It shouldn't be her problem
The challenges of being a female founder
Dear Friend,
Happy Women’s Day! This morning, I read an Economic Times report that out of the 63 million-odd MSMEs in India, barely 20% are women-led. And even that 20%, according to one of the experts quoted in the piece, is a very optimistic number. The real figure, it would seem, most likely hovers around the 5% mark.
Why entrepreneurship is hard for women in India
It’s not easy being a female entrepreneur anywhere, but it is particularly challenging for Indian women.
Starting vs scaling
To start with, in today’s age of information, Instagram and the internet, it only takes minutes to really set up a business, but growing it requires resources, support and know-how, all of which require women to navigate unfriendly environments. As a result, many women who startup, find themselves struggling to scale, due to a lack of one or the other.
Fighting deep-rooted conditioning
The first big challenge is cultural conditioning that deems the family household to be the ultimate responsibility for a woman. Women entrepreneurs are supported only to the extent that their business doesn’t disrupt the everyday lives of the people they take care of - even if they’re the ones who are the primary breadwinners in the family.
Unfriendly institutions
Next, negotiating bank loans is particularly challenging and many women, especially from rural backgrounds, would rather approach local loan sharks than a financial institution. Little wonder then, that the credit penetration for women borrowers is at a measly 12% despite better repayment rates because women prefer to make do with available resources, even if it results in stunting their own growth. Navigating complex tax administrations, the need to learn basic accounting and finance to run the business and the lack of local community and peers (being an entrepreneur can be very lonely) are other big challenges.
Challenges are everywhere
Even the likes of Falguni Nayar and Kiran Mazumder Shaw - amazing entrepreneurs and tough, savvy women who stood their ground in a man’s world - faced challenges (Nayar has said in multiple interviews that investors didn’t believe in the potential of the beauty business and Shaw was unable to hire people when she started her factory) despite the significant headstart they had in terms of institutional support and financial backing. So one can only imagine what a small town entrepreneur needs to go through to achieve scale.
Our perception of money
The way we perceive money - especially as women - plays the biggest role when it comes to being an entrepreneur. Women are risk-averse - not because they don’t know how to calculate risks or understand the potential reward - but because the consequences of failure are far harsher on women. A single misstep could potentially derail their entire journey and drain them of whatever little confidence they might have to start again.
The stakes are just so much higher for women entrepreneurs - because they start their journey being told that they will fail. Every step forward is a fight. Every fall is more perilous than it should be. And every success is more inspiring than they’ll ever believe it to be.
So if you’re looking to do something for women’s day, support women-run businesses - from local sellers to brands on Instagram - let them know that what they do is awesome!
Happy Women’s Day.
A Podcast For Women’s Day
If you’re interested in knowing more about the challenges that women entrepreneurs go through, do take the time to listen to The Founders podcast produced by Vaaka Media. It came out last year and features the stories of 3 diverse entrepreneurs across India - from Nagaland to Andhra - and it’s truly inspiring and illuminating of how hard it is to really run a business as a woman.
Hit me up!
If you’re a woman entrepreneur or if you know one, please do leave a comment below! I currently compiling a list of women-owned brands and businesses and I wouldn’t want to miss your recommendations!
If you think you know someone who might enjoy reading this newsletter, do forward this email to them.
So well summarised, Lavanya. More power to all the women who make an impact in this not-so-easy environment.