Remarkable journey of women entrepreneurship over decades

According to the Women's Global Entrepreneurship study conducted in US, UK and India, commissioned by Dell, it has been found that the ideal country for a woman starting a business could well be India. Access to resources and availability of knowledge for women entrepreneurs has improved drastically over the years

Due to the growing industrialization, urbanization along with the spread of higher education and awareness, the emergence of Women owned enterprises are highly increasing in the economies of almost all countries.

Women entrepreneurs are fast becoming a force to reckon with in the business world and are not only involved in enterprises for survival but to satisfy their inner urge of creativity and to prove their capabilities. With the spread of education and awareness, women have shifted from the kitchen, handicrafts, and traditional cottage industries to non-traditional higher levels of activities. The Government has also laid special weight age on the requirement for conducting special entrepreneurial training programs for women to enable them to start their own ventures. WE Hub, and initiative of Government of Telangana is one such example who has Financial institutions and banks have also set up cells to help women entrepreneurs.

The Pandemic had a disproportionate impact on women all over the world. In India, which has a vast gender gap, women are even more vulnerable. South Asia has as many as 16 million women-owned businesses, fewer than 20% of all enterprises, with most of them largely single-person operations, and making survival crucial. Women-owned businesses saw a sharp decline in revenue: 73% reported being negatively impacted by the pandemic, and almost 20% were nearly wiped out.

Start-ups from various sectors are addressing their pandemic-related challenges, and then extensively mapping solutions with the prime goal of keeping their business afloat. Re-strategizing and Reconnect with the market are the way to go for start-ups during these tough times.

Deepthi Ravula, Ceo of 'WEHUB' shares, "As an enabler for Women Entrepreneurs, WE HUB's focus during this time of a global pandemic is entirely on ensuring that the start-ups we work with can sustain during this period. We are doing this by working with our start-ups 1-1 to guide them with interventions needed in organizational management, financial remodelling, financial Linkages including debit and credit linkages, Government liaising, new customer acquisition, product diversification, ideation including pivot on a few of our start-ups. With the steps being taken by the State and Central Government to contain the COVID-19 scenario, we as WE HUB are extending our support to Women led enterprises to sustain and scale and be prepared for the post lockdown scenarios."

In 2021, WEHUB has been working with different state governments in India to create avenues to support women entrepreneurs across states like Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir and Assam. We have also started our International startup exchange programmes, built a stronger VC ecosystem so that more Women entrepreneurs can benefit from access to funding.

Rupal Mehta, founder and CEO of MedMarvel Software Solutions Pvt Ltd shares, "During my journey I met Dr Nilesh Kurawale, India's esteemed Epilepsy Neurosurgeon. He introduced me to the challenges faced by Neurophysicians and surgeons in treatment and surgical planning of their patients. In my journey it was very exciting to meet many women entrepreneurs some with brilliant ideas fresh out of college, few have accelerated their pathways in large corporates offering support to other startups, however its very thrilling to meet many more women with expertise and experience in science and technology, returning to the industry as entrepreneurs and leading deep technology start-ups in the field of Healthcare, Education, Agriculture, Ocean Technology and many more.

Prathibha Kunda, managing director of Surendrapuri shares that since the turn of the 21st century, women entrepreneurs in India have progressed from a phase of aspiration to one of ambition.

She adds, "With the widespread awareness and access to education in the Digital Age, women are increasingly involving in businesses of their choice. Families are also more open to women working in different fields. Other than personal front the Government-led policies and schemes, as well as NGO-led initiatives, have helped transform the landscape for women entrepreneurs over the past few years. Women-oriented entrepreneurial training programs, mentorship support, networking platforms, incubators, and accelerators, among others, have enabled the women entrepreneurship ecosystem to grow in prominence and generate more employment opportunities in the country.While historically, there were numerous societal restrictions and barriers for women to enter and manage enterprises, the conversation about women in leadership roles is undoubtedly changing for the better."

Challenges faced by women entrepreneurs

Considering that support from those around you is crucial to successfully establish an enterprise, plenty of aspiring women entrepreneurs struggle with family conflicts and the non-cooperation of their close family members as many still manage to perform the dual roles of a homemaker and an entrepreneur.

As property owners in the past were predominantly males, women are less likely to have access to such properties that can be used as collateral for obtaining business loans/funds from banks and other financial institutions, making the arrangement of finances and support of bankers more difficult. Additionally, the lack of education and know-how, and prevalent levels of illiteracy amongst women as compared to men is the root cause of these gender-based socioeconomic barriers. Regardless each woman has to overcome obstacles, her own limiting beliefs, break the glass ceiling by staying focused on her goals in a gender-neutral manner while respecting the biological cycles.

A few questions like 'Is this your hobby project?' or 'Are there any fulltime male co-founders as backup' does not really fly well with today's empowered woman entrepreneurs.

Currently estimated less than 2% woman led startups get funded, hence more support in this area is extremely desirable.