Encourage Women entrepreneurs Through Diverse Ways
Women Entrepreneurs in India are increasing at a significant rate and are also impacting our society positively. Increasing participation of Women not only in entrepreneurship but also in various leadership roles is encouraging women to work and contribute to society. Women are well known for their leadership skills, persistence, better productivity and high-precision work skills.
Women constitute almost half of the population which when used as a workforce would also deliver a big chunk of society. We have witnessed examples of women such as Falhuni Nayar from Nykaa and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw from Biocon. It is still challenging for some of them to contribute significantly to the economy owing to several structural and societal barriers existing in our country - societal terms, unconscious biases, gender pay gap, unfavourable working conditions and a lack of financial support.
“There are three things when it comes to improving female participation in entrepreneurship. The first is at the society level, the family and friends level. we don't talk enough about women's ambitions, even with our friends. Secondly, there's so much data that says that women only get 2 per cent access to funding and bank loans. So, whether it's grant organisations or government entrepreneurship programs, or special focus private investment vehicles, some of them must have a strong focus on fixing this imbalance. Finally, I believe that female role model and all their messy stories can make such a difference,” said Shreyasi Singh Founder and CEO of Harappa.
Their dedicated attitude towards work and commendable business skills are the qualities that make them a leader today. According to the Statistics In India 20.37 per cent of women are MSME owners which accounts for 23.3 per cent of the labour force. According to McKinsey Global, India can potentially add US$ 700 billion to global GDP by increasing women’s participation in the labour force.
“To increase the participation of women in entrepreneurship, one of the most important things is to identify and assess the sectors where women can establish and grow their businesses. Additionally, it is also necessary to deliver tailored business support, including entrepreneurship training, business continuity management and soft skills training that caters to women’s needs. Modernising existing government certification, grant and loan programmes. Other than that the government can help women entrepreneurs thrive by emphasising science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects (STEM) and digital literacy in education and early training programmes,” Said Priyanka Bhor Co-Founder and Creative Director, uKnowva.
The Indian government has launched many initiatives in the past few years such as Mudra Loan for Women, Annapurna Scheme, Stree Shakti Yojana, Dena Shakti Scheme, and many others. These schemes are usually based on giving financial assistance. However other than this, there should be guidance regarding the business functions through training, corporate environment, financial education, company operations and many more.
“It is important to incorporate a women's entrepreneurial dimension, by encouraging diversity on boards, in venture partnerships and on executive teams, in considering all SMEs and growth policies, for eg: meeting women’s financing needs at all stages of business; supporting mentorship efforts, assisting in business development and support service through training and workshops; providing access to corporate, government and international markets; technology access and utilisation; and facilitating networking events nationally and globally,” said Nikky Gupta Co-Founder and CEO of Teamwork Communications Group.
The government or the corporation should come up with some innovative Ideas to break the conventional barriers and rise in the currently male-dominated system. As a solution one could say that there should be a close knight ecosystem having corporations, institutions and bodies work together to encourage women's entrepreneurship.
