Women Empowerment Through Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is the future of the modern society. They are the driving forces behind Indian economy. Entrepreneurs are people who come out with an new ideas , innovations , do things, which are not generally done in the ordinary course of a business. Empowerment of women entrepreneur is an new mantra for development of economy. The present paper focuses mainly women entrepreneur ,they still represent a minority of all entrepreneurs. It is observed that women entrepreneur networks are major sources of knowledge about women’s entrepreneurship and they are increasingly recognized as a valuable tool for its development and promotion. Of the 1. 3 billion people who live in absolute poverty around the globe, 70 percent are women work two-thirds of the world’s working hours, Women earn only 10 percent of the world’s income. Women own less than 1 percent of the world’s property. An effort has been made in this paper is to identify empowerment of women's entrepreneurship in Indian economy Introduction to Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship was previously considered to be unknown quality of an individual and hence it was believed that entrepreneurs are born and not made. But recent studies have proved that Entrepreneurial activities can be planned and developed in an individual through creation of opportunities, extended Facilities, Allowing Incentives, Developing Competence and group sensitiveness in an individual for all those factors Entrepreneurship is a social phenomenon and it is not inherent within a person, rather it exists in the interaction between people. It reflects a ray of hope for the unemployed to earn a living and maintain a dignified life and also for the economic development of the country. our vision of emerging as a superpower by 2020 will pivot momentously on Entrepreneurial shoulders. qual opportunity between men and women from the perspective of entrepreneurship is still not a reality. An Entrepreneur is the key figure in the process of economic growth. He/She is an economic person who tries to maximize his profits by innovation and thus aggressively contributing towards economic development. He is an organizer and speculator who is doing new things or doing things that are already being done in a new way. Women Entrepreneurship Women entrepreneurs play an important role in the entrepreneurial economy, both in their ability to create jobs for themselves and to create jobs for others. In Europe (both European Union countries and other European countries), estimates indicate that there exist more than 10 million self-employed women. In the United States 6. 4 million self-employed women provide employment for 9. 2 million people and create significant sales. Using the United States ratio between the number of employees and self-employment it may be estimated that employed women in surveyed European countries could employ around 15 million persons. Better qualitative information and quantitative data and statistics are required to profile women entrepreneurs (demographic information, barriers to start-up and growth). This would also assist in promoting awareness of the role of women entrepreneurs in the economy. Entrepreneur is held responsible for scanning the business landscape for unexploited opportunities. The improved way of doing is the innovation that the entrepreneur presents to the market. According to CWBR, there are 6. 2 million privately held majority (50% or more) women owned businesses in the U. S. employing 9. 2 million workers and contributing $1. 15 trillion to the economy. Half of all privately Owned business in the U. S. re owned by women, and between 1997 to 2005 women owned business grew at thrice the rate of all businesses. Together, women owned businesses and those owned equally by men and women number 10. 2 million employ more than 18 million workers and generate $2. 32 trillion. According to Women in the economy, a study conducted by Government of India, there are approximately 10 million homes based Business in India and 55,000 of them generate more than $1 million in revenue each year. Self-employment represents one of the most important job opportunities for women especially for women in developing economies. It is also observed that in all countries women still represent a minority of those that start new firms, are self-employed, or are small business owner-managers. Technology makes it possible for women to work productively from home and to stay actively involved in the lives of their children. 27% of women with home based businesses have children under the age of 18, 25% have children as young as 6 years old and 30% have children less than 6 years old. To a much greater extent than men (56 to 48%), women starts businesses to supplement income and to manage family responsibilities. Women-owned businesses are no passing fad. They are crucial to a healthy economy. They typically require little or no investment, they can be headquartered in the home, and they give women flexibility in balancing their work and family lives. Technology allows the cultivation of clients nationwide and even worldwide and there are lots of resources to help women get started. The greatest advantage of owning a business, According to Ashley:† Working for yourself makes all the difference because you can do things the way you know are right so that your work speaks your values, beliefs, and ethics at the same time you are providing a necessary service. Indian women are considered as Sakthi, which means source of power. Effectively coordinating the available factors and resources. Efficient execution of decisions imposed on them. Clear vision and ambition on the improvement of family and children. Patience and bearing the sufferings on behalf of others and ability to work physically more at any age. Women sector occupies nearly 45% of the Indian population. The literary and educational status of women improved considerably during the past few decades. More and more higher educational and research institutions are imparting knowledge and specialization. At this juncture, effective steps are needed to provide entrepreneurial awareness, orientation and skill development programs to women. According to the experts , there are five levels of the women's empowerment framework, namely- welfare, access, conscientisation, mobilization and control. Welfare means an improvement in socio-economic status, such as improved nutritional status, shelter or income, which is the zero level of empowerment, where women are the passive recipients of benefits that are ‘given' from on high. Access to resources and services stands for the women's empowerment framework, namely- welfare, access, conscientisation, mobilization and control. Conscientisation is defined as the process, by which women collectively urge to act to remove one or more of the discriminatory practices that impede their access to resources. Here, women form groups to understand the underlying causes of their problems and to identify strategies for action for gender equity. Mobilization is the action level of empowerment by forging links with the larger women's movement, to learn from the successes of women's similar trategic action elsewhere and to connect with the wider struggle. Control is the level of empowerment when women have taken action so that there is gender equality in decisions making over access to resources, so that women achieve direct control over their access to resources. More precisely, as a woman evolves through the entrepreneurial process she will face different obstacles related to the specific stage she is in (opportunity identification, opportunity exploitation and resource acquisition for example). Depending on the nature of those obstacles, only certain categories of women will enter into business and succeed consequently. In rural India, agriculture and allied industrial sectors employ as much as 89. 5% of the total female labour. In overall farm production, women's average contribution is estimated at 55% to 66% of the total labour. According to a 1991 World Bank report, women accounted for 94% of total employment in dairy production in India. Women constitute 51% of the total employed in forest-based small-scale enterprises. India's Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012) has recognized for the first time that women are not just equal citizens, but are also acknowledged as agents of economic and social growth. Any development strategy will be lop-sided without involving women, who constitute half of the world population. Women entrepreneurship has gained momentum since the early 1980s when countries in Asia – particularly India and China – and elsewhere started liberalizing their economies. The resultant globalization – propelled by foreign direct investment, technological innovations, and manufactured exports – has brought a wide range of economic and social opportunities to women entrepreneurs. TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), founded in Silicon Valley in 1992 by entrepreneurs and professionals with roots in the Indus region, announced the launch of India’s first women’s entrepreneurship platform called TiE Stree Shakti (TSS). is a forum for women entrepreneurs to create trust-based partnerships through active networks. Additionally, the forum founders recognize the immense contribution of women entrepreneurs to self, family and society. A study conducted by Ernst & Young titled ‘Groundbreakers’, observes: â€Å"At a time when our global economy is facing its greatest challenge in decades, we have to capitalize on the contributions women can make. It’s time to place renewed emphasis on women as a resource to move businesses and economies ahead. † A study conducted by TiE revealed that 90% of women at the grass root level need help in Training & Education to improve their business skills. 78% of them were keen to re-start their business again but need encouragement and support from family and other like minded women. A mere 15 per cent of women hold senior management positions in privately-held businesses in India; the global average is 24 per cent and Some of the key areas where women want to start a business include garment shops, catering and beauty salons. The biggest challenge that many literate and illiterate women in rural and urban areas faces in entering into small industry as entrepreneurs is due to the lack of knowledge on product, Market and Quality and it’s to be seen that some committee should be constituted and the recommendations which are placed should be implemented in phases to root out the above problems. Every woman has the potential to be an Entrepreneur and it can be developed through nurturing skills and ideas. Women in business attain success for their intelligence, efficiency, commitment and Honesty. There is still much poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, and discrimination when it comes to women, but there is a certain segment of them that is making a mark in the corporate world, in the media, in literature and for many who are unaware they are making a huge impact in the IT sector. Globalization has provided opportunities for the educated, middle class woman to build her own dreams and excel in fields, which were earlier perceived as complete male domains. Though they are not the majority, Indian women professionals are definitely on the rise and are paving the way for future generations. Indian women are becoming increasingly visible and successful in the professional and public sphere. Whether it is Barkha Dutt, who has become a idol for several journalists, Arundhati Roy, a Booker Prize Winner and a social activist, or Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, who became the wealthiest Indian woman after the initial public offering of her company, Biocon , they have all heralded the arrival of Indian women professionals. Women are becoming increasingly visible in the domestic and international sphere in media, entertainment, business, IT, politics and literature. Approximately one third of employees at Indian software companies today are women. In fact, NASSCOM puts the figure at 38%, which is a higher figure than their western counterparts. Some of the reasons for this attraction to the IT sector include India's education system. Number of women managers and entrepreneurs in the corporate sector. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw's Biocon, a biotech firm is worth over $1. 1 billion, with her stake at $449 million. Vidya Mohan Chhabria, chairperson of the $2 billion Jumbo Group, and Naina Lal Kidwai, vice chairperson and managing director of HSBC Securities and Capital markets, are the two Indian women to feature on the list of the 50 most powerful women in international business by Fortune magazine. There are several others like Sulaijja Firodia Motwani and Mallika Srinivasan who figure prominently in the automotive industry while there are many other women who are successfully managing family run businesses. However, the emergence of India ‘s service sector – travel, tourism, hospitality, media, and entertainment as well as business process outsourcing and IT is witnessing an increased role for female employees at the entry and middle levels. They will hopefully pave the way for future female professionals.