PROBLEMS OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN INDIA

A woman working as entrepreneur is not a new concept. They have been running enterprises at an individual level or with their spouses, successfully, since ages, though they have never got the credit or appreciation for the same. With time they have learn’t the tricks of the trade and with experience have improved in terms of managerial and leadership skills. Unlike male counterparts, women entrepreneurs have different objectives behind starting an enterprise. It is the sense of achievement and not of earning only profit that motivates them to be entrepreneurs. The objective is different, and so are the problems faced by they and they should have a fair idea of the same so that they can deal with them tactfully.

The foremost problem faced by women entrepreneurs is that of financing and they usually come across gender discrimination when it comes to convincing and obtaining of financial aid from the financial institutions. Also at times there is resistance from the government institutions for the purchase of goods and services from the women entrepreneurs, though this attitude is changing now. Another issue faced by women entrepreneurs is that of balancing time that they have to execute between their venture and the family. They have to take care of the needs of their children and also execute the managerial functions of their business.

So, it can be said that the work load of a women entrepreneur is comparatively more than that of their male counterpart. Absence of strong infrastructure, lack of educational or training programs so as to improve their technical skills with respect to the enterprise, inefficient system, casual approach of the employees towards their authority and non supportive cultural & social obstacles that view women entrepreneurship negatively can also be some of the problems faced by women entrepreneurs.

Push-Pull factors and Women in business
Women in business are a recent phenomenon in India. By and large they had confined themselves to petty business and tiny cottage industries. Women entrepreneurs engaged in business due to push and pull factors. Which encourage women to have an independent occupation and stand on their own legs? A sense towards independent decision-making on their life and career is the motivational factor behind this urge. Saddled with household chores and domestic responsibilities women want to get independence under the influence of these factors the women entrepreneurs choose a profession as a challenge and as an urge to do something new. Such situation is described as pull factors. While in push factors women engaged in business activities due to family compulsion and the responsibility is thrust upon them.

Women in India are faced many problems to get ahead their life in business. A few problems can be detailed as;

1. The greatest deterrent to women entrepreneurs is that they are women.  A kind of patriarchal – male dominant social order is the building block to them in their way towards business success. Male members think it a big risk financing the ventures run by women.
2. The financial institutions are skeptical about the entrepreneurial abilities of women. The bankers put unrealistic and unreasonable securities to get loan to women entrepreneurs. According to a report by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization UNIDO, "despite evidence those women’s loan repayment rates are higher than men's, women still face more difficulties in obtaining credit," often due to discriminatory attitudes of banks and informal lending groups.
3. Entrepreneurs usually require financial assistance of some kind to launch their ventures - be it a formal bank loan or money from a savings account. Women in developing nations have little access to funds, due to the fact that they are concentrated in poor rural communities with few opportunities to borrow money.
4. Women's family obligations also bar them from becoming successful entrepreneurs in both developed and developing nations. "Having primary responsibility for children, home and older dependent family members, few women can devote all their time and energies to their business".
5. Indian women give more emphasis to family ties and relationships. Married women have to make a fine balance between business and home. More over the business success is depends on the support the family members extended to women in the business process and management.
6. Another argument is that women entrepreneurs have low-level management skills. They have to depend on office staffs and intermediaries, to get things done, especially, the marketing and sales side of business. Here there is more probability for business fallacies like the intermediaries take major part of the surplus or profit.
7. The male - female competition is another factor, which develop hurdles to women entrepreneurs in the business management process. Despite the fact that women entrepreneurs are good in keeping their service prompt and delivery in time, due to lack of organizational skills compared to male entrepreneurs women have to face constraints from competition.
8. Knowledge of alternative source of raw materials availability and high negotiation skills are the basic requirement to run a business.  Getting the raw materials from different sources with discount prices is the factor that determines the profit margin. Lack of knowledge of availability of the raw materials and low-level negotiation and bargaining skills are the factors, which affect women entrepreneur's business adventures.
9. Knowledge of latest technological changes, know how, and education level of the person are significant factor that affect business. The literacy rate of women in India is found at low level compared to male population. Many women in developing nations lack the education needed to spur successful entrepreneurship. They are ignorant of new technologies or unskilled in their use, and often unable to do research and gain the necessary training.
10. Low-level risk taking attitude is another factor affecting women folk decision to get into business. Low-level education provides low-level self-confidence and self-reliance to the women folk to engage in business, which is continuous risk taking and strategic cession making profession. Investing money, maintaining the operations and ploughing back money for surplus generation requires high risk taking attitude, courage and confidence.
11. Achievement motivation of the women folk found less compared to male members.  The low level of education and confidence leads to low level achievement and advancement motivation among women folk to engage in business operations and running a business concern.
12. Finally high production cost of some business operations adversely affects the development of women entrepreneurs. The installation of new machineries during expansion of the productive capacity and like similar factors dissuades the women entrepreneurs from venturing into new areas.

Development Of Women Entrepreneurs.
Right efforts on from all areas are required in the development of women entrepreneurs and their greater participation in the entrepreneurial activities. Following efforts can be taken into account for effective development of women entrepreneurs.

1. Consider women as specific target group for all developmental programmes.
2. Better educational facilities and schemes should be extended to women folk from government part.
3. Adequate training programme on management skills to be provided to women community.
4. Encourage women's participation in decision-making.
5. Vocational training to be extended to women community that enables them to Understand the production process and production management.
6. Skill development to be done in women's polytechnics and industrial training institutes. Skills are put to work in training-cum-production workshops.
7. Training on professional competence and leadership skill to be extended to women  entrepreneurs.
8. Training and counseling on a large scale of existing women entrepreneurs to remove  Psychological causes like lack of self-confidence and fear of success.
9. Counseling through the aid of committed NGOs, psychologists, managerial experts and technical personnel should be provided to existing and emerging women  Entrepreneurs.
10. Continuous monitoring and improvement of training programmes.
11. Activities in which women are trained should focus on their Marketability and  Profitability.
12. Making provision of marketing and sales assistance from government part.
13. To encourage more passive women entrepreneurs the Women training programme  Should be organized that taught to recognize her own psychological needs and express them.
14. State finance corporations and financing institutions should permit by statute to extend purely trade related finance to women entrepreneurs.
15. Women's development corporations have to gain access to open-ended financing.
16. The financial institutions should provide more working capital assistance both for small scale venture and large scale ventures.
17. Making provision of micro credit system and enterprise credit system to the women  entrepreneurs at local level.
18. Repeated gender sensitization programmes should be held to train financiers to treat Women with dignity and respect as persons in their own right.
19. Infrastructure, in the form of industrial plots and sheds, to set up industries is to be provided by state run agencies.
20. Industrial estates could also provide marketing outlets for the display and sale of products made by women.
21. A Women Entrepreneur's Guidance Cell set up to handle the various problems of Women entrepreneurs all over the state .
22. District Industries Centers and Single Window Agencies should make use of assisting Women in their trade and business guidance.
23. Programmes for encouraging entrepreneurship among women are to be extended at  local level.
24. Training in entrepreneurial attitudes should start at the high school level through well- designed courses, which build confidence through behavioral games.
25. More governmental schemes to motivate women entrepreneurs to engage in small scale and large-scale business ventures.
26. Involvement of Non Governmental Organizations in women entrepreneurial training     programmes and counseling.

CONCLUSION
Independence brought promise of equality of opportunity in all sphere to the Indian women and laws guaranteeing for their 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. The large majority of them are still unaffected by change and development activities have benefited only a small section of women i.e. the urban middle class women. The large majority of them are still unaffected by change and development. The reasons are well sighted in the discussion part of this article. It is hoped that the suggestions forwarded in the article will help the entrepreneurs in particular and policy-planners in general to look into this problem and develop better schemes, developmental programmes and opportunities to the women folk to enter into more entrepreneurial ventures. This article here tries to recollect some of the successful women entrepreneurs like Ekta Kapoor, Creative Director, Balaji Telefilms, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CEO, Biocon, Shahnaz Husain and Vimalben M Pawale, Ex President, Sri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad (SMGULP).

REFERENCES

1. Renuka V. (2001) Opportunities and challenges for women in business, India Together, Online Report, Civil Society Information Exchange Pvt. Ltd.
2. Dhameja S K (2002), Women Entrepreneurs: Opportunities, performance, problems, Deep publications (p) Ltd, New Delhi, p 11.

Rashmi.B
Research Scholar (Ph.D), Bangalore University.