ENTREPRENEURSHIP

ASSIGNMENT
SECTION:
(MC-2)
Submitted By
Iqra Awan L1F18MCOM7095
Nuzhat Arub L1F18MCOM7087
Bushra sami L1F18MCOM7041
Submitted To: Prof. Sidra
Date: 30-10-2019
Keeping in mind the comparison of male and female entrepreneurs, what
are the technical and social barriers faced by women entrepreneurs as
compared with men in Pakistan?

Concept of Entrepreneurship:

The word “entrepreneur” is derived from the French verb enterprendre, which means ‘to
undertake’. This refers to those who “undertake” the risk of new enterprises. An enterprise
is created by an entrepreneur. The process of creation is called “entrepreneurship”.

Entrepreneurship is a process of actions of an entrepreneur who is a person always in

search of something new and exploits such ideas into gainful opportunities by accepting the
risk and uncertainty with the enterprise.

Technical and social barriers

The society of Pakistan is male dominated society, in which women entrepreneur are
facing many problems. Some problems are discussed below.

1. Problem of Finance:

Finance is regarded as “life-blood” for any enterprise, be it big or small. However, women
entrepreneurs suffer from shortage of finance on two counts.

Firstly, women do not generally have property on their names to use them as collateral for
obtaining funds from external sources. Thus, their access to the external sources of funds is
limited. Secondly, the banks also consider women less credit-worthy and discourage
women borrowers on the belief that they can at any time leave their business. Given such
situation, women entrepreneurs are bound to rely on their own savings, if any and loans
from friends and relatives who are expectedly meager and negligible. Thus, women
enterprises fail due to the shortage of finance.

2. Lack of Education:

Illiteracy is the root cause of socio-economic problems. Due to the lack of education and
that too qualitative education, women are not aware of business, technology and market
knowledge. Also, lack of education causes low achievement motivation among women.
Thus, lack of education creates one type or other problems for women in the setting up and
running of business enterprises.
3. Lack of networks and mentors:

With fewer female founders, the pool of women who can mentor and advise their fellow
entrepreneurs is consequently smaller. This makes it harder for enterprising women to learn
from their peers and tap into those who have ‘been there, done that’

4. Defying social expectations:

Most female business owners who have attended networking events can relate to this
scenario: You walk into a crowded seminar and can count the number of women there on
one hand. When women entrepreneurs talk business with primarily male executives, it can
be unnerving.

In this sort of situation, women may feel as though they need to adopt a stereotypically
"male" attitude toward business: competitive, aggressive and sometimes overly harsh. But
successful female CEOs believe that remaining true to yourself and finding your own voice
are the keys to rising above preconceived expectations.

5. Scarcity of Raw Material:

Most of the women enterprises are plagued by the scarcity of raw material and necessary
inputs. Added to this are the high prices of raw material, on the one hand, and getting raw
material at the minimum of discount, on the other. The failure of many women co-
operatives in 1971 engaged in basket-making is an example how the scarcity of raw
material sounds the death-knell of enterprises run by women.

6. Stiff Competition:
Women entrepreneurs do not have organizational set-up to pump in a lot of money for
canvassing and advertisement. Thus, they have to face a stiff competition for marketing
their products with both organized sector and their male counterparts. Such a competition
ultimately results in the liquidation of women enterprises.

7. Juggling childcare and growing a business:

One reason that a woman may be less likely to start a business is because she is usually a
family’s primary caregiver. Of the 6.5 million unpaid cares in the UK, 58pc – that is, 3.34
million – are women, according to census data. Juggling a demanding leadership role
alongside childcare can be complex, emotionally fraught and extremely costly.

“One of the biggest barriers to being a female founder is the reality of losing control
when you go on so-called ‘maternity leave’, even though it’s nearly impossible to take
a proper break.”
8. The fear of failure:

A recent report by Vista print found that British female business owners find failure more
difficult to overcome than their male counterparts. More than two-thirds of female
entrepreneurs admitted they find it hard to bounce back from failures, compared with 55pc
of men. This fear of failure is actively holding back women from creating start-ups: one in
eight working women wants to start their own business, according to research from Free
Agent and One Poll, compared with just 8pc of men. Yet of the six million businesses
currently active in the UK, just 20pc are run by female founders.

9. Lack of Administrative Skills:

Managing the household is much different from administering the business activities.
Around 36 percent of women entrepreneurs in the district are reported to lack the necessary
administrative skills to run their enterprises. The proportion of such entrepreneurs is much
higher among rural/semi-urban women (44.71%) as compared to urban women (31.18%).
The women entrepreneurs face many problems in managing the day to day activities in the
business place. They often come across difficult employees and customers too. Handling
the employees and getting the work done from them to the maximum is not easy when
these ladies have male employees working under them. These women entrepreneurs are
able to handle the tantrums of their difficult employees with experience and patience. In the
initial years of the business, it becomes important for them to establish their venture and
earn a name in the market. This requires timely delivery of work with quality.

10. Low Risk-Bearing Ability:

Women in Pakistan lead a protected life. They are less educated and economically not self-
dependent. All these reduce their ability to bear risk involved in running an enterprise.
Risk-bearing is an essential requisite of a successful entrepreneur. In addition to above
problems, inadequate infrastructural facilities, shortage of power, high cost of production,
social attitude, low need for achievement and socioeconomic constraints also hold the
women back from entering into business.