Even though India is home to more than 100 unicorn companies, many female company owners still struggle to find the ideal environment and infrastructure for expanding and sustaining their enterprises. Our cultural prejudices permeate the economic world as well, hindering the development of female entrepreneurs. Here are the three biggest problems that some entrepreneurs in the new Indian economy confront, despite the fact that the industry is plagued by numerous problems.
Being an entrepreneur is difficult, and being a woman makes it even harder. Female business owners frequently struggle much more than their male colleagues to succeed and gain recognition in the business world, despite their efforts and skills. According to the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs, just 7 out of 100 business owners in India are women. Only 20% of firms in the nation are owned by women, according to the Google-Bain analysis, while the World Economic Forum’s 2021 report also reveals a significant gender gap of 72% in India’s labour market. Here are the three biggest problems that some entrepreneurs in the new Indian economy confront, despite the fact that the industry is plagued by numerous problems.
1.Less industries are supportive of women
Men remain predominate in India’s business ecosystem despite the laws and initiatives to advance gender equality. A recent study found that men control the more lucrative industries like manufacturing, construction, and the like, whereas the majority of women-owned enterprises in the nation work in low-revenue areas. The fact that many businesses are dominated by males forces female entrepreneurs to work in fields that have traditionally been regarded as “women-friendly,” including education, fashion, and beauty care, among others. It severely restricts their access to opportunities, experiences, and skills.
2. Poor Prospects for Funding
As unjust as it may seem, there are significant gender inequalities in India’s funding scene. Due to investor prejudice and other obstacles, women-owned enterprises in the nation lack access to funding. Only 12 percent of the businesses that got funding in 2019 have at least one female founder, according to a report by Innoven Capital. Banks and other financial institutions view women as less credit-worthy, and many ventures capital firms and angel investors are unwilling to engage in women-led businesses. In addition, a lot of Indian women do not own any real estate or other assets in their names, which presents a challenge when requesting private finance or collateral loans.
3. Unrealistic work-family balance expectations
There are many obstacles and difficulties to overcome when starting a business from scratch, and this is especially true for women. Being a woman in business presents a complex set of issues, ranging from funding availability to socioeconomic standing and cultural perspective. Women are expected to prioritise their families because of the established gender norms. When it comes to the domestic front, they are supposed to multitask and be experts in everything.
Women are frequently equated with these duties, which include being the ideal mother, wife, and housewife. Even if some of them do dare to enter the world of business in the midst of these unrealistic expectations, they are still held responsible for the overwhelming amount of obligations they have at home. Compared to men in business, it is significantly harder for women to start and run their own firms due too little to no family support and a hostile atmosphere.
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