mohan Kumar, Chandrika Mohan , Vijaya C and Lokeshwari N (2013), in


their study titled The Role of Women Entrepreneurship in Modern World defined
women entrepreneurship stating: The Government of India has defined women
entrepreneurs based on women participation in equity and employment of a
business enterprise. Accordingly, a woman entrepreneur is defined as an
enterprise owned and controlled by a woman having a minimum financial
interest of 51% of the capital and giving at least 51% of the employment
generated in the enterprise to a woman.

Finally it was found that women entrepreneurship has a definite impact on


economy both in its ability to create jobs for themselves and to create jobs for
others. Various Networks and Women Entrepreneurship Unions have now come
up to provide assistance, advice and information and to raise their profile and
expand their business. The art of becoming a successful Entrepreneur lies in
getting acquainted with the existing state of the art technological tools and
getting access to available business networks.

7. Meenu Goyal and Jai Parkash (2011), in their study titled Women
Entrepreneurship In India-Problems and Prospects, recognised Women
Entrepreneur as a person who accepts challenging role to meet her personal
needs and become economically independent. A strong desire to do something
positive is an inbuilt quality of entrepreneurial women, who is capable of
contributing values in both family and social life. It identifies various reasons for
women becoming entrepreneurs addressing various socio-economic barriers to
the slow growth of women entrepreneurship. Government initiatives are

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highlighted but are said to be implemented poorly and inadequately due to lack
of awareness.

Efforts are being taken at the economy as brought promise of equality of


opportunity in all spheres to the Indian women and laws guaranteed 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
i.e. the urban middle class women. Women sector occupies nearly 45% of the
Indian population. At this juncture, effective steps are needed to provide
entrepreneurial awareness, orientation and skill development programs to
women. The role of Women entrepreneur in economic development is also being
recognized and steps are being taken to promote women entrepreneurship.
Resurgence of entrepreneurship is the need of the hour emphasizing on
educating women strata of population, spreading awareness and consciousness
amongst women to outshine in the enterprise field, making them realize their
strengths, and important position in the society and the great contribution they
can make for their industry as well as the entire economy. Women
entrepreneurship must be moulded properly with entrepreneurial traits and skills
to meet the changes in trends, challenges global markets and also be competent
enough to sustain and strive for excellence in the entrepreneurial arena.

8. Tulus Tambunan (2009) through the report titled Women entrepreneurship in


Asian developing countries: Their development and main constraints, assessed
the nature and state of women in Asian developing countries highlighting the
following basic aspects.
Firstly, if total number of enterprises by gender of entrepreneurs or owners can
be used as an indicator of current state of the art of women entrepreneurship
development, then the evidence may suggest that becoming an entrepreneur,
especially in larger, modern and more complex businesses in Asian developing
countries is still dominantly a man culture.
Secondly, majority of women entrepreneurs in the region were not drawn to
entrepreneurship by pull factors, such as the need for a challenge, the urge to
try something on their own and to be independent, to show others that they are
capable of doing well in business, to be recognized by the society (self-esteem),
hobby, or to use spare time, but by push factors such as poverty,
unemployment, the need to have more cash income to support the family daily
expenditures, and precaution motives (anticipation if husband is laid-off or
unemployed, and other emergency needs). This may suggest that when women
in the region are better educated and have greater well-paid employment
opportunities, their participation in SMEs may decline.

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Thirdly, the relative low representative of women entrepreneurs can be
attributed to many factors, and the most important ones among them are:

Low level of education and lack of training opportunities that make women
severely disadvantaged in both the economy and society.
Heavy household chores.
Legal, traditions, customs, cultural or religious constraints on the extent to
which women can open their own businesses.
Lack of access to formal credit and other facilities.

PROBLEMS/CHALLENGES OF WOMEN
ENTREPRENEURS

On the basis of the literature the basic challenges/ problems encountered by


women entrepreneurs can be briefly structured as follows and can be seen as
critical determinants themselves instrumental for the success of women
entrepreneurs.

S.n PROBLEM/CHALLENGES
o.
1 Conflicts between work and domestic commitments (work-
life balance).

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2 Adequate and timely access to capital finance and credit
due to scepticism of banks towards abilities of women and
inability of women to provide collateral or security.

3 Obsolescence of technology: failure to adapt to advances in


order to keep up with competition and optimise cost of production.

4 Lack of knowledge and entrepreneurial skills


Poor knowledge about markets: customer base, competition,
intermediaries etc.
Poor project planning: under-utilization of resources due to
technical backlogs.
Managerial problem: retaining labour, planning and forecasting
Working capital management: lack of credit

5 Availability of labour: general perception about incompetency


of women entrepreneurs.

6 Lack of confidence: societal pressures suppressing women.

7 Socio-cultural problem: acceptance from the society.

8 Patriarchal society: male dominated society and business


culture.

9 Lack of education: hinders awareness about business trends,


supportive schemes and development programs.

10 Low risk bearing capacity

11 Poor awareness and implementation of government training


and development programmes.

Table 1: Problems/Challenges of Women Entrepreneurs in India

NEED OF THE STUDY


Women have risen from stereotypic society prevalent in India and have emerged
to become vital in binding together the culture, society and community they are
a part of. It was the seventh five-year plan which first highlighted the importance
of women in countrys overall development and since then it has been explicitly
highlighted in Government reports that any strategy aimed at economic
development shall be imbalanced without the involvement of women. With latest
initiatives of Stand up India and Start-up India targeted to encourage
entrepreneur temper it would be instrumental to gauge motivational factors

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which orient towards success of any endeavour. Women entrepreneurship is
taken to be synonymous with empowerment and their significant contribution to
the economy is acknowledged by governments and renowned political leaders
and bureaucrats. However the sector of women entrepreneurs is untapped due
to major inefficiencies dominating and their success is influenced by various
major socio-cultural, political, legal, technological factors. Women entrepreneurs
comprise approximately 7.36% of the total Micro, Small and Medium enterprises
in India and recognising the role of women it would be important to study the
factors motivating women to become entrepreneurs and critical aspects
contributing and influencing their success in order to provide a framework of
determinants for women entrepreneurship streamlining them to pace and boast
the trend of entrepreneurship among women.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY


To identify major motivating factors for women to become entrepreneurs in Agra.
To identify and analyse various factors significantly influencing the success,
growth and sustainability of entrepreneurship ventures of women.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The nature of the study is descriptive. Primary data is sourced through:
Structured questionnaires to access basic demographics, intensity of various
motivating factors and entities and their opinion about certain issues related to
women entrepreneurship.
Semi-structured interviews to identify significant changes and success factors.
Case studies to study trends, issues and growth of such ventures.
Secondary data is obtained from journals, scholastic books, government annual
reports, articles and online blogs of women entrepreneurs.

The sample size for this purpose was taken to be 25 women running various
kinds of business in Agra district. The sampling technique used was (Non-
probabilistic) convenience and snowball sampling.

The study being descriptive and qualitative the tools used for analysis involve
frequency, percentage, weighted average and correlation analysis to identify
intensity of various factors and opinion and relation between various factors.

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS


The data collected through questionnaires was coded keeping in context of the
objective of the study. It was further analysed using frequency, percentage,
weighted average and correlation analysis according to the suitability of the
variables. The inputs under various variables incorporated are as follows:

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1. Education qualification of respondents: A significant number of respondents
(64%) had tertiary level of education i.e. they were graduates or had higher
qualifications. Basic education is considered essential for any sphere of life which
equips an individual to become a responsible part of the society, be informed
and aware about socio-cultural and economic patterns. Low literacy rate, which
was about 65.46% according to the 2011 Census has been a major roadblock for
women to grow as entrepreneurs.

FREQUEN PERCENTA
LEVEL CY GE
Primary 3 12%
Secondary 6 24%
Tertiary 16 64%
25 100%
Table 2: Education Qualification of Respondents

2. Marital status of respondents: Women following Indian culture are always


seen as a homemaker/housewife primarily but being an Indian woman (i.e.
being competent and determined) they have emerged to manage their cultural
and family ties as well venture into entrepreneur ventures. The break-up of the
marital status of the respondents is as follows:

FREQUEN PERCENTA
STATUS CY GE
Married 16 64%
Unmarried 8 32%
Widow 1 4%
Divorced 0 0%
25 100
Table 3: Marital Status of Respondents

3. Area: It is essential to reflect on the women of the urban and rural for there exist
different socio-cultural factors which govern and influence the way in which
women operate, function and are a part of the society.

FREQUEN PERCENTA
AREA CY GE
Rural 8 32%
Urban 17 68%
25 100%
Table 4: Area segmentation

4. Operating status: The respondents were asked about their financial status and
nature how their business operated. 32% of enterprises were operating in profit
while 36% were stably operating and 32% had fluctuating returns. The primary

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reasons for stability and fluctuations revealed through interviewing were that the
nature of business was such that it had a seasonal appeal like that of papad,
achaar and certain beauty parlours. While some quoted inefficiencies in creating
customer networks and stiff competition to be the reasons.

FREQUEN PERCENTA
STATUS CY GE
Profit 8 32%
Loss 0 0%
Stable 9 36%
Fluctuates 8 32%
25 100%
Table 5: Operating status

5. Sources of finances: Finance is the life and blood of any business and
adequate access to finance has proved to be an essential factor in the survival of
entrepreneurial ventures in India. The break-up of the sources of finance is as
follows:

FREQUE PERCENTA
SOURCE NCY GE
Self-financed 8 32%
Informal sources
(Money lenders etc.) 5 20%
Formal sources
(Banks, Co-operatives) 8 32%
Borrowings from friends
and relatives 4 16%
25 100%

The International Finance Corporation in its study titled Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprise Finance in India: A Research Study of Needs, Gaps and way
Forward (November, 2012) highlighted the role of Scheduled Commercial banks
in providing working capital finance to Micro, Small and Medium enterprises in
India which is said to be significant for survival of such enterprises for
inadequate access to finance has been found to be one of the most critical
problem in this sector. There exists scepticism among banks to forward loans to
women run businesses but significant attempts are being made by the
Government and Public sector banks tailoring schemes, programs and loans
directed towards encouraging women entrepreneurs. However lack of awareness
and fear of the risk associated (collaterals) restrict optimum utilisation of such
regimes.
Finance availed from formal sources of banks and co-operatives is recorded to be
32%, the highest among all the other mentioned sources with self-finance but
still the proportion is quite low and neither of the respondents were aware about
the financial schemes tailored specially for women.

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Availability of timely and adequate finance is an equally important factor for
women run enterprises to grow and thrive.

6. Legal registration: Around 30% of the total Micro, Small and Medium
enterprises operating in India are registered according to the annual reports of
MSME ministry. Such low number of enterprises being registered restricts them
from availing incentives, grants, schemes, training and development programs
intended to promote this sector as a result of which an impaired growth is
witnesses with many enterprises dying due to inefficiencies which otherwise
these regimes could have improved.

FREQUEN PERCENTA
STATE CY GE
Registered 13 52%
Unregister
ed 12 48%
25 100%
Table 6: Registration status of respondents business

However registered and unregistered women run enterprises were encountered


which also contributed to identify significant reasons for not registering business.

In conversation with Mr. Rajeev Kumar, Assistant Director of MSME- Development


Institute Agra the major reason for business not being registered was the fear of
being exposed to the Government bureaucrats and falling into legal obligations
of Income tax returns and other such departments. However it was noted that
the database of MSME ministry was not subjected to be shared with other
Government departments. Whereas while interviewing the respondents the
reasons highlighted were

Lack of awareness of such registration and schemes, development


programmes which accompany registration.
Did not find it necessary to get registered for they were self-sufficient and
did not wish to get involved in legal hassles of registration process.

7. Awareness about Government schemes and programs directed towards


women run enterprises:

FREQUEN
STATE CY
Aware 14
Unaware 11
25
Table 7: Awareness about Government schemes

The endeavours of the MSME ministry to infuse motivation among women to


work independently, urge for registration and publicising schemes, development
and assistance programs in order to sustain existing as well as motivate others
to take up such a venture, is usually done through advertisements which has had
poor results so far and the awareness of government assistance is primarily
restricted to those legally registered.

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Thus,

Motivational campaigns undertaken to promote registration of businesses


is quite poor as evident from the annual reports of MSME ministry.
Awareness about government assistance to promote and aid women run
enterprises is only restricted to the ones legally registered as inferred from
the correlation between registration and awareness of schemes.

AWARE
YES NO
REGISTER YES 11 2 13
ED NO 3 9 12
14 11 25
Table 8: Phi coefficient matrix of Registration and Awareness

Phi coefficient which is a measure of association for two binary variables


i.e. Registration and Awareness was calculated to be 0.6774.
Implying that there is a positive association between Registration and
Awareness i.e. the enterprises legally registered are the ones primarily
aware about the government schemes and programs which further
indicates that there is poor awareness about schemes to motivate and lure
women to become entrepreneurs.

8. Motivational factors: The factors taken into consideration were formulated on


the basis of Government and scholastic reports. Further informal interviews were
held with certain women entrepreneurs as well as women not involved in any
kind of commercial work to understand and jot down factors which influence or
are likely to influence them to become entrepreneurs.

INTENSITY
AVERAG WEIGHTED
FACTORS HIGH E LOW AVERAGE
Career oriented
F1 (ambition)/Experience in the
field 6 9 10 1.84

F2 Means of survival (financial


stability and security) 15 6 4 2.44

F3 Hobby/Venturing marketing
opportunities to earn more 17 6 2 2.60
F4
To become independent 14 6 5 2.36
F5 Self esteem 11 12 2 2.36

15
Social recognition and
F6
repute 2 4 19 1.32
F7 Sense of social responsibility 1 1 23 1.12
F8 Establish family business 0 1 24 1.04
F9 Contributing to household 5 14 6 1.96
Table 9: Motivational Factors

(High-3, Average-2, Low-1)

The major motivational forces for women in Agra can be attributed to PULL
factors wherein in lieu of their hobby women venture market opportunities to
earn more. They have the will to become independent and build upon their self-
esteem streamlining their skills and interests.

PUSH factor pertaining to means of survival to provide financial stability and


security to women has been seen to be the major motivational force to take up
their own business to survive.

Push factors: those which compel women towards running their own
business.
Pull factors: those which attract them to fulfil their psychological desires,
shape their skills and interests.
However during the informal interview sessions (self-administered
questionnaires) it was noticed that all the factors recognised cannot be distinctly
classified under push and pull forces and that motivational factors are situational
determinants i.e. a factor being PUSH for one can be PULL for another. It is the
perception and circumstances which determine an individual is being PUSHED
or PULLED.These pull and push factors affect entrepreneurial performance.
The pull forces bring with them more commitment and self-involvement since the
drive and aptitude accompanying such women equips them to perform better.
The push forces generally create weaker entrepreneurs, although women forced
into entrepreneurship due to economic need and family circumstances require
and put in more effort (due to their low propensity to enterprise) into running
their venture, since for them all is at stake.

F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9
F1 1
F2 -0.35 1
F3 0.19 -0.21 1
F4 -0.16 0.34 0.12 1
F5 0.19 -0.42 0.16 0.30 1
F6 0.18 -0.39 -0.28 -0.23 0.32 1
F7 -0.06 0.20 -0.11 0.10 0.28 0.15 1
F8 -0.21 0.15 -0.51 -0.34 -0.44 -0.10 -0.05 1
F9 -0.24 0.03 -0.03 -0.27 -0.44 -0.06 -0.40 0.32 1
Table 10: Correlation matrix of motivational factors

16
A correlation matrix was formulated between the motivational factors and it was
found to indicate towards a continuum which exists between pull and push
factors. All the aspects cannot be classified as pull or push factors explicitly
owing to motivation being a psychological phenomenon a push for an individual
can be a pull for another and vice versa.

The positive relations show as intensity from one factor increases intensity for
the other related factor also increases. It can be traced both the ways owing to
the base genesis of motivation in any individual. It illustrates that if primary
motivation of a person is identified what other factors shall also influence. The
negative relations do not imply demotivation instead illustrate weak association
concerned with factors. For example: F1 (career oriented) is negatively related to
F2 (means of survival).

Thus implying that if an individual is career oriented the fact that his/her
entrepreneur venture is his/her means of survival shall not influence him. And
likewise he would take risks in business instead if he/she would be influenced by
means of survival he/she would not take risks.

It provides for an understanding of other psychological and business decision


making aspects influencing women entrepreneurs. Major relation is found
between F2 (means of survival) and F4 (to become independent) which is a
prima facie fact. Another significant observation is relation between F2 (means of
survival) and F4 (sense of social responsibility) which reflects on the developing
responsibility of women towards the society, facing adversities they realise what
kind of social stigmas exist and are motivated being an essential part of society
with the identity of their business, to act upon them to improve and change
suppressive acts.

9. Motivational entities: The people, organisation and environment to which a


woman is subjected to and is a part of play an important role in influencing,
driving and supporting women to take up entrepreneurship. Therefore various
such variables were accounted for as follows:

INTENSITY NO. OF
AVERAG RESPONDE WIGHTED
FACTOR HIGH E LOW NTS AVERAGE
Self 24 1 0 25 2.96
Children 8 2 0 10 2.80
Husband and
Family 11 4 2 17 2.53
Parents and siblings 9 14 2 25 2.28
Relatives 0 11 14 25 1.44
Friends 18 4 2 24 2.67
Society 10 6 5 21 2.24

17
Industry/Competitio
n 3 11 1 15 2.13
Government
(development
programs) 0 5 18 23 1.22
Examples of other
women 7 15 3 25 2.16
Table 11: Motivational entities
(High-3, Average-2, Low-1)

The major observations were:

Women respondents were high on self-confidence which imbibed in them a


will to persevere. Being confident in oneself enables an entrepreneur to
take risk in order to be successful. Greater the confidence greater is the
risk taking capacity leading to probable greater returns and success.

Children of women proved to be a major force pushing and motivating


them to move ahead with their endeavours. They are the heart and soul of
a womans life and the next generation being adapted and progressive
subduing old stereotypic socio-cultural norms, is more educated, aware
and realise the importance of women in the society and see
entrepreneurship as a medium to their empowerment giving them a
distinct identity.
Friends of respondents have proved to be supporting at the same level as
that from their husbands. An accepting environment from the immediate
surrounding helps a woman to keep moving forward and persevere.
Alarming results can be seen while observing the intensity of support from
relatives which is considerably very low indicating towards the same socio-
cultural obstructive norms which have always been prevalent.
Similar is the case with contribution from Government development
programs which score the least score indicating towards poor
implementation and reach of such initiatives.

10.Family assistance: The respondents were asked about whether they had
assistance from their family or not.

FREQUEN PERCENTA
CY GE
Yes 18 72%
No 7 28%
25 100%
Table 12: Family assistance

The results of obtained can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly, majority of the
women are assisted by their family in one way or the other which proves
acceptance and supportive forces from the family contributing to conducive

18
environment to function. Secondly, such assistance from the family can be
attributed as a critical factor of success of womens businesses.

11.Will to expand: Growth is essential to survive in the present times. Change is


constant and inevitable, one cannot survive by adapting to the fact paced
advancing world. Therefore, it was significant to access the willingness of
respondents to expand their business and the obstructions in their path.

FREQUEN PERCENT
CY AGE
Yes 17 68%
No 8 32%
25 100%
Table 13: Expanding business

A majority of the respondent have expanded or are willing to do so reflecting on


the fact that they realise the importance of adapting to latest trends in order to
thrive in the competitive sphere. However, they are often subjected to several
problems hindering them to expand or obstruct their expansion. The major
reasons identified were:

Inadequate access to finance: women have their major investments


already vested in their present operations and the surplus is utilised to
carry the same forward. Therefore finance from banks is quintessential to
support expansion for women run businesses. Banks scepticism towards
women and poor awareness about women targeted schemes prove to be
other fatal blockages.
Availability of labour: it was noted that the social backlogs prevalent
undermine the abilities of a woman to run a business and people/labour is
unwilling or neglecting towards such enterprises. Therefore there is
shortage of labour available to expand operations. However counteracting
this, a new trend has been observed wherein women impart training to
prospective employees thereby opening new opportunities for their
income as well as availing labour for themselves. Such has been noticed
among various beauty parlours and boutiques and surely can be
implemented by other small and medium enterprises as well.

12. Opinion based questions on highly recognised issues in women


entrepreneurship

AGRE NEUTR DISAG


STATEMENT E AL REE

Women entrepreneurs are an essential part towards a


76% 16% 8%
progressive and developing economy.

19
Lack of knowledge, managerial and entrepreneurial 44% 8% 48%
skills are key obstacles for women entrepreneurs.

Financial institutions are generally sceptical about


entrepreneurial abilities of women. As a result there 72% 12% 16%

are inadequate financial resources for women.

Government recommends training and development


and credit (financial) schemes would help working
women develop and advance. 56% 40% 4%

Technology has revolutionised business operations.


Has it become a necessity to adapt to latest 32% 60% 8%
technology for a business to survive.

Non-governmental bodies play a significant role in


uplifting women entrepreneurs. 64% 36% 0%

Observations:
Women consider themselves a major part and contributor to the economy.
Henceforth they consider themselves an essential part of the society; such
a change reflects on the psycho-cultural change among women
empowering them.
Concrete observations cannot be drawn on the part questioning the
competencies of women as entrepreneurs. Since 44% to 48% women
agree-disagree that lack of entrepreneurial skills and knowledge is a key
obstacle.
A majority of the women respondents find financial institutions sceptical
towards women entrepreneurs and this can be reflected as a major reason
for inefficiencies in finance facilities specifically targeted to women.
Initiatives from Government and adoption of technological changes are
more or less looked at indifferently. Women seemed to be unaware about
the untapped potentials from these aspects.
A significant amount of women recognise and accept the role of Non-
governmental organisations in uplifting, shaping women entrepreneurs
and planting the seeds for socio-cultural, psychological, and economical
changes towards empowering women to the place they should have in the
society.

20
SHEROES HANGOUT- AN EMERGING MODEL OF SOCIAL
ENTERPRISE

A play with the words She and


Heroes is where this
entrepreneurial project derives is
apt name from which correctly
reflects upon the brave hearts
Heroes, who run the place. The
place is a caf, boutique, art gallery
and library collaborated as
Sheroes Caf Hangout which is
run by five acid attack survivors
namely Rupa, Ritu, Geeta, Neetu
and Dolly.

As one takes a slightly left turn at


the busy crossing of Fatehabad road
in Agra, a small double storey building with bright graffiti immediately catches
ones glimpse. An equally colourful signboard on the building reads: Sheroes

21
Hangout. Aesthetically done interiors, with beautiful wall paintings and graffiti
(mostly themed on womens empowerment) and what makes it special are the
people at the helm of this unique caf. It is the countrys first caf which is run
and managed entirely by acid attack survivors.

The project was planned and assisted by CHHANV Foundation, a Delhi based
Non-Government Organisation in favour of the STOP ACID CAMPAIGN. The
campaign was initiated by Alok Dxit a journalist and Laxmi Agarwal who is
herself an acid attack survivor and it was through the efforts of this campaign
and specifically the efforts of Laxmi that in 2013 the Supreme Court of India
banned the free sale of acids creating fresh set of restrictions on its sale. Laxmi
emerged to become the face of the campaign and carrying forward her work with
alliance of Alok Dixit and other activists institutionalized the campaign as
CHHANV Foundation based in New Delhi a shelter home to acid attack survivors
becoming first of its kind rehabilitation centre in the country.

Sheroes Hangout emerged as a result of the attempts to rehabilitate Rupa, a 23


year old acid attack survivor from Uttar Pradesh who was attacked by her
stepmother when she was fifteen. She had completely shrouded herself in a veil
of shame and distrust when the members of the foundation found her and she
was included in the rehabilitation programme which gradually rekindled her
interest in designing and wished to open her own boutique. In 2013, Rupa
designed a few clothes and a designer shoot was done by Delhi based
photographer Rahul Saharan. Rupa herself along with Laxmi modelled for the
shoot and the pictures were put up on the campaigns page on various social
networking sites. Alongside a campaign was launched in Indiegogo.com to raise
funding for Rupas boutique. The pictures went viral on the internet accumulating
surplus funds (approximately 3 lakh) for the boutique. Awestruck by the response
members at Chhanv foundation were introspecting pondering on various ideas to
utilise to the fullest potential when Aseem Trivedi, a political cartoonist proposed
the idea of setting up a caf integrated with the boutique in order to extend their
support and help to other fellow supporters. Rupa and others fell in line and
found the idea to be ground breaking for they could re-establish other survivors
as well.

As more survivors kept joining the campaign from Uttar Pradesh and the
foundation realised that two of the survivors from Agra- Neetu and Geeta
required immediate help being financially struck, they decided Agra to become
an eventual choice to establish the caf. And ironically Agra which is known for
the Taj Mahal, a symbol of eternal beauty imbibed in them a philosophy to show
that beauty is beyond physical appearance.

The place was rented in Agra just facing The Gateway hotel and other fellow
survivors willing to take up the task namely- Neetu, Geeta, Ritu and Dolly were
acquainted with Rupa to set up the caf. These survivors hailed from different
parts of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana so they rented an apartment in Agra which
doubled up as the rehabilitation centre as well for often other survivors are sent

22
to experience the acquaintance with these brave hearts of Sheroes as a part of
their rehabilitation programme.

The project was inaugurated


by renowned singer Sona
Mohapatra and celebrity hair
stylist and activist Sapna
Bhavnani on 10th December
2014 and following their
steps into the next phase the
ownership of the caf was
legally declared to the five
survivors.

The caf attracted 5000 customers in the first six months but initially operated in
loss and had to be supported by Chhanv Foundation to survive. But
consequently, the place is now often seen swarming with college students and it
has become a unique foreign tourist destination with nationals from all over the
world visiting them acknowledging their story. The survivors at the caf never
hesitate to share their experiences and it is their objective to promote awareness
and encouragement among the visitors for not only their initiative but other
societal aspects as well.

Sheroes Hangout follows a Pay as you wish menu in its caf which initially
turned fatal and it operated in loss but survived by the efforts and supports of
the foundation. The basic reason behind such an approach was the basic
objective to spread awareness, attract masses and let their story be heard so
that the survivors could become confident and rise back to become a normal
part of the society. It took a while for the society to realise their valiant efforts
and a psycho-socio-cultural shift in attitude was witnessed receiving applauds
from all sections of the society. The Pay as you wish menu still exists being one
of the many highlights but is no more exploited and the survivors have become
totally self-reliant.

Other sources of earning are from the sale of handicrafts items, clothes stitched
by Rupa in her boutique which is housed within the caf, library (books gathered
through contributions from individuals and associations). They have collaborated
with an art vendor, Arts Craft Villa and started their commercial art gallery
wherein works of individual artists are also put on auctions. They have also
started outsourcing pebble works from Uttarakhand.

23
Services and roles of the women:

Rupa, a 23 year old survivor whose efforts led to the culmination of such
a project runs her boutique and has a line of her collection on display.
Geeta (mother) and Neetu (daughter), who were attacked by their
husband-father in the agony that Geeta could not give him a son and
that Neetu was a girl. While Neetu greets customers from behind the
counter Geeta manages the kitchen.
Ritu, a 20 year old survivor from Rohtak who was attacked following a
family dispute, is designated as the floor manager and looks after the
sale of handicrafts and other items of their art gallery.
Dolly, a young teenage girl goes around greeting customers providing
hospitality services. She aspires to become a doctor but is struggling to
raise money for her education and was recently preparing for her
intermediate examinations.

The real success of Sheroes Hangout lies not just in being a financially profitable
enterprise but in bringing about a change in the life of the women running the
joint. Being subjected to such adversities in life the women at Sheroes now
consider it their responsibility to make the society a better place to live in not
only for the victims of such a heinous crime which they faced but to look into and
work upon other socio-cultural aspects as well. Sheroes has become a hub
participating and organising activism workshops, screening of documentaries,
awareness campaigns, collaborating with other non-governmental bodies to
contribute and make an impact wherever possible while sustaining itself. In
December 2015, the first ever Sheroes Samman award was given to Vineeta
Arora who runs Caspers Home, a shelter for abandoned dogs as a token of
appreciation of her work and spreading awareness about the issue. The Facebook

24
page of Sheroes Hangout is flooded with campaign offerings and workshop
invitations.

As an extension of Chhanv Foundations rehabilitation centre the women at


Sheroes have emerged to be mentors and counsel other survivors as well an
instance of this is that under the guidance of Sheroes team, Anshu a seventeen
year old survivor from Bijnor has gone back to pursuing her studies.

SHEROES HANGOUT has therefore emerged as a Social entrepreneurship venture


by the efforts and will of those five women who paved this path for themselves of
going beyond establishing themselves. Needless to say they have always been
backed and supported by Chhanv Foundation.

Influenced by the model that has emerged by collaborative efforts of the five
survivors and the foundation, it has been decided to extend the business model
to other cities as well.

So far as Sheroes Hangout at Agra is concerned, it has gone through much


hassles and hurdles and the same has helped them better understand to look
upon further development of the project. For better social integration and
hangout experience they are introducing self-cooking counters and utilising the
entire space of the location further extending their services to the open terrace
caf. They are trying to fund an upcoming annual runway budget for such
standardised extended model of Sheroes Hangout

25
WOMEN FITNESS - TECHNOLOGY DRIVEN
ENTREPRENEURIAL VENTURE
Technological sphere has
revolutionised the business
sphere not only making
operations efficient but has
also provided new
opportunities to explore
opening a paradigm of
ventures to be taken up.
Such is the case with Women
fitness which is an online
portal providing guide to
healthy living and optimal
fitness. It is an online fitness
consultancy service providing diet and fitness regimes, personal customised
guidance to members, blog writing about popular health and fitness issues,
interviewing famous celebrities and athlete to highlight their lifestyle of a healthy
living as well as it has benefitted and has renowned personalities as its clients.

The brainchild behind such a venture is that of Mrs. Namita Nayyar, a well
renowned personality of Agra who started womenfitness.net in the year 2000
with her services being extended only towards clients in United Stated of
America since then the website became popular in Canada, Australia and other
parts of the world and within these 16 years it now provides services to 150
countries.

She says, Women Fitness (womenfitness.net) when launched in the year 2000
had one sole mission which it still possesses, was to educate women about best
in health and fitness so that they can take better care of their own self, family
and the society at large. A woman is the nucleus of creation and if we can
change her thought process we can change the society at large for some good.
Now, it's over sixteen years of existence and the fact that we have survived the
ups and downs of business world is the fact enough to prove that we have
created a bench mark in the world of women health and fitness.

A career oriented determined woman, Mrs Namita Nayyar has studied in depth
about exercise and nutrition both normal and therapeutic. She has authored five
online books on complete fitness and has designed the customized strength
training, cardiovascular training and flexibility training programs for women to
assist them in achieving their health and fitness goals.

26
She holds a Master of Science degree in Child development and has been
awarded a Gold medal by the Governor after an all-round performance in the
Institute of Home Science. Excelling academically Mrs Namita Nayyar was always
fascinated by subjects of good health, diet and exercise since she was brought
up in a doctors family but had never thought of streamlining her knowledge and
passion into a career option until she was motivated by her husband. After the
birth of her daughter she was actively involved in following a healthy diet
combined with the exercise to stay fit. Seeing this and being aware about her
academic excellence, she was encouraged by her husband to put her knowledge
on the net to educate women and share her insights being qualified and
competent.

During those blooming times of technological advances revolutionising not only


the corporate but all spheres of life Mrs. Namita Nayyar found the concept
proposed by her husband ideal for she could look after her kids, family and work
conveniently. But it was not easy for her to implement such a venture for it was
difficult to harness a good web designer and dedicated staff in a city like Agra.
She states, Present generation is more focussed towards short term results
rather than working towards larger than life goals. We all possess some dream
but tend to give up when we are almost near to our goals. I face that challenge
even today but trust me I am a boss who doesn't give up easily.

Presently womenfitness.net is hosted on the web by mochahost and Mrs. Namita


Nayyar considers a collaborative team effort of web designers, software
management, web hosting provider to play a major role in providing the essential
virtual infrastructure to platform womenfitness.net to the world. It was a different
story when she started off in the year 2000 when it was difficult to locate good
designers and technical staff and it was thought that her venture would be lost in
a matter of few years. It is the fast changing technological world which she
adapted to utilising its potentials to the fullest to persevere through the years.

Apart from technical assistance, over the years the major motivating factor that
influenced her to withstand the ups and downs and continue along has been the
response and acceptance she received from her clients from U.S.A which she
particularly targeted because of the people being health conscious giving
importance to their fitness and appreciating such consultancy as opposed to
India where there existed no market for such consultancy during that time and
technical knowledge among people in India was in its infancy stage.

She witnesses immense support and co-operation from her family who has been
there for her always and believed in her goals. Her husband and daughter have
joined her in assistance lately. There are different aspects in business, her
husband, Mr. Rohit Nayyar, F.C.A., handles Media and Advertisement and her
daughter Ms Tanya Nayyar, MBA, is into Promotion and interviewing top women
celebrities for Women fitness.

Mrs. Namita Nayyar currently works from her home managing work and family
duties managing her time efficiently and staying patient in tough times. Its her
passion about her dream which makes her withstand all challenges and she

27
considers them as learning factors to help grow and mature at work efficiently.
Patience, consistent hard work, aware about latest trends in her field of expertise
and focus on steady growth advancing, adapting to changes are significant
factors she attributes to her success.

There are two types of revenue models followed by Women fitness: First being
the advertising model wherein other websites are allowed to host ads on
womenfitness.net and revenue flows in through the concept of Cost per
impression, wherein advertisers pay the site every time their ad is clicked
through that site. Secondly, there is the membership model wherein membership
fees is charged from clients who wish for personalised and customised guidance
according to their body type and other health requirements.

The success of Women fitness can be estimated by the numerous awards and its
association with renowned personalities.

Womenfitness.net has been selected and feature in the Forbes Top 100
websites for women in the world.
It has been selected as the Most Popular Site in women health category by
Yahoo.
It has been recognized by a number of international government
organisation, Web directories, newspapers & magazines and has received
a number of awards.
The National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) refers
to women fitness as resource for women on its website.
Universities, sports and medical associations from all over the world
recommends women fitness as a highly rated website in women
fitness category.
Yahoo has added womenfitness.net to its directory of women health.
It is recommended in high priority in Googles three individual web
directories.
MSN France recommends women fitness in its web guide for fitness.

Mrs Namita Nayyar has also been awarded the entrepreneur of the Year
2011 by DLA group of Newspaper publications at Agra.

Women fitness strives to continue on the same model driven by technological


infrastructure and operates in the defined scope but the offering of the business
shall not perish for health is a constant natural issue for which substitutes cannot
be introduced. The nature of offering shall not let it diminish and the efforts and
expertise of latest trends whether technical or related to health or fitness are
well equipped with the individual spearheading the venture Mrs Namita Nayyar
who is adaptive, informed, risk bearing and is immensely supported by her family
and her clients which have significant contribution in her success.

28
FACTORS INFLUENCING GROWTH, SUCCESS AND
SUSTAINABILITY OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
The factors identified influencing growth, success and sustainability of women
entrepreneurship are assessed on the basis of the data and interpretations
made. Books, Government reports, scholastic books and significant authentic
research papers where taken into consideration. The aspects so highlighted here
can be mapped to solve all the problems/challenges faced by women
entrepreneurs.

Family support: It is of crucial importance in the decision making process for


women entrepreneurs and depending upon the response and attitude of the
family they can be either highly motivated in her new venture or completely
demotivated.
A woman is of the family, by the family and for the family, this can be aptly
reflected upon women entrepreneurs for a womans identity is from her family,
she works and strives struggling hard for the family (though at times she is
career oriented but still has major interests vested in the family) and a woman is
the concrete backbone of the family representing the family socially, culturally
and at times financially as well. For a woman based on Indian cultural roots her
family is all the assets she has. It is from the family that she derives her self-
confidence, will, determination and perseverance to thrive and take up any
activity regarding any sphere in life. Support specifically from parents, husband
and children is instrumental in pushing a woman to succeed which form the basis
of a womans self-confidence since she is motivated and believed to possess the
potential to succeed and is supported to face the challenges of the society and
competition.

29
Socio-cultural context: An exogenous factor. Traditionally, women were
associated with the home and hearth. They were primarily seen as providers
within the confines of the home, perceived both by themselves and the society
at large. Such an ideology has led to absence to basic literacy which further has
proved to be a major barrier to the establishment of a successful enterprise.
Prevalence of oppressive attitude towards women has confined them to homes
and has developed a patriarchal society predominated by males. Lack of proper
education and training makes for huge gaps in womens knowledge and skill
levels.
The traditional role perceptions of males and females has undergone very little
change over the years despite the increase in the number of legal and social
safeguards, increased women literacy and entry of women into varied and
diversified occupations. The various psycho-social and socio-cultural factors act
as barriers to womens entry into entrepreneurship and their framework is
quintessential for a business to thrive for any enterprise operates within the
society being a part of it and serves the same society and therefore the
acceptance and perception of the society itself decides the survival and success
of any enterprise.
It is noteworthy that despite all odds many women choose to explore the exciting
career of entrepreneurship striving hard to change the degenerative perceptions
of the society breaking the prevalent socio-cultural barriers as seen in the case
of Sheroes Hangout where the survivors persevered to change the attitude of
society towards them drastically.

Non-governmental organisations: It is highly recognised by the Government


and other bureaucratic bodies that Non-Governmental bodies play a significant
role in uplifting women entrepreneurs. Women subdued in the shackles of socio-
cultural backlogs who themselves imbibe their place in the society to be beneath
than that of men and live in social confinement are the ones towards whom the
initiatives of such bodies is targeted reshaping their perceptions about their
place and significance in the society. Not only changing ideologies NGOs have
emerged stepping forward completely structuring entrepreneur ventures from
scratch and keep them associated to monitor sustenance and provide timely
assistance.

The NGOs involved in entrepreneurship development can be classified


into three types:
Primary Level NGOs: These who mobilize their own resources, operate at
international level and execute developmental activities themselves or through
intermediate fall within this category.
Intermediate NGOs: These procure funds from various agencies, impart
training, and conduct workshops for target work force.
Grass Root Level NGOs: These are those who conduct field activities by
establishing direct contact with the grass-root needy people.

30
The training imparted to the needy by the NGOs can be classified into
three broad types:

Stimulation: Conducting Entrepreneurial Development and other training


programmes for the target people with a view to stimulate enterprising attitude
among them.

Counselling: Providing counselling and consultancy services to the needy ones


how to prepare a project, feasibility report, purchase of plant and machinery, and
performing other procedural activities.

Assistance: Assisting the target group in marketing their products and securing
finance from financial institutions and equipping them with managerial skills.

Here is a list of some of the institutions working for the promotion of women
entrepreneurship.

S.no. Association Name


1 Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs (FIWE)
2 Consortium of Women Entrepreneurs(CWEI)
3 Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA)
4 Women Entrepreneurs Promotion Association (WEPA)
5 The Marketing Organisation of Women Enterprises (MOOWES)
6 Mahakaushal Association of Woman Entrepreneurs (MAWE)
7 SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneurship Council
8 Women Entrepreneurs Association of Tamil Nadu (WEAT)
9 TiE Stree Shakti (TSS)
Table 14: Premier NGO's promoting Women Entrepreneurship in India

Technology: continuing lineage of technological advances and progress in


Information Communication technology has not only streamlined business
operations but has opened new business opportunities to be explored. Change is
inevitable and constant and one who adapts to it survives. Though particularly
technical changes and adaptations are being focused for lately they have proved
to be significant competencies of enterprises and practising it requires specific
skills, expertise and knowledge and therefor they prove to be crucial for women
entrepreneurs to survive in the competitive sphere.
The Indian women entrepreneurial field is swarming with start-ups particularly
exploiting efficiently the technology as a resource mining the best benefits out of
it paving a complete new dimension for women entrepreneurs. Here is a list of
some progressive women entrepreneurs specifically utilising technology as their
resource, infrastructure as well as offering.
Some of the women leading the entrepreneur sphere in India being highly
acknowledged and recognised are as follows:

NAME FIRM/BUSINESS

31
Aditi Avasthi Embibe, edtech startup that combines technology and data
sciences and helps students prepare better for competitive
exams.

Ajaita Shah Frontier Markets, venture connects base of pyramids (BOP)


households in India with high quality and affordable
products.

Aditi Chaurasia EngineerBabu, a company that provides end-to-end IT


services, from to maintenance. They are into Android and
iOS applications development, web design and
development.

Debdutta Upadhaya Timesaverz, helps users hire locally verified and curated
service providers. Marketplace of services.

Manish Raisinghani LogiNext Solutions

Neeru Sharma Infibeam, an e-commerce platform

Suchi Mukherjee Limeroad, an online social discover platform and apparel


market.

Neetu Bhatia KyaZoonga, entertainment and sports ticketing company.

Radhika Ghai Shopclues, a marketplace that connects buyers and sellers


Agarwal online.

Upasana Taaku Mobikwik, a mobile wallet and online payment system.

Ankita Tandon CouponDunia, an online platform for connecting consumers


and reatilers.

Abu Sridharan NextDrop, a social enterprise that lets urban residents


track availability of piped water.

Sairee Chahal Sheroes.in, a social enterprise providing jobs and career


community for women.
Table 15: Technology driven Start-ups in India

Adopting management practices: Although this might seem irrelevant for


every business or organisation follows management practices so proposed in
some way or the other in order to function effectively but certain micro level

32
enterprises run by women operate in inefficiencies due to lack of managerial
aptitude. But lately it was observed through interviewing that enterprises like
boutiques and beauty parlours in Agra had come up with training programs. This
not only provided them a new opportunity to earn more but enabled them to
generate skilled labour and improve labour turnover. Unknowingly implementing
an essential Human resource function of training and development. Moreover,
women have started building marketing networks, indulging in marketing and
advertising activities. Such initiatives and effective learning from development
programs collaborate to the success of small and medium scaled entrepreneurs.

Access and availability of capital and working capital finance: Raising


capital finance has been a major factor inhibiting the growth of entrepreneurs
and the inadequacy of timely access to working capital finance or credit facilities
have proven to be fatal to the sustainability or survival of entrepreneurial
ventures which are already risk laden. Women particularly face difficulties due to
the suppression of the male dominated society, scepticism towards their ability
as entrepreneurs, lack of knowledge and awareness about availing of loans and
advances, failure to provide collateral or security.
The role of scheduled commercial banks has been significantly highlighted to
contribute to developing a financially conducive environment for women
entrepreneurs. Finance being the life-blood of any business its availability and
access essentially determines the growth and survival of any business.
Public sector banks significantly have tailored schemes to promote women
entrepreneurship.
Some of them are as follows:

STATE BANK OF INDIA: SBI has two schemes for women entrepreneurs,

Annapurna Scheme This scheme is designed for women who wish to


establish food catering units, and offers loans up to Rs 50,000 for this
purpose. The loan can be used to purchase kitchen essentials, gas
connections, raw materials, etc. and has a repayment period of 3 years.

Stree Shakti Loans under this scheme can be availed by women


entrepreneurs who have undergone EDP training. Loans up to Rs 50 lakh
can be availed under this plan, with lower interest rates applicable for
higher amounts.

ORIENTAL BANK OF COMMERCE: OBC has two schemes designed for self-
employed women and those who are keen on setting up a beauty parlour/saloon.

Scheme for Beauty parlours/boutiques This scheme aims to promote


entrepreneurial spirit among women, and offers loans up to Rs 10 lakh to
set up a saloon, boutique, tailoring centre or beauty parlour. The loan
amount can be used to meet any expenditure associated with setting up
such a center and for daily expenses.

33
Scheme for self-employed women This loan can be utilised to
purchase fixed assets to enhance or start a business. The maximum loan
amount is limited to Rs 5 lakh, with a repayment period ranging between 5
and 7 years.

BANK OF BARODA: offers one loan scheme for women entrepreneurs, the
Akshaya Mahila Athik Sahay Yojna (AMASY), designed to help women reach their
business dreams without having to worry about finances. This loan can be
availed by women who are engaged in or wish to establish a business in retail
trade, cottage industries and/or allied agricultural activities.

DENA BANK: offers an exclusive scheme to aid female entrepreneurs, providing


them sufficient financial help to build an enterprise. Loans can be availed as per
RBI directions, with the amount varying according to the sector in which a
woman wishes to establish a venture. This loan can be used for agriculture,
MSMEs, education, housing and retail trade. Borrowers are also eligible for a
special interest rate which is 0.25% lower than prevailing rates.

PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK: PNB offers 5 different schemes for women


entrepreneurs, each one targeting a specific population.

PNB Mahila Samridhi Yojana: This scheme was launched to provide


financial assistance to women who wish to set up boutiques, beauty
parlours, cyber cafes, Xerox stores, telephone booths, etc.
PNB Mahila Udyam Nidhi Scheme: This scheme aims to reduce the
gap in equity, helping women set up new ventures in the small scale
sector or enhance their current undertakings.
PNB Scheme for financing crches: This scheme aims to provide
financial assistance to women who are keen on setting up crches. The
loan can be used to purchase the necessary materials and to meet any
recurring expenditure.
PNB Mahila Sashaktikaran Abhiyan: This scheme provides credit to
women who intend to establish small and micro enterprises in the non-
farm sector, offering fee waiver and lower interest rate.
PNB Kalyani Card Scheme: This scheme provides loans for women
engaged in agricultural, farm or non-farm activities.

BHARATIYA MAHILA BANK: The Bank encourages women entrepreneurs


through financial support to women who intend to start a new venture.
Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs), have been signed with Lakme, Naturals
and Cavinkare to help women set up beauty salons. In the current Indian
sociological set up, women do not own immovable properties and this becomes a
stumbling block to women to pursue their dreams. Understanding this, the Bank
offers a collateral free loan of upto Rupees One crore, covered under Credit
Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE).

34
The Bank also offers several women centric loan products, to help women
unleash their potential by starting small and medium enterprises in any field
where they could bring out their hidden talents. BMB Parvarish - Child Day Care
Centre Loan, BMB Annapurna Catering Services Loan are some of the women
focussed, innovative, loan products. The Bank also reaches out to the last mile
through tie-ups with NGOs, Micro Finance Institutions and other organisations of
repute for micro credit loans to women.

Government initiatives: empowering women has become a social and political


agenda in the country, realising the importance of women participation in the
success of any economic development strategy and in lieu of their rising role in
the society it is instrumental for the Government to educate and equip women
entrepreneurs from socially stricken backgrounds giving them an equal
opportunity to thrive. The Government through the ministry of Micro, Small and
Medium enterprises has set up offices in various cities each having a distinct cell
for women.
It has become the prime functioning for Government to initiate Entrepreneurial
development programs, undertake financial assistance schemes, provide for
managerial and technical assistances and safeguarding the same create a
conducive accepting environment for women to thrive in entrepreneurial sphere.
In conversation with Mr. Rajeev Kumar, Assistant Director, MSME- Development
Institute, Agra, various endeavours of the ministry were highlighted:
Year round Industrial motivational campaigns.
Wherein all schemes are publicised.
Organising entrepreneurial development programs for women with special
reference to technical and marketing assistance.
Implementation of important schemes of central government like TREAD
(Trade Related Entrepreneurship Development) for women which include
subsidiaries, grants and development assistance.
MATU: Marketing assistance and Technological Upgradation specifically
targeted for women entrepreneurs.
Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Program proving subsidies to
rural and urban women entrepreneurs.

A congenial environment is needed to be created to enable women to participate


actively in the entrepreneurial activities. There is a need of Government, non-
Government, promotional and regulatory agencies to come forward and play the
supportive role in promoting the women entrepreneur in India. The Government
of India has also formulated various training and development cum employment
generations programs for the women to start their ventures. These programmes
are as follows:

Steps taken in Seventh Five-Year Plan (1985-90)

35
In the seventh five-year plan, a special chapter on the Integration of women in
development was introduced which suggested to treat women as a specific
target groups in all major development programs of the country.

Arranging training facilities: It is also suggested in the chapter to


devise and diversify vocational training facilities for women to suit their
changing needs and skills.

Developing new equipments: Efforts should be made to increase their


efficiency and productivity through appropriate technologies, equipments
and practices.

Marketing assistance: It was suggested to provide the required


assistance for marketing the products produced by women entrepreneurs.

Decision-making process: It was also suggested to involve the women


in decision-making process.

Steps taken by Government during Eight Five-Year Plan (1992-97)

The Government of India devised special programs to increases employment and


income-generating activities for women in rural areas. The following plans are
lunched during the Eight-Five Year Plan:

Prime Minister Rojgar Yojana and Entrepreneurial Development Programs


(EDPs) were introduced to develop entrepreneurial qualities among rural
women.

Women in agriculture scheme was introduced to train women farmers


having small and marginal holdings in agriculture and allied activities.

To generate more employment opportunities for women Khadi and


Village Industries Commission (KVIC) took special measures in remote
areas.

Women co-operatives schemes were formed to help women in agro-based


industries like dairy farming, poultry, animal husbandry, horticulture etc.
with full financial support from the Government.

Several other schemes like Integrated Rural Development Programs


(IRDP), Training of Rural youth for Self-employment (TRYSEM) were
started. 30-40% reservation was provided to women under these schemes.

36
Steps taken by Government during Ninth Five-Year Plan (1997-02):

Economic development and growth is not achieved fully without the


development of women entrepreneurs. The Government of India has introduced
the following schemes for promoting women entrepreneurship because the
future of small scale industries depends upon the women-entrepreneurs:

Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development


(TREAD) scheme was lunched by Ministry of Small Industries to develop
women entrepreneurs in rural, semi-urban and urban areas by developing
entrepreneurial qualities.

Women Component Plant, a special strategy adopted by Government to


provide assistance to women entrepreneurs.

Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana and Swaran Jayanti


Sekhari Rozgar Yojana were introduced by government to provide
reservations for women and encouraging them to start their ventures.

New schemes named Women Development Corporations were introduced


by government to help women entrepreneurs in arranging credit and
marketing facilities.

State Industrial and Development Bank of India (SIDBI) introduced


following schemes to assist the women entrepreneurs. These schemes are:

Mahila Udyam Nidhi


Micro Credit Scheme for Women
Mahila Vikas Nidhi
Women Entrepreneurial Development Programmes
Marketing Development Fund for Women

Steps taken by Government in Tenth five year plan (2002-07): aimed at


empowering women through translating the recently adopted National Policy for
Empowerment of Women (2001) into action and ensuring Survival, Protection
and Development of women and children through rights based approach.

Some other initiatives

The following training schemes and assistances specifically for the self-
employment of women are introduced by government:

Support for Training and Employment Programme of Women (STEP).

Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA).

37
Small Industry Service Institutes (SISIs)

State Financial Corporations

National Small Industries Corporations

District Industrial Centres (DICs)

The efforts of government and its different agencies are ably supplemented by
NGOs that are playing an equally important role in facilitating women
empowerment. Despite concerted efforts of governments and NGOs there are
certain gaps. Of course they have come a long way in empowering women yet
the future journey is difficult and demanding.

CONCLUSION
Despite all the odds that a working woman of today faces, there is an
unprecedented rise in women entrepreneurship in India Today, more women than
ever before earn a better living than previous generations in India's history. In
the business sector, they are on the wheel of increasing entrepreneurship and
new business ideas and are reaching new professional heights. There may be
many women who want to work but are not getting the opportunity to even
attempt to do so. For this, they need access to the necessary information,
education, credit, training and above all motivation to take on the challenges. In
India, women today have emerged as a force to reckon with. Women need to
believe in themselves and create an ecosystem to achieve success. And this can
be done through education, continuous learning, sharing, support for each other
and above all creating women's support networks. Despite the growth MSMEs,
there still lies a vacuum which can be filled by women entrepreneurs to not only
achieve stable monetary growth, but also break the socio-economic barriers
prevalent in the society. So, it is a wake-up call for women to embrace and
increasingly leverage the benefits of the internet and e-commerce A capable and

38
empowered woman can pick up a job any day, but if she becomes an
entrepreneur, she can provide livelihood to many people.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY


The study was based on a small sample of a single city (Agra).
The respondents were shy and hesitant to answer openly which might have not
revealed certain aspects.
Access to certain databases about impact assessment about development
programs could reveal the true picture which are not accessable.

SCOPE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH


Results from various cities can be collaborated, compared to provide better
inputs, identifying various other variables. Impact assessment of the working of
the Government under promotion of women entrepreneurship can be taken up to
gauge its contribution in the growth and success of the same.

REFERENCES
Terjesen, Siri and Lloyd, Ainsley (2015), The Female Entrepreneurial Index:
Analyzing the conditions that foster high potential female entrepreneurship in 77
countries.
Shah, Hina (2013), Creating an enabling environment for womens
entrepreneurship in India.
Kumar, S., Chandrika, H.S., Vijaya and Lokeshwari, N (2013), The role of women
entrepreneurship in Modern World.
Chander S. and Arora, D.D. (2013), Study of financial problems of women
entrepreneurs.

39
Trivedi, M.P. and Gaur, Ashok (2015), The Role of Women entrepreneurs in Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)
Tambunan, Tulus (2009), Women entrepreneurship in Asian development
countries: Their development and main constraints.
Goyal, Meenu and Prakash, Jai (2011), Women Entrepreneurship in India-
Problems and Prospects.
Kumar, Dharmendra (2014), Socio-Cultural Influence on Women Entrepreneurs: A
study of Uttarakhand State.
Suganthi, J. (2009), Influence of Motivational factors on women entrepreneurship
in SMEs.
Sinha, D.K. , Role of NGOs in developing rural entrepreneurship in India.
Gandhi, Dheeraj and Sharma, Vaibhav (2014), Women Entrepreneurship: The
Emerging Economic workforce in the 21st century
http://her.yourstory.com/women-entrepreneurs-2015-1224
http://www.funddreamsindia.com/campaign/dreams-of-an-acid-attack-
survivor/98/
http://msmediagra.gov.in/womentread.htm
http://smallb.sidbi.in/%20/fund-your-business%20/additional-benefits-msmes
%20/women-entrepreneurship

APPENDIX
QUESTIONNAIRE ON WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Respected Maam, I am Manish Sujanani, a student pursuing Bachelors of


Business Management as a part of which I have undertaken a research on
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP following which I would like to request you to kindly
answer the questions herewith for the same purpose. Information furnished by
you shall be absolutely confidential.

1. Name: _________________________________________________________
2. What is your educational qualification?

40
a. Primary Level
b. Secondary Level
c. Tertiary Level (University or college education)
Specify __________________________________________________________

3. Marital status
Married Unmarried Divorced Widow

4. Name, nature/type of business/operations:


_____________________________________

5. Is your business/enterprise legally registered?


Yes No
If No, then please specify the reason _______________________________

6. What is the network of your business operations/where is your enterprise


established?
a. Rural
b. Urban
c. Semi-urban

7. What according to you is the state of your enterprise/business?


a. In profit
b. In loss
c. Stable/stagnant
d. Fluctuates seasonally
8. What motivated you to start your own business?
Please indicate the intensity of motivation for each of the following factors:
(Please tick for each factor accordingly)

Factor Highly Averagely Least


motivated motivated motivated
Career oriented (ambition)
Means of survival (financial
stability and security)
Venturing marketing
opportunities to earn more.
To become independent
Ones self-esteem
Social recognition and repute
Sense of social responsibility
Establish family business
Contributing to household
Please specify if any other factors____________________________________________

41
9. Please specify the level of motivation and support from the following
relations/entities:
(Please tick for each factor accordingly)

Entity High Neutral Low


Self
Children
Husband and family
Parents and siblings
Relatives
Friends
Society
Industry/competition
Government in form of development programs and
schemes
Examples of progressive women entrepreneurs

Please specify if any other ____________________________________________

10.What were the sources of finance for your business?


a. Self-financed
b. Loan from formal institutions (Banks, Co-operatives)
c. Loan from informal sources
d. Borrowings from friends and relatives
e. Crowd financing

Please specify if any other sources__________________________________

Have you availed any financial assistance under any governmental scheme?
Yes No

If Yes, please specify __________________________________________

11.What are the major obstacles/problems you encountered initially or


experience now?(Please tick the preferences according to time)

Obstacle/Problem Initially Now


Self-confidence
Societal response/acceptance
Family support
Work-life balance (managing household and
business)
Financial assistance (raising or availing

42
loans/finance)

Lack of information/consultancy/knowledge

Stiff competition
Availability of labour
Adopting technological advances/Technical
assistance
Legal regulations
Unaware about government assistance/schemes

Please specify if any other obstacles/problems


______________________________________

12.Does your family participate/help/assist in your business?


Yes No

If Yes, then please specify who and in what manner?


________________________________

13.Are you affiliated or aided by any social body/Non-governmental


organisation?
Yes No

If Yes, then please specify the nature of affiliation or aid.


________________________________________________________________

14.Have you considered expanding your business in any way?


Yes No

If Yes, what are the major obstacles; if No, what are the reasons?
a. Lack of expertise/information
b. Inadequate finance
c. Availability of labour
d. Adopting advanced technology
e. Risk associated
Please specify if any other reason or obstacle
___________________________

15.Are you aware about the specific schemes of banks and state and central
government intended to promote and assist women entrepreneurs
specifically?
Yes No

If Yes, then please specify which ones

43
16.Please state your opinion about the following statements.
(Please tick accordingly for each statement)

Statement Agre Neutr Disagr


e al ee
Women entrepreneurs are an essential part towards a
progressive and developing economy.

Lack of knowledge, managerial and entrepreneurial


skills are key obstacles for women entrepreneurs.
Financial institutions are generally sceptical about
entrepreneurial abilities of women. As a result there
are inadequate financial resources for women.
Government recommends training and development
and credit (financial) schemes would help working
women develop and advance.

Technology has revolutionised business operations.


Has it become a necessity to adapt to latest
technology for a business to survive.
Non-governmental bodies play a significant role in
uplifting women entrepreneurs.

What have been the major aspects/factors that have helped you over the years
to persevere in your business. What has contributed to the growth and
sustainability of your business supporting and pushing you in times of adversity
and has helped you survive, adapt and advance. What significant changes you
have seen experienced or adopted?

44

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