Women’s entrepreneurship in rural areas

A 2004 study investigates women’s satisfaction in being entrepreneurs, and

explores the reasons why they start their own business. It also considers the main
problems and obstacles facing entrepreneurship.

A study, Rural women’s entrepreneurship (805Kb pdf; in Estonian), was carried out

in 2004 by the Network of Entrepreneurial Women (Ettevõtlikud Naised Eestimaal ,
ETNA), at the initiative of theFemale Entrepreneurs’ Meeting in the Baltic Sea
Region. The research investigates the current situation and perspectives regarding
female entrepreneurship in rural areas, and outlines women’s opinions about
entrepreneurship in Estonia. According to the Estonian Labour Force Survey, there
were around 6,000 self-employed women in rural areas in 2003 and the expected
sample size was 600 women. In the end, 393 women, aged 18-64 years and living
in rural areas, were interviewed. Two thirds of them already own their own
business, with or without employees, while others had thought about starting their
own business.

In addition to these interviews, several focus group interviews were conducted.

Some 22 women were involved in a group discussion, where they shared their
experiences as entrepreneurs. The focus group identified problems - weaknesses of
support systems, little knowledge about marketing, lack of training and consulting
possibilities, etc. Representatives of the Credit and Export Guarantee Fund KredEx
(Krediidi- ja Ekspordi Garanteerimise Sihtasutus KredEx ) and the Ministry of
Economic Affairs and Communications (Majandus- ja
Kommunikatsiooniministeerium ) were present at several focus group sessions in
order to clarify the institutional support available for entrepreneurship among
women and for entrepreneurs in rural areas.

Women’s entrepreneurship

According to the Tax and Customs Board (Maksu- ja Tolliamet ), only 39.1% of sole
proprietors are women. However, according to the Estonian Labour Force Survey,
the employment rate of women aged 15-64 years was 59.8% in 2004. Nonetheless,
there are six counties in Estonia (all having a high share of rural areas), where the
employment rate is lower than the 57% target set for women by 2005 in the Lisbon
strategy.

According to this study, the majority of female entrepreneurs are 36-65 years old
and only one third are younger than 35 years. The percentage of entrepreneurs
increases with age, perhaps indicating that women often start their own business
when they cannot find a convenient job nearby. The majority of respondents have
family relations: 79% are married or cohabiting, and 62% have at least one child
younger than 18 years. Having children does not seem to be a constraint for
women in starting their own business.
Generally, women are active in areas that do not require large investment: services
(beauty-services, hairdressing, sewing, etc), tourism and agriculture. In addition,
many women also work in another area, in order to decrease the business risk.
Women tend to start their businesses slowly, take fewer risks than men, and try to
avoid taking out loans.

Figure 1 outlines the main reasons for becoming an entrepreneur. The primary
driving forces are the wish to have a job and earn money, but also to be financially
independent and/or have flexible working time. For many women, the possibilities
of gaining new experience and knowledge, as well as testing one’s business
capacity, are important factors.

Obstacles of entrepreneurship

Figure 2 gives an overview of the obstacles and problems of entrepreneurship. The

scarcity of financial resources sets limitations on business development and is
usually a serious problem for entrepreneurs. Scarcity of financial resources also
relates to low purchasing power of clients in rural areas, high taxes and few support
schemes.
Most of these problems characterise business start-ups in general in Estonia and
not only for female entrepreneurs. The main obstacles for a business start-up,
according to the study, were:

 lack of financial resources;

 lack of knowledge (marketing, sales, accounting, etc);

 unstable legislation regulating business activities (accounting rules,

compulsory statistics, etc).

The study did not find a negative attitude towards female entrepreneurship. In the
list of possible obstacles, one question suggested the underestimation of women as
entrepreneurs. However, 64% of respondents stated that this was not a barrier,
and only 15% stated that it was.

The survey also casts light on the problems that arise in reconciling
entrepreneurship and family life. Women mentioned that they do not have enough
time for their family, home, children, or for themselves and their hobbies.
Nevertheless, only 18% have used the help of a housekeeper and 14% have hired
baby-sitters. Respondents also pointed out that there are limited possibilities for
taking a vacation, as they face difficulties in finding a replacement and it can be
complicated to coordinate holiday time with the other family members’ free time.

Women’s expectations

The respondents’ expectations regarding supportive arrangements are:

  more support from financial institutions, particularly in obtaining micro
credit;

 one institution to coordinate issues of rural entrepreneurship. At present,

there are several institutions in Estonia dealing with different aspects of
entrepreneurship, and usually people do not know whom they should
approach with their questions or problems. In addition, the requirements for
financial support in these institutions are different.

 more training and advice opportunities. Main areas of training include

legislation, foreign languages and marketing. Also, there is need for advice in
accounting, taxation, and the different support programmes and funding
resources available.

Reference

Talves, K. and Laas, A., Maanaiste ettevõtlus (Rural women’s entrepreneurship ),

Female Entrepreneurs’ Meeting in the Baltic Sea Region, Tartu, 2004.

Featured: Women entrepreneurs: Transforming

society by Tithe FarhanaFeb 09, 2011 - 03:17 PM
(0)     |    Women entrepreneurs of Bangladesh have been transforming their small individual house
based business activities into new business ventures or enterprises for the last three decades, mostly from the family
back-up rather than institutional support They have proved that they have a tremendous potential in empowering
women and transforming society.

“While my husband faced losses in his business in the early 90s, my mother Jahanara Begum, renowned as the
queen of cottage industry, inspired and guided me that it was time to set up my own business. I got enough
opportunity to organise resources to establish my business. Nevertheless I had to struggle against the hurdles of the
surrounding environment. Now I have been running 8 business ventures and almost 200 people are working in them,”
expressed Setarra, owner of Purbasha & Agrani Cottage Industry of Comilla.

Similarly, Awadita Mou, owner of Prothoma, a renowned fashion brand of Sylhet, shared her own story. “From my
childhood, I had deep passion for designing and production of handicrafts which came from my parental inspiration
and their work. After completing HSC, I started my own business with financial aid from my father. In spite of having
completed education in English literature, I have established myself as an entrepreneur, which has helped me to be
empowered.”

Setarra and Mou’s experiences are actual phenomenon of woman entrepreneurship of Bangladesh. Women
entrepreneurs are not only playing a dominating role in household management and woman empowerment but also
contributing to movement in economic development. According to ILO, an entrepreneur is that person who has a set
of characteristics that typically include self-confidence, result-oriented, risk-taking, leadership, originality, and future-
oriented. 

Over the past two decades, woman development programmes have gradually shifted from the consumption oriented
approach to the development approach. Article 38 of the Constitution of Bangladesh has ensured the rights of women
while article 19 focuses on the Government’s role for the removal of social and economic inequalities between man
and woman. The government of Bangladesh has set distinct strategies in its National Action Plan (NAP) for the
development of women entrepreneurship that includes tax holiday, gift tax etc. The Beijing declaration platform for
action includes the right of women for credit as a basic precondition for the development of women entrepreneurship. 
Rubina H Farouq, General Secretary of Women Entrepreneurs Association and Director of Institute of Hotel
Management and Hospitality Ltd said, “In spite of the implementation of rules and regulations by the Government,
women entrepreneurs operating in the rural and urban areas are bounded by some social customs, strong religious
barriers, and unsatisfactory traditional norms creating obstacles in their smooth operation.” 

ASM Mashi-ur-Rahman, General Manager, MIDAS (Micro Industries Development Assistance and Service)
commented in this regard. “In view of this problem it is somewhat difficult for the organisations to perform their
activities and programmes, especially in dealing with women entrepreneurs working under several social constraints,
from getting trade licences to assess to banks.” 

Md Mizanoor Rahman, Md Ibrahim Hossain, and Abdus Shahid have demonstrated in their research “Problems of
Women Entrepreneurship Development: A Study of Grameen Bank Finance on Some Selected Areas” that social
dishonour, especially in rural areas, are a common societal norm while rural women entrepreneurs constitute a vital
segment for loaners of Bangladesh. Poor access to institutional finance is another factor hampering the smooth
operating of their business. 

Rubina H Farouq said in this context, “Most of the women entrepreneurs of all categories opined that they could not
expand their business mainly due to shortage of capital.” Md Saiful Islam and Md Aktaruzzaman have conducted a
research on rural entrepreneurs. They conducted a research on Bangladesh Krishi Bank. Out of the total 120 rural
entrepreneurs, 75 per cent faced marketing problems, 14.4 per cent forum desirable competition in the market, 21.1
per cent pricing problem due to high production cost, and 11.1 per cent low demand of production. 

According to Mashi-ur-Rahman, risk assess management capacity is a major factor for development of
entrepreneurship. Our entrepreneurs, especially rural women, mostly depend on traditional technologies. They don’t
have many financial resources. Most of them depend on monetary support from husband and family, so they are not
conscious about taking risks by introducing new technology. 

In the same way, Fatima Choudhury, a promising woman entrepreneur and owner of beauty parlour “Women’s
World” of Sylhet expressed, “We cannot take risks as we have limitations in financial factors. Most of the female
entrepreneurs depend on family support, so there is no outcome to improve in technology. Banks are not so
interested to give loans on a large scale. Moreover, business plans and skill developments are totally absent from the
ideology of professional development of women entrepreneurs.” 

Another survey by Md Saiful Islam and Md Aktaruzzaman reveals that most of female businesswomen lack business
ideology and professional proficiency. For example, their survey data reveals 78 per cent females have no
knowledge; only 4 per cent rural entrepreneurs have experience and knowledge more than seven years. Professor
Masuda M Rashid Choudhury, former director of FBCCI and Vice President of National Association of Small and
Cottage Industries of Bangladesh and President of Association of Bangladesh Women Entrepreneurs and
Professionals, pointed her fingers to women organisations and associations who are broadcasting their activities
through media, more than performing responsibilities to rural and marginal women. She also expressed her
dissatisfaction about programmes of commercial banking systems that are not actually practicing the policies of
Bangladesh Bank in favour of women entrepreneurs. 

A recent study of MIDAS recommended that young women both in rural and urban areas are expressing their
engagement in diversified entrepreneurship including agriculture, livestock, service industries, fisheries, and cottage
industry. “From the above study it is clear that women are interested to be empowered and self-employed,”
commented ASM Mashi-ur-Rahman. 

Rubina H Farouq considered that the commitment of the Government might flourish entrepreneurship development
but such commitment would require establishing entrepreneurship development policy and rules. The Government
requires setting up the rules by putting into operation the existing laws and generating codes to uphold income
generating programmes in rural areas and hilly regions and needs to be more proactive in monitoring credit
operations of various NGOs through proper audit and control. Similarly, she stressed the role of family and appealed
the civil society to come forward and take different initiatives in order to change the social attitude towards women. 

Rubina H Farouq has recommended the following to facilitate women entrepreneurs: Simplification of sanctioning
loan procedures, reducing the rate of interest, loan without collateral security, and linking loan with industrial policy
and women development policy. Further, Professor Masuda M Rashid Choudhury emphasised providing necessary
financial assistance and skill development programmes to the tribal women especially in Sylhet, Mymensinh, and
Chittagong. Hill Tracts that have an affluent and diversified weaving heritage have emancipated tribal women to
achieve a self-employed identity. She called for attention to introducing technology to women entrepreneurs and
development and organisation of programmmes through women organisations and associations to marginal and
under-privileged females which are prime conditions for women advancement, socially and economically. 

What are the problems faced by Women

Entrepreneur in India ?
APARIJITA SINHA

BUSINESS

Women entrepreneurs face a series of problems right from the beginning till the the enterprise
functions. Being a woman itself poses various problems to a woman entrepreneur, The problems of
Indian women pertains to her responsibility towards family, society and lion work.

The tradition, customs, socio cultural values, ethics, motherhood subordinates to ling husband and
men, physically weak, hard work areas, feeling of insecurity, cannot be tough etc are some peculiar
problems that the Indian women are coming across while they jump into entrepreneurship.

Women in rural areas have to suffer still further. They face tough resistance from men. They are
considered as helpers. The attitude of society towards her and constraints in which she has to live
and work are not very conducive.

Besides the above basic problems the other problems faced by women entrepreneurs are as follows:

1. Family ties:

Women in India are very emotionally attached to their families. They are supposed to attend to all
the domestic work, to look after the children and other members of the family. They are over burden
with family responsibilities like extra attention to husband, children and in laws which take away a
lots of their time and energy. In such situation, it will be very difficult to concentrate and run the
enterprise successfully.

2. Male dominated society:

Even though our constitution speaks of equality between sexes, male chauvinism is still the order of
the day. Women are not treated equal to men. Their entry to business requires the approval of the
head of the family. Entrepreneurship has traditionally been seen as a male preserve. All these puts a
break in the growth of women entrepreneurs.

3. Lack of education:

Women in India are lagging far behind in the field of education. Most of the women (around sixty per
cent of total women) are illiterate. Those who are educated are provided either less or inadequate
education than their male counterpart partly due to early marriage, partly due to son's higher
education and partly due to poverty. Due to lack of proper education, women entrepreneurs remain
in dark about the development of new technology, new methods of production, marketing and other
governmental support which will encourage them to flourish.

4. Social barriers:

The traditions and customs prevailed in Indian societies towards women sometimes stand as an
obstacle before them to grow and prosper. Castes and religions dominate with one another and
hinders women entrepreneurs too. In rural areas, they face more social barriers. They are always
seen with suspicious eyes.

5. Shortage of raw materials:

The scarcity of raw materials, sometimes nor, availability of proper and adequate raw materials
sounds the death-knell of the enterprises run by women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs really
face a tough task in getting the required raw material and other necessary inputs for the enterprises
when the prices are very high.

6. Problem of finance:

Women entrepreneurs stiffer a lot in raising and meeting the financial needs of the business.
Bankers, creditors and financial institutes are not coming forward to provide financial assistance to
women borrowers on the ground of their less credit worthiness and more chances of business failure.
They also face financial problem due to blockage of funds in raw materials, work-in-progress finished
goods and non-receipt of payment from customers in time.

7. Tough competition:

Usually women entrepreneurs employ low technology in the process of production. In a market
where the competition is too high, they have to fight hard to survive in the market against the
organised sector and their male counterpart who have vast experience and capacity to adopt
advanced technology in managing enterprises

8. High cost of production:

Several factors including inefficient management contribute to the high cost of production which
stands as a stumbling block before women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs face technology
obsolescence due to non-adoption or slow adoption to changing technology which is a major factor of
high cost of production.

9.Low risk-bearing capacity:

Women in India are by nature weak, shy and mild. They cannot bear the amount risk which is
essential for running an enterprise. Lack of education, training and financial support from outsides
also reduce their ability to bear the risk involved in an enterprises.

10 Limited mobility:

Women mobility in India is highly limited and has become a problem due to traditional values and
inability to drive vehicles. Moving alone and asking for a room to stay out in the night for business
purposes are still looked upon with suspicious eyes. Sometimes, younger women feel uncomfortable
in dealing with men who show extra interest in them than work related aspects.

11. Lack of entrepreneurial aptitude:

Lack of entrepreneurial aptitude is a matter of concern for women entrepreneurs. They have no
entrepreneurial bent of mind. Even after attending various training programmes on entrepreneur
ship women entrepreneurs fail to tide over the risks and troubles that may come up in an
organisational working.

12. Limited managerial ability:

Management has become a specialised job which only efficient managers perform. Women
entrepreneurs are not efficient in managerial functions like planning, organising, controlling,
coordinating, staffing, directing, motivating etc. of an enterprise. Therefore, less and limited
managerial ability of women has become a problem for them to run the enterprise successfully.

13. Legal formalities:

Fulfilling the legal formalities required for running an enterprise becomes an upheaval task on the
part of an women entrepreneur because of the prevalence of corrupt practices in government offices
and procedural delays for various licenses, electricity, water and shed allotments. In such situations
women entrepreneurs find it hard to concentrate on the smooth working of the enterprise.
14. Exploitation by middle men:

Since women cannot run around for marketing, distribution and money collection, they have to
depend on middle men for the above activities. Middle men tend to exploit them in the guise of
helping. They add their own profit margin which result in less sales and lesser profit.

15. Lack of self confidence:

Women entrepreneurs because of their inherent nature, lack of self-confidence which is essentially a
motivating factor in running an enterprise successfully. They have to strive hard to strike a balance
between managing a family and managing an enterprise. Sometimes she has to sacrifice her
entrepreneurial urge in order to strike a balance between the two.

Women Entrepreneurs: Transforming Society

by  C HI LLI BR EEZ E   on  JULY 15, 2010

in  M IS CELL AN EO US

Article 38 of the Constitution of Bangladesh has ensured the rights of women while article 19 focuses

on government’s role to the removal of social and economic inequalities between man and woman.

This article has been published as submitted by the writer without any editing by

Chillibreeze so you can critique it, in its original format. Please feel free to rate and

comment on this article.

Submit your article and be rated by other Indian writers

Scroll down to the bottom to rate this article.

Author: Tithe Farhana

Women entrepreneurs of Bangladesh have been transforming their small individual house-based

business activities into a new business venture or enterprise for the last three decades mostly from
the family back-up rather than institutional support, and they proved that they have a tremendous

potential in empowering women and transforming society.

“While my husband faced loss in his business in early 90s, my mother Jahanara Begum, renowned as

the queen of cottage industry, inspired and guided me that time to set up my own business. I got

enough opportunity to organise resources to establish my business. Nevertheless I had to struggle

that period against the hurdles of surrounding environment. Now I have been running 8 business

ventures and almost 200 people are working in them,” expressed Setarra, owner of Purbasha & Agrani

Cottage industry of Comilla. Similarly, Awadita Mou, owner of Prothoma, a renowned fashion brand of

Sylhet, shared her own story: “From my childhood, I had deep passion on designing and product of

handicraft which came from my parental inspiration and their work. After completing HSC, I started

my own business with financial aid from my father. In spite of having completed education in English

literature, I have established myself as an entrepreneur that has helped me to be empowered.”

Setarra and Mou’s experiences are actual phenomenon of woman entrepreneurship of Bangladesh.

Women entrepreneurs are not only playing a dominating role in household management and woman

empowerment but also contributing to movement in economic development. According to ILO, an

entrepreneur is that person who has a set of characteristics that typically includes self-confidence,

result-oriented, risk-taking, leadership, originality and future-oriented.

Over the past two decades, woman development programmes have gradually shifted from the

consumption-oriented approach to the development approach. Article 38 of the Constitution of

Bangladesh has ensured the rights of women while article 19 focuses on government’s role to the

removal of social and economic inequalities between man and woman. The government of Bangladesh

has set distinct strategies in its National Action Plan (NAP) for the development of women

entrepreneurship that includes tax holiday, gift tax etc. The Beijing declaration platform for action

includes the right of women for credit as a basic precondition for the development of women

entrepreneurship.

Rubina H Farouq, General Secretary of Women Entrepreneurs Association and Director of Institute of

Hotel Management and Hospitality Ltd said, “In spite of having implemented rules and regulations by

government, women entrepreneurs operating in the rural and urban areas are bounded by some social
customs, strong religious barriers and unsatisfactory traditional norms creating obstacles in their

smooth operation.”

ASM Mashi-ur-Rahman, General Manager, MIDAS (Micro Industries Development Assistance and

Service) commented in this regard: “In view of this problem it is somewhat difficult for the

organisations to perform their activities and programmes, especially in dealing with women

entrepreneurs working under several social constraints, from getting trade licences to assess to

banks.”

Md Mizanoor Rahman, Md Ibrahim Hossain and Abdus Shahid have demonstrated in their research

“Problems of Women Entrepreneurship Development: A Study of Grameen Bank Finance on Some

Selected Areas” – social dishonour especially in rural areas are a common societal norm while rural

women entrepreneurs constitute a vital segment for loaners of Bangladesh.

Poor access to institutional finance is another factor for smooth operating of their business. Rubina H

Farouq said in this context, “Most of the women entrepreneurs of all categories opined that they could

not expand their business mainly due to shortage of capital.”

Md Saiful Islam and Md Aktaruzzaman have conducted a research on rural entrepreneurs. They

conducted a research on Bangladesh Krishi Bank. Out of the total 120 rural entrepreneurs, 75 per cent

faced marketing problems; 14.4 per cent forum desirable competition in the market, 21.1 per cent

pricing problem due to high production cost, and 11.1 per cent low demand of production.

According to Mashi-ur-Rahman, risk assess management capacity is a major factor for development of

entrepreneurship. Our entrepreneurs especially rural women mostly depend on traditional

technologies. They don’t have many financial resources. Most of them depend on monetary support

from husband and family, so they are not conscious about taking risk by introducing new technology.

In the same way, Fatima Choudhury, a promising woman entrepreneur and owner of beauty parlour –

Women’s World – of Sylhet expressed, “We cannot take risk as we have limitation in financial factors.

Most of the female entrepreneurs depend on family support, so there is no outcome to improve in

technology. Banks are not so interested to give loan in large scale. Moreover, business plan and skill

developments are totally absent from ideology of professional development of women entrepreneurs.”
Another survey by Md Saiful Islam and Md Aktaruzzaman reveals that most of female businesswomen

lack business ideology and professional proficiency. For example, their survey data reveals 78 per cent

females have no knowledge, only 4 per cent rural entrepreneurs have experience and knowledge more

than seven years.

Professor Masuda M Rashid Choudhury, former director of FBCCI and Vice-President of National

Association of Small and Cottage Industries of Bangladesh and President of Association of Bangladesh

Women Entrepreneurs and Professionals, pointed her fingers to women organisations and associations

who are broadcasting their activities through media, more than performing responsibilities to rural and

marginal women. She also expressed her dissatisfaction about programmes of commercial banking

systems that are not actually practicing the policies of Bangladesh Bank in favour of women

entrepreneurs.

A recent study of MIDAS recommended that young women both in rural and urban areas are

expressing their engagement in diversified entrepreneurship including agriculture, livestock, service

industries, fisheries and cottage industry that is shown in the table below (according to divisional

categories):

“From the above study it is clear that women are interested to be empowered and self-employed,”

commented ASM Mashi-ur-Rahman. Rubina H Farouq considered that commitment of the government

might flourish entrepreneurship development but such commitment would require establishing

entrepreneurship development policy and rules. The government requires setting up the rules by

putting into operation the existing laws and generates code to uphold income-generating programmes

in rural areas and hilly regions and need to be more proactive in monitoring credit operations of

various NGOs through proper audit and control. Similarly, she stressed the role of family and appealed

the civil society to come forward and take different initiatives in order to change social attitude

towards women.

Rubina H Farouq has recommended the following to facilitate the women entrepreneurs such as,

simplification of sanctioning loan procedures, reducing the rate of interest, loan without collateral

security, linking loan with industrial policy and women development policy. Further, Professor Masuda

M Rashid Choudhury emphasised providing necessary financial assistance and skill development
programmes to the tribal women especially in Sylhet, Mymensinh and Chittagong Hill Tracts who have

affluent and diversified weaving heritage that have emancipated tribal women to achieve a self-

employed identity. She called for attention to introduce technology to women entrepreneurs, develop

and organise programmmes through women organisations and associations to marginal and under-

privileged females which are prime conditions for women advancement, socially and economically.

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