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A road to empowerment: social media use by women entrepreneurs in Egypt

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DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2016.073987

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308 Int. J. Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Vol. 27, Nos. 2/3, 2016

A road to empowerment: social media use by women

entrepreneurs in Egypt

Stefanie Beninger*
Beedie School of Business,
Simon Fraser University,
500 Granville Street,
Vancouver, V6C 1W6, British Columbia
Email: sbeninge@sfu.ca
*Corresponding author

Haya Ajjan
Martha and Spencer Love School of Business,
Elon University,
Elon, 27244, NC, USA
Email: hajjan@elon.edu

Rania B. Mostafa
Faculty of Commerce,
Damanhour University,
B.O. 22514, Damanhour, Egypt
Email: rania.mostafa@damanhour.edu.eg

Victoria L. Crittenden
Babson College,
Babson Park, 02457, MA, USA
Email: vcrittenden@babson.edu

Abstract: The role of social media in the empowerment of women

entrepreneurs in emerging economies is a nascent area of research, despite the
large numbers of women entrepreneurs around the world. Through semi-
structured interviews, we explored the role social media plays in the businesses
of 30 women entrepreneurs in Egypt. Egypt was an interesting context of study
given limited previous research on it and the high adoption rates of social
media platforms. Using a grounded theory approach to data analysis, the
findings show that social media has an overall positive impact on the lives of
women entrepreneurs, both professionally and personally.

Keywords: women entrepreneurs; social media; emerging economies;

entrepreneurship; small business; qualitative research; interviews;
empowerment; self-efficacy; independence; MENA; Egypt.

Copyright © 2016 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

 A road to empowerment 309

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Beninger, S., Ajjan, H.,
Mostafa, R.B. and Crittenden, V.L. (2016) ‘A road to empowerment: social
media use by women entrepreneurs in Egypt’, Int. J. Entrepreneurship and
Small Business, Vol. 27, Nos. 2/3, pp.308–332.

Biographical notes: Stefanie Beninger is a PhD candidate at the Beedie School

of Business at Simon Fraser University and is a recipient of the Joseph-Armand
Bombardier Doctoral Scholarship. Her research interests include understanding
the role of marketing in local and global society.

Haya Ajjan is an Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at

Elon University. Her research interest focuses on the use and impact of
emerging technologies, social media, mobile technologies, and enterprise
systems on individuals, groups, and organisations.

Rania B. Mostafa is an Assistant Professor at Faculty of Commerce at

Damanhour University, Egypt. She holds a PhD in Marketing from the
University of Leeds (UK). Her research interests focus on service marketing
and service recovery, mobile technology, social media, and value co-creation.

Victoria L. Crittenden is Professor of Marketing and Chair of the Marketing

Division at Babson College (USA). Additionally, she serves (or has served) as
Visiting Global Scholar in the D.B.A. Program at the Coles College of
Business at Kennesaw State University (USA), Visiting PhD Faculty at KTH
Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (Sweden), Visiting PhD Faculty at
Luleå University (Sweden), a core faculty member at the WU Executive
Academy (Austria) and as Visiting Faculty at the University of Ulster in Belfast
(N. Ireland), The American College of Greece MBA Program in Athens
(Greece), and University Robert Schuman, IECS in Strasbourg (France).

This paper is a revised and expanded version of a paper entitled ‘A road to

empowerment: social media use by female entrepreneurs in Egypt’ presented at
the Academy of Marketing Science 2015 Annual Conference, Denver, 12–14
May 2015.

1 Introduction

An estimated 200 million woman are starting or running a business globally (Kelley
et al., 2013) contributing to economic growth and improvements in social wellbeing
(OECD, 2008). However, an estimated one-half of women globally are underutilised in
terms of economic contribution (OECD, 2008) and have varying rates of workplace
participation (United Nations, 2010). Given that female participation in the workforce is
limited particularly in emerging economies, encouraging women entrepreneurs to start
their own businesses can allow women to enhance national economies (Naser et al.,
2009). Importantly, female entrepreneurship represents an important engine of economic
growth for developing countries and plays a key role in generating productive work and
income (Ramadani et al., 2013b), reducing poverty, and creating gender equality.
The Middle East, in particular, has notoriously low business start-up rates for women
entrepreneurs, yet little attention has been paid to women entrepreneurs in the context of
low-income economies especially in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region
(Ahmad, 2011; Al Marzouqi and Forster, 2011; Hisrich and Ozturk, 1999; Dechant and
310 S. Beninger et al.

Al-Lamky, 2005; Naser et al., 2009). According to Kelley et al. (2013), the
discontinuance rate of women starting and running a business is much higher than the
entrepreneurial start-up rate in the MENA region. For example, for every one woman
who stopped running a business in the MENA region in 2011, there were 0.4 women
starting and running a new enterprise; this contrasts to 3.2 start-ups for each
discontinuance in the US (Kelley et al., 2013).
These low numbers are likely influenced by cultural expectations around women and
their role in society which limit workplace involvement. Additionally, emerging markets
tend to have people with lower levels of education and little discretionary income or
resources to invest in a business (Silcox, 2013). Unlike women in developed economies,
where up to 90% of entrepreneurial activities are borne from opportunities, women in
developing economies start their own businesses because of the necessity for an income
source (Kelley et al., 2013). Given these persistent systematic challenges, but the
potential benefits to be honed, a deeper understanding of the facilitators of female
entrepreneurship has been called for, especially as little is known about the lives of
women entrepreneurs after they ‘beat the odds’ and start a business (Welsh et al., 2013;
Kiss et al., 2012).
One suggested route to improve entrepreneurial involvement and outcomes, and thus
economic development, is that of women’s use of technology (Ajjan et al., 2014).
Information technology innovation has enabled economic growth, wealth creation,
increased productivity worldwide (Ramadani et al., 2013a). According to Crittenden and
Crittenden (2012), technological developments have created a tempest in emerging
economies. In particular, Ajjan et al. (2014) theorised that social media use by women
entrepreneurs in emerging economies could increase a woman’s social capital and self-
efficacy which should, in turn, lead to greater entrepreneurial success via feelings of
empowerment. While women in the MENA region have begun to utilise social media for
access to information, growth of social networks, and increased awareness around social
and political issues, the role that social media has on women entrepreneurs is unclear.
The research reported here explores the use of social media by women entrepreneurs
in one country within the MENA region, Egypt. Initially, we offer an overview of women
entrepreneurs in emerging markets, especially with regards to the use of social media in
female entrepreneurial endeavours. Then, we overview the interpretivist approach that
was taken in the research project and offer insights gained from the semi-structured
interviews of 30 Egyptian women entrepreneurs. We conclude with a discussion and
potential future research topics.

2 Women entrepreneurs in the MENA region

The 2010–2011 Arab Spring in the MENA region has shed light on key challenges facing
the area. Those challenges include high unemployment rates (ranging between 10 to
25%), corruption, lack of government accountability and transparency, and lack of
support to the development of small enterprises (O’Sullivan et al., 2011). The World
Bank estimates that 4 million jobs per year will need to be created in the region to keep
unemployment rate from rising and to ensure social and political stability; this translates
into more than 5% growth rate for the MENA region (World Bank, 2015). Additionally,
the unemployment rate among women in the MENA region is high, reaching 40% in
many countries (World Bank, 2013). According to the Hausmann et al.’s (2010) World
 A road to empowerment 311

Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report only 33% of working-age women do in
fact join the labour force, compared to 61% in OECD member countries (O’Sullivan et
al., 2011). The female unemployment rate is about four times the male unemployment
rate in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, and Egypt (O’Sullivan et al., 2011).
Further, the MENA region continues to rank lowest on the women economic
participation and opportunity, with only 42% of the gender gap closed (Bekhouche et al.,
2014). The lack of female participation in the labour force is considered a major missed
opportunity for economic growth for the region (Chamlou, 2008; O’Sullivan et al., 2011;
OECD, 2013). A recent simulation by the International Labour Organization showed that
if the level of employment of women in the Middle East was to increase to the averages
in EU or North America, then it was expected that MENA economies would see incomes
gains of upwards of $1000 USD per capita, equal to a 2% annual growth rate (OECD,
2013). Given the importance of this topic, in January 2013, the Arab Leaders’ economic
summit was held in Riyadh and discussed the need to support small business enterprises
to tackle unemployment, as well as the untapped potential of the Arab women who are
increasingly educated and are eager to make their contribution to the economic success of
the region (Altomonte and Ferrara, 2014). In order to achieve economic growth, focusing
on small and medium enterprises and encouraging female entrepreneurship is essential.
Previous research has indicated that women entrepreneurs in low-income contexts
exhibit many similarities with counterparts in other countries; they differ on aspects such
as motivation for starting a venture and problems encountered (Hisrich and Ozturk,
1999). Furthermore, contextual issues can undermine entrepreneurial activity. This is
evident in the MENA region, where labour rates of women are lower than other regions
across the globe (De Vita et al., 2013). In particular, prevailing social issues challenge
female entrepreneurial activity in the MENA region. The Middle East is socially,
politically, and religiously dominated by men, and women face many obstacles (e.g.,
access to networks and markets and obtaining financial support from banks) to
establishing their own businesses (Al-Alak and Al-Haddad, 2010).
The underlining reasons for obstacles faced by females in the Middle East are related
to Arab and Islamic culture values (Kiss et al., 2012). In an analysis of the status of
women entrepreneurs across eight countries across the MENA region (Algeria, Egypt,
Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Yemen), a prevailing social
attitude was that women are responsible for the household while men should be
responsible for running businesses (Hattab, 2012). This is often exhibited in the types of
businesses started. For example, it is typical for women in the Middle East to open
‘female-type’ businesses such as businesses focused on weddings or parenting support
(De Vita et al., 2013). In a study of Iranian women entrepreneurs, such ‘female-type’
businesses further increased the associated negative stereotyping (Javadian and Singh,
2012).
Moreover, access to social networks is constrained in the MENA region. For
example, in this region, internet access and use is undermined by government limitations
and interference, as well as lack of access to high-speed internet in countries (Ghannam,
2011). Limited access to others exacerbates problems with regards to fostering innovation
and acquiring financial resources. For example, unlike that of higher-income country
counterparts in the US who are supported by support networks, entrepreneurship centres,
universities, and labs which help foster innovation, lack of access to these resources
shows in the average lower innovation rates in developing economies (Kelley et al.,
2013). In addition, women entrepreneurs in MENA face obstacles in obtaining financing
312 S. Beninger et al.

(Hattab, 2012). For example, women in Syria face difficulty in accessing financial
services (Katta and Hussien, 2009), while a study of five countries in the MENA region
(Lebanon, Bahrain, UAE, Tunisia, and Jordan) found that women entrepreneurs lacked
access to financing from financial institutions (IFC, 2007). These factors, when taken
together, lower both the intention to engage in, and the incidences of, female
entrepreneurship, as well as influencing the types of businesses run by women.
The recent Arab Spring highlighted the importance of social media to the Egyptian
and MENA populace (Shoemaker, 2012). Social media technology provides an
alternative channel for people to communicate and connect, in environments such as
Egypt – which experienced a 2011 revolution, a 2013 coup, and runs under an interim
government since 2014 – technology platforms may provide a more solid basis for
entrepreneurial building than government establishments.

3 The role of social media in female entrepreneurship

The internet has profoundly changed the way business transactions take place, creating
efficiencies and productivity growth for existing businesses and opening unprecedented
opportunities for entrepreneurs (Ramadani et al., 2013a). Social media networks on the
internet have enabled immediate connections to new markets, suppliers, and customers in
ways that were not possible before. The use of social media has been found to provide
numerous benefits for businesses (Jones, 2010). Importantly, for start-ups and small
businesses, social media can help enhance relationships with stakeholders (Kaplan and
Haenlein, 2010), thereby helping entrepreneurs hone a competitive advantage in a cost
effective and easy way (Indrupati and Henari, 2012). Social media also facilitates
connections in an easy-to-use and low-cost way, even for those lacking previous
experience and limited funds (Ali, 2011). In their theoretical model, Ajjan et al. (2014)
theorised that social media use by women entrepreneurs in emerging markets would
increase a woman’s self-efficacy and foster wider social capital thereby facilitating
female empowerment.
Female empowerment is a multi-dimensional construct defined as “a process whereby
women become able to organise themselves to increase their own self-reliance, to assert
their independent right to make choices and to control resources which will assist in
challenging and eliminating their own subordination” (Keller and Mbewe, 1991 [as cited
in Rowlands, (1995) p.89]). Self-efficacy is one’s belief that she can use resources to a
desired end (Bandura, 1997), and social capital is defined as networks that enable
collective action (Woolcock and Narayan, 2000). Thus, according to Ajjan et al. (2014),
social media should increase the degree of control a woman has over her life and the
choices she makes.
The power of technology when utilised by women entrepreneurs has also been
reported in literature. For example, Constantinidis (2011) reported that women who
perceived themselves as belonging to the concept of ‘women entrepreneurs’ saw
Facebook as a useful tool to allow balance between networking and family life, while
social networks comprised largely of women were perceived to offer women
entrepreneurs more support than male or mixed networks, with women entrepreneurs
reporting the acquisition of both new clients and suppliers through Facebook connections.
As such, there is indication that social media use can provide benefits to women
entrepreneurs, especially in low income countries. Through investigating the role of
 A road to empowerment 313

social media in female entrepreneurship, the research reported here brings together these
findings about social media use by women entrepreneurs while also responding to recent
calls for the need to explore women entrepreneurs in the Middle East (Welsh et al., 2013;
Kiss et al., 2012).

4 Methodology

The scope of this research was broad in nature since the literature is sparse with regards
to women entrepreneurs in the MENA region, yet the use of social media in the area is
growing rapidly as a means of self-expression among women. Using the model by Ajjan
et al. (2014) as the overarching guide, the intent was to explore if and how social media
use benefits women entrepreneurs in an emerging market. Given the dearth of knowledge
about the intertwining of these variables in emerging economies, the research domain
was limited to one country and the choice of data collection was semi-structured
interviews so as to capture depth of information. This approach is consistent with that
used by other scholars attempting to capture a better of understanding of gender-related
issues in entrepreneurship (Haddad and Le Loarne, 2015).

4.1 Egypt
Egypt, due to the population’s wide access to social media, offered a particularly
interesting context for the current research. For example, in the Arab region, Egypt
comprises about one-fourth of Facebook users, attracting over 1.6 million new users
between January and June 2012 alone (Arab Social Media Report, 2012). Though
previous literature focused on Egypt found that access to the internet contributed to
female empowerment through access to information, growth of social networks, and
increased awareness around social and political issues (Wheeler, 2007), the intention to
start a business is considerably less for women in Egypt than it is for the men in the
country: there are only four women for every 10 men running a business (Kelley et al.,
2013). For decades, women entrepreneurs in Egypt have been concentrated in the one-
person size firm and women are faced with many challenges as compared to their male
counterparts (Dana, 2012; El-Mahdi, 2006). In Egypt, there is a general sense that it is
not socially desirable for women to engage in business (Dana, 2000). Egyptian women
have reported discrimination against them in regulations related to business rules and
regulations and had a difficult time accessing finance from formal institutions such as
banks (Adly and Kathib, 2014). Women entrepreneurs face a lack of capital and have to
use their own savings to start and support their businesses (El Hamidi and Baslevent,
2010).
Kvale (1996) uses the miner and the traveller as analogies for capturing findings in
qualitative research endeavours. A miner has a positivist research attitude which assumes
that the informant is in possession of information that can be extracted via a specific
question and answer approach. The traveller, however, acquires information which will
likely lead to a greater understanding of a wide range of views. This interpretivist
orientation was taken in the current research, with the use of semi-structured interviews
to explore the role that social media plays in the empowerment of women entrepreneurs
from Egypt. This approach was deemed the best method for giving voice to women
entrepreneurs in Egypt while providing a level of richness in this nascent research area.
314 S. Beninger et al.

4.2 Semi-structured interviews

Giving voice to women entrepreneurs in this way was desired given the overarching goal
of this study, which was to understand their lives in the understudied MENA region,
including understanding the contextual aspects that shape their lives and how social
media interacts within this context. Through deep immersion into the words of these
women entrepreneurs, we interpreted the data in relation to contextual factors following
the process outlined by Strauss and Corbin (1990).
Throughout a two-month period, a co-author based in Egypt conducted a series of
semi-structured interviews with 30 women entrepreneurs’ active on social media. All
interviews were anonymous and confidential. The sampling procedure followed was
convenience sampling, with initial interviewees contacted through the social network of
the Egypt-based co-author. These initial interviewees provided access to other women
entrepreneurs through snowball sampling. All of the women used social media in their
businesses. The average age of the 30 women entrepreneurs interviewed was 25 years
old, and the individuals had been running the businesses from 2 months to 4 years. The
sampled entrepreneurs engaged in a wide range of businesses, from reselling wholesale
products to designing and making clothing and accessories, and the primary social media
channel used in running these businesses was Facebook.
The semi-structured interview questions focused on the impetus to start the business,
including the role that social media had in starting, as well as continuing, the business.
Additionally, given the empowerment construct, the questions enabled an exploration
into the effect that the women thought that social media had on their personal and
professional lives. The interview questions were developed by the authors in English,
using questions facilitated by Ajjan et al.’s (2014) conceptual model. These questions
were then translated into Arabic for the purpose of the interview. The interviews were
conducted in-person in Arabic by the same co-author and were audio recorded. The audio
recordings of the interviews were then transcribed and translated into English.

4.3 Data analysis

Two other co-authors independently coded the English-language transcriptions using a
qualitative data analysis software (NVivo) and open coding process that generated first-
order codes. Through a process of constant comparison between the transcribed
interviews (Glaser and Strauss, 1967), conceptual patterns were detected and organised
into first order categories. The findings were then compared in-depth between the two co-
authors through a series of discussions, and any discrepancies were discussed and
reconciled. Using an iterative approach, these codes were aggregated into second order
themes and organised under first order categories. Table 1 provides the resultant second
order themes and first order categories, including illustrative quotations. To improve the
trustworthiness of the findings, the co-author who conducted the interviews reflected on
them and verified that the findings ‘rang true’ in light of the interviews she conducted.

First-order categories and second-order themes
1 Reasons to start a business
a Social network support
b Financial motivation
c Personal interest
d Desire to fill time
e Aware of and access to social media
2 Use of social media in business
f Share marketing information
g Execute sales
h Gain marketing knowledge
Table 1
Illustrative quotations
a1. A friend of mine working in this field encouraged me and told me to join this business. I, then, started to buy materials,
created the Facebook group and started my business.
a2. I was motivated and encouraged by my friends who worked in this field.
b1. First, I like handmade work and decided to fill my free time and gain money.
b2. Yes, yes I generally love the handmade work, not only a financial matter. I admit that this motivation is very important.
c1. Long ago, when I was a child, I was very interested in accessories and I was focusing on one model and then people
A road to empowerment
started to like my work and tell me that my works are different.
c2. I was motivated by my love to handmade work as I enjoy handmade production and continue in this business.
d1. I also made it as a substitution right after graduation beside any other additional activity and make use of my
enthusiasm to fill my free time instead of sitting at home.
d2. I was motivated to do anything useful in my free time.
e1. Of course, without Facebook, I wouldn’t have started this business, especially that I have children and house
responsibilities that prevent me from going outside, so Facebook became the only place where my work is presented.
e2. I created a Facebook group, people joined it. Without Facebook, I wouldn’t have managed to work well because of the
Categories, themes, and illustrative quotations
lack of abilities.
f1. I use Facebook pages to market my products and fix their prices on the group or page.
f2. I was provided with photos of products which I need to make offers about. I can photoshop any of these photos and
make my own offer. When I collect points in the company, I take products for free. I can post them for sale and set an offer
to be the cheapest product and win the market.
g1. I decided to create a Facebook group, I added my close friends and they added theirs to the group and make their orders
by contacting me and the business became bigger and wider since becoming 4000 girls in my group.
g2. Via Facebook, people contact me and I receive their orders.
h1. I get into decoration pages, learn from them, see updates and, at the same time, present my products.
h2. Using Facebook helped me know consumers’ opinions and if products were effective or not...
315
 316
First-order categories and second-order themes Illustrative quotations
Table 1
3 Benefits of social media use
i Ease of use i1. Easy contacting people. I can meet people whenever I want online and deal with them, following competitors and easily
taking orders.
i2. By creating Facebook secret groups to add girls, and if any intruder tried to annoy me, I can block him/her easily from
joining the group.
j Conserve resources j1. Facebook enabled me to present my products and, at the same time, without taking any money from me. It’s like a free
service as I reach many people for free.
S. Beninger et al.

4 Challenges of social media use in business
k Dealing with ‘forgers’ and deceit
l Constrained by platform
m Managing time
5 Professional benefits of using social media to
run a business
j2. …it’s much better than work through forums and quicker in identifying who wants what.
k1. Yes, of course as I deal with different people whom I don’t know well and this may cause troubles. For example, I
discovered a customer who was a man not woman with a fake account as I searched his profile and found out that he is a
deceiver.
k2. Yes, of course I may be deceived by forgers like a customer asking for an order and then doesn’t receive it, doesn’t
answer or refuse to buy it after being finished or even block me on Facebook.
l1. The main dependence is mainly on Facebook, but Facebook’s creator, Mark Zuckerberg blocked marketing groups.
l2. People who market online are being banned and this made it difficult to contact people as we became unable to post on
these websites, but I don’t know if there are other ways to market online or not, but generally it’s a very brilliant idea.
m1. Dealing with people via Facebook makes me more cautious and careful of my words and some people notice that my
time is no longer mine and so on.
m2. Time is consumed quickly in posting photos or talking with clients... and this is the worst side of it
Categories, themes, and illustrative quotations (continued)

n Improve awareness m1. I made good use of them as I gathered a great number of group members now and reach people who are difficult to be
reached. At first, I was working on a narrow scale but now I deal with more people, make offers, take orders and send them
to the company on the Facebook.
m2. …I dealt with traders even it is difficult, but it would have been easy if between two traders, and this facilitated
reaching any traders.
o Grow sales o1. Facebook – it help me reach suppliers and other customers without relying on relatives.
o2. I reached many customers in my Facebook page.
p Build reputation p1. By Facebook, people know about me, I became more famous and of course received more work.
p2. It didn’t affect from a domestic point of view, but it made me more close to relatives in other places, increased my
 Table 1

First-order categories and second-order themes Illustrative quotations

6 Personal benefits of using social media to run
a business
q Increased flexibility q1. Of course, I can determine when to be free and work, even 24 hours a day I can follow Facebook updates in my group.
A road to empowerment

q2. Facebook helped me organize my work without being committed to certain times.
r Secure financial freedom r1. …since I have started this business, I didn’t ask for pocket money from my father and depended more on myself and
manage spending money.
r2. Of course, I became independent from my family and able to spend my own money.
s Gain confidence s1. At the beginning, I was hesitant and afraid to take decisions, but now I can and trust my decisions.
s2. It made me self-confident and able to deal with others and being flattered by customers. This encouraged me to make
better products and better organize my life. I became financially independent too.
t Gain independence t1. It helps me deal with my future life partner or with people in my family and nobody can impose his/her opinion upon
me, so it affects my life greatly.
t2. I work alone and make everything I want including meeting customers without needing for partners. These, of course,
made me feel independent and don’t rely on anybody.
u Gain control over life u1. I started to control everything in my life, learn how to act in many situations and learn from them such as not being a
Categories, themes, and illustrative quotations (continued)

cause of problems.
u2. I also learned how to take responsible decisions in life, have my own business without being controlled from anybody.
317
318 S. Beninger et al.

5 Findings

Eight different types of businesses were represented by the 30 Egyptian women

entrepreneurs who were interviewed. These eight types were: fashion accessories,
clothing, cosmetics, event planning/supplies, crochet goods, home decorations, household
products, and online marketing/shopping. The most popular type of business among the
interviewed women was that of fashion accessories, followed closely by clothing and
cosmetic products. Table 2 identifies the businesses run by the 30 women in the sample
group.
Six first order categories were derived during the data analysis process:
1 reasons for starting a business
2 use of social media in business
3 benefits of social media use in business
4 challenges of social media use in business
5 professional benefits of using social media to run a business
6 personal benefits of using social media to run a business.
Each of these categories, as described below, was comprised of numerous second order
themes.
Table 2 Business type

Interviewee Type of business

1 Fashion accessories
2 Cosmetics
3 Crochet goods
4 Home decorations
5 Fashion accessories
6 Clothing
7 Event planning and supplies
8 Cosmetics and perfumes
9 Clothing
10 Cosmetics
11 Online marketing and shop
12 Clothing and household items
13 Fashion accessories
14 Fashion accessories
15 Clothing and fashion accessories
16 Clothing
17 Fashion accessories
18 Cosmetics
19 Fashion accessories
 A road to empowerment 319

Table 2 Business type (continued)

Interviewee Type of business

20 Fashion accessories
21 Event supplies and fashion accessories
22 Clothing and fashion accessories
23 Event supplies
24 Event supplies
25 Fashion accessories and event planning and supplies
26 Fashion accessories
27 Cosmetics
28 Cosmetics
29 Crochet goods
30 Clothing

5.1 Reasons for starting a business

Analysis of the interviews revealed key reasons for starting and continuing to grow their
businesses, including social network support, personal interest, desire to fill time, and
awareness of and access to social media. The women entrepreneurs often referenced
these elements together, showing that more than one reason can be present and contribute
to the intention to starting a business. Though these women were relying on memory
when relaying reasons for starting a business, it is striking that these core ideas were
given such prominence in their recollections.

5.1.1 Social network support

Social network support was manifested in two key ways: encouragement and access.
Members of the social networks conveying this support were primarily friends and family
in the women’s networks, some of whom were entrepreneurs in their own right.
Encouragement was expressed through suggestions from friends and through positive
feedback on their products. For example, Maria (respondent names have been changed to
protect privacy) recollected starting her business when she “was encouraged by friends
when they liked my work, business increased gradually and I became known.” Nuha
relayed how she “was motivated and encouraged by my friends who worked in this
field.” Likewise, Soher reflected on seeing a cousin’s friend start her own business on
Facebook, thus prompting her to do the same. Salma, however, noted that it was a family
member who had provided encouragement: “A relative of mine told me to market my
handmade work on a Facebook group.”
In addition to the support offered by family and friends and the access to individuals
already active as entrepreneurs, social networks provided access to needed resources,
including networks and knowledge. Maha noted that her sister “was working in this field
marketing house equipment, and I joined her marketing clothes by people whom she
knows.” Dunia also secured access through someone in her close social network to start
her own business reselling perfumes and cosmetics: “A friend of mine is a trader. I
320 S. Beninger et al.

bought some stuff from her and then she offered me to join this business and I found it
good to join her.”
In addition to providing a way into a business, close social networks often provided
the beginning of a customer base. For example, Mervat relays her experience:
“I wouldn’t expect to have such a business, but it started to grow up in my
head. I even told my mother about it. She was welcoming and told me to treat
her as a customer…My business circle extended from relatives, neighbours and
friends, materials increased, photos increased, and then the idea of a Facebook
group was suggested to me. I was thinking of it but started it in the summer
vacation”.
Other reasons cited for starting a business were the financial motivation, personal
interest, and a desire to fill time. Furthermore, many women saw the opportunities
inherent in social media, including both the availability and low initial investment. These
are described in further detail below.

5.1.2 Financial motivation

Financial motivation was noted by some respondents. For example, Mona noted that her
handmade clothing and accessory business was a way to make money. Likewise, Yosra
noted that ‘materialistic motivations’ were her sole driving force for starting her business.
However, despite previous research that women start businesses to earn income, financial
motivation did not appear strongly in the interview data. It could be, as Elham explained,
“business, for mostly [sic] girls in this field, is not the only way to earn a living;
especially it just started as entertainment.” In relation to this entertainment aspect,
personal interest and a desire to fill time were evident constructs.

5.1.3 Personal interest

Personal interest was important to women entrepreneurs. For example, Zena noted her
original interest in accessories as a child prompting her interest in the industry, while
Hana also noted her love of accessories motivating her to start her business. Ayah also
made accessories and when asked why she started her business, she said: “It was a mere
coincidence. I even didn’t notice that I love doing this stuff. I found them easy made with
the lowest cost, so I decide to have a business in something that I love.” As such,
businesses can start as hobbies, which ‘filled time’ and were an aspect of the woman’s
entertainment.

5.1.4 Desire to fill time

The desire to fill time was expressed in two ways: the availability of free time and
boredom. These were intertwined with the desire for entertainment. Ahlam summarised
her motivation to start a business as the following: “Actually, there were no motivations,
I just wanted to entertain myself during free time and I liked the idea.” Sharifa also noted
that her “target was to entertain [her]self in my free time.” Boredom was also related to
free time and was mentioned as a motivator by many respondents. For example, Sabah
stated that her reason for starting her business was “boredom, as I was doing nothing so I
 A road to empowerment 321

decided to make better use of time.” Related to this seems to be the lack of available
employment options. Heba explains:
“I was still a university student. There were no options to work beside study as
the latter was more important to me, but I decided to do something interesting
to fill my boredom in free time and have a business at the same time”.
Despite encouragement from within social networks, financial motivation, personal
interest, and a desire to fill time, awareness of and access to social media platforms also
provided not only a motivation, but a way in which women entrepreneurs could start a
business and ramp it up.

5.1.5 Aware of and access to social media

The presence of social media allowed many women to start their businesses. For
example, when reflecting on whether the presence of Facebook influenced the starting of
a business, Sabah said: “Completely, without it, there would never be such a business.”
These words were also echoed by Salma. Likewise, Heba noted that she likely would not
have been able to effectively start and run her business without Facebook: “I created a
Facebook group, people joined it. Without Facebook, I wouldn’t have managed to work
well because of the lack of abilities.” As such, social media played a role in starting a
business. The idea that social media access facilitated the start of a business was often
implicit, intertwined with the use of social media, its benefits, and its challenges.

5.2 Use of social media in business

Through social media platforms, the entrepreneurs share marketing information, executes
sales, and gain marketing knowledge. Respondents share information about their
products, such as posting photos of the product offerings. This allowed a way for
potential consumers to contact to the entrepreneur and to place orders. Additionally, the
information exchanged enabled the women entrepreneur to gaining market knowledge,
such as information about competitors and customers. These are discussed in turn below.

5.2.1 Share marketing information

Once a business was started, social media provided a way to share a variety of marketing
information. Importantly, the social media site allowed for a place to display products.
For many of the women entrepreneurs, this was the only place their products were
featured. As such, the social media platform was both a place to advertise and to
distribute. The most predominant mechanism by which this was accomplished was
through creating a Facebook group.
Many entrepreneurs posted photos of their products. For example, Laila discussed her
use of Facebook: “It’s very useful as a means of communication by presenting my
products, attract more customers, show them my ideas.” In addition to posting photos,
Rehema also shared prices of her products but not additional ancillary information: “I just
write prices. Most customers no longer care about materials. The most important thing
for them is good shape and reasonable price regardless of materials.” However, others
provided a mix of information. For example, Waheda described her use of social media to
convey information to potential customers: “I weave types of fibres, summer or winter
ones, but I don’t write prices because this might bring instalment or something so it’s
322 S. Beninger et al.

better not to write a fixed price with the product photo, as [price] is a relative thing [per
customer].” In the cases where pricing was not posted, entrepreneurs asked potential
customers to contact them (e.g., through online messaging services via Facebook or other
channels) to agree upon a price.

5.2.2 Execute sales

In addition to providing marketing information, the social media platform was also a way
to execute sales through attracting customers and facilitating the sales agreements. Maha
summarised this neatly: “Via Facebook, people contact me and I receive their orders.”
Most commonly, the finalised orders were sent via the mail either by the entrepreneur
herself, or, in the case of Hana, through a mediator who sent the goods to a customer. In
comparison, Heba said, “I take orders in Facebook messages, then we meet and I take the
cash.” This process of executing sales is sometimes supported by other technology. For
example, Elham described her online Facebook group: “It’s like a real shop containing
products and I receive orders and many people have my phone number. Sometimes I
receive messages for free via Whatsapp [an online messaging system] in case of not
having call credit and so on.” These different types of engagement show how other (non-
social media) communication technologies are useful in supporting the woman
entrepreneur and her business.

5.2.3 Gain marketing knowledge

Use of social media was also a mechanism to receive feedback from current and potential
customers. This was captured by Rania, who explained that the ubiquity of Facebook
fostered the ability to not only start a business but also gain valuable business feedback
from those in the network:
“Everybody has a Facebook account and their lives rely completely on
Facebook as it is easy to use even from mobile phones and this made a lot of
people market their products and buy online as my friends brought their friends
and my customer circle extended and talk with me about what they like and
what they don’t like”.
The ability to gain insight via the opinions of customers was also recognised as a way in
which the entrepreneur could improve her business skills and transaction processes. For
example, Omayma, who resells cosmetics using a Facebook page, noted how she relays
insights from customers about the effectiveness of products back to the wholesale
company.
The social media platform is also used to gain wider insights about the nature of the
business. For example, Laila noted: “I get into decoration pages, learn from them, see
updates and, at the same time, present my products.” As such, respondents use the social
media platforms and the internet in general to gain inspiration about product designs,
assess the competition, and learn more about the industry. For Hamida, who creates and
sells handmade crochet pieces, other internet sites provide her with design inspiration,
and she sometimes uses photos from other places to convey what the finished piece could
look like.
The variety of ways the interviewed women entrepreneurs have used social media
indicate benefits to the entrepreneur as a business person and to their individual
businesses. However, there are two specific benefits related to the uniqueness of social
 A road to empowerment 323

media use that benefitted the entrepreneurs beyond the acquisition of marketing
knowledge.

5.3 Benefits of social media in business

Two specific key benefits of using social media in business were described by the women
entrepreneurs. These factors, ease of use and conservation of resources, likely contributed
to the motivation to use social media. That is, ease of use in combination with the low
financial outlay likely lowers the barrier to starting a business.

5.3.1 Ease of use

Many of the women entrepreneurs noted that Facebook was relatively easy to use. The
word ‘easy’ appeared throughout the interviews. For example, Mona praised the use of
social media in her business: “Easy contacting people. I can meet people whenever I want
online and deal with them, following competitors and easily taking orders.” Likewise,
Maha noted how Facebook was the easiest of all the platforms available, also echoed by
Nesma who noted it can be used from mobile phones. Overall, in a concise summary,
Hala noted, “online selling and marketing are easier for me with the least effort.” As
such, ease of use is intertwined with conservation of resources.

5.3.2 Conservation of resources

Use of social media platforms in business allowed entrepreneurs to conserve time and
financial resources. For example, Ruba noted that it allowed customers to virtually come
to her at home, which had a clear benefit: “It’s much better than work through forums
and quicker in identifying who wants what.” Moreover, given that the social media
platforms can often be used for free, respondents were able to engage with little to no
financial outlay. This limited the expenses related to starting a business and thereby
improved profits. Social media, in this case, allowed the women entrepreneurs to save
money while leveraging the free platform. Nesma relayed these benefits, while noting a
threat to her business: “Facebook enabled me to present my products and, at the same
time, without taking any money from me. It’s like a free service as I reach many people
for free, but I’m afraid if any change happens…”

5.4 Challenges of social media use in business

Not surprising, the interviews noted challenges inherent in the use of, and reliance on,
social media. Most notably, there were struggles with dealing with ‘forgers’ and deceit.
Additionally, constraints inherent in the platform itself and issues with managing time
were apparent.

5.4.1 Dealing with ‘forgers’ and deceit

Many interviewed women entrepreneurs noted challenges with being cheated and
deceived by customers and others online, pointing toward underlying issues regarding
online transparency. This lack of transparency included people misrepresenting
themselves and, crucially, refusing to finish the sales transactions. Customers not
324 S. Beninger et al.

finishing the transaction, such as refusing to pay for finished work, was described as a
frequent occurrence. Hamida summarised this as: “People ask for certain products, then
they close or deactivate their Facebook accounts and disappear and sometimes I lose
money because of that.” Not only is money lost, especially if it custom-made piece or one
that included expensive components, but the entrepreneur had invested time in the
product development. To overcome this, some women entrepreneurs had begun
requesting a deposit prior to product development. In the words of Nesma, “this was what
I started to do to ensure rights of customers and mine.”
In addition to refusing to finish a transaction, there were issues with fake accounts,
most frequently with males pretending to be females in the social network group. For
example, Farah described difficulties in running her business online: “I use the group to
present my products, but I can face situations when a customer deals with me badly or
fake accounts by boys with girls’ names and profiles. This makes me annoyed.” Donia
also noted her challenges in this regard:
“…as I deal with different people whom I don’t know well and this may cause
troubles. For example, I discovered a customer who was a man not woman with
a fake account as I searched his profile and found out that he is a deceiver”.
Lack of transparency coupled with being in a public forum could also result in women
entrepreneurs suffering insults aimed at them personally or their products. Moreover,
there were threats of intellectual property theft, where photos of proprietary designs were
taken and used elsewhere without permission.
One way these challenges were addressed was to create secret groups, thereby
restricting membership. Sharifa did this when she sought to “…protect my products from
going out and control members and my circle was restricted to people whom I know and
name spread among them… sometimes I find fake Facebook accounts, so I don’t add
anybody whom I don’t know and deal by messages to avoid any harmful or annoying
messages.” As such, these women entrepreneurs relied on organic growth through their
networks.

5.4.2 Constrained by platform

Women entrepreneurs faced challenges when running afoul of Facebook policies, which
resulted in being ‘blocked’ by the platform. Blocks can last as little as hours to much
longer and the reasons behind the blocking are often hard to assess and rectify. For
example, Ahlam conveyed this challenge:
“If you are blocked by Facebook sometimes because you market your products
directly and this is not allowed in Facebook…I’ve been blocked for two weeks
and cannot post any photos but there is no specific explanation for this issue as
there are many interpretations”.
Furthermore, there were concerns that possible changes to Facebook policies, such as
taxation or charging for the service, would have an impact on the business. This was
especially troubling for the women entrepreneurs who rely solely on this particular
platform to sell their products and services.
 A road to empowerment 325

5.4.3 Managing time

Time management concerns were present, including issues of spending too much time on
Facebook dealing with customers and chatting with friends. For example, Farah noted a
challenge in using Facebook: “It’s just a waste of time, especially I spend much time on it
when I get new materials, chat with a friend or wait for a delivery.” Issues related to
spending too much time on the platform were intertwined with concerns about the
isolation from working through social media, including that it causes them to become an
‘introvert’ or ‘less sociable.’ Despite these challenges, there were clear professional
benefits honed from using social media to run their businesses.

5.5 Professional benefits of using social media to run a business

Professional benefits related to the use of social media included: improved awareness,
growth in sales, and the building of a reputation. Social media not only allowed the
women entrepreneurs to access more people, improve sales, and build their reputations, it
allowed them to do this in a flexible way.

5.5.1 Improve awareness

All respondents noted that using social media to run their businesses allowed them to
increase their marketing reach. Importantly, Facebook allowed these women
entrepreneurs to reach a wider audience as their products could be seen by visitors on
their specific Facebook but also on Facebook pages of others. The following quote from
Amany conveys this:
“I made good use of [social media] as I gathered a great number of group
members now and reach people who are difficult to be reached. At first, I was
working on a narrow scale but now I deal with more people”.
Using social media has allowed these women entrepreneurs to expand their business both
more quickly and broadly than what might be possible with traditional brick and mortar
shops. This increased awareness also allowed for sales growth.

5.5.2 Grow sales

For many of the women entrepreneurs, their use of social media resulted in more
customers, including customers from a wider geographical region. The wider reach
possibility enables customers from inside Egypt to other governorates (administrative
areas) to locations abroad. Mona noted her surprise at this wider customer group: “When
the group extended, I found orders from Upper Egypt and this was unexpected for me!”
According to Hana, “Without Facebook, my business would have been restricted to my
narrow friend circle, but when I used it this circle extended and became wider.” This
expansion of business also enabled the women to more rapidly begin to build strong
reputations for the products and services being offered.

5.5.3 Build reputation

The improved awareness and resulting sales growth helped to improve the reputation of
those involved. For example, Nesma noted how Facebook made a difference: “Indeed,
326 S. Beninger et al.

[Facebook] made a difference, a lot of people seeing my group at the same time, my
name and group spread between girls…” According to Amany, “By Facebook, people
know about me, I became more famous and, of course, received more work.”

5.6 Personal benefits of using social media to run a business

The personal lives of the women entrepreneurs showed improvements in the areas of
increased flexibility, financial freedom, and gaining confidence, independence, and
control over their lives.

5.6.1 Increased flexibility

The professional benefits noted above were honed while the women retained flexibility in
their work, including the time engaged in the business and location of where the work
occurred. For example, some interviewees noted that being able to market their products
through social media allowed them to do so from the safety of their homes or basically
anywhere there was an internet connection. This flexibility is especially important given
the social context of Egypt. For example, in response to a question regarding whether
Facebook increased control over her own life, Rasha noted:
“Yes, of course, exactly. It became easier for me, especially [as] there were
some objections from my parents regarding going out without a strong reason.
I’m able to do post materials’ photos from home before buying them instead of
carrying them to show every girl and this is not practical”.
As the use of social media allowed these women to balance work and life, it also enabled
a financial freedom that had been missing in the women’s lives.

5.6.2 Financial freedom

A benefit noted by many of the women was increased financial freedom, such as having
their own money and being able to spend it themselves: “Of course, when I have a
business, I feel valuable in life and be able to get income without relying on the others.”
This has allowed some to stop relying on their parents and significant others. For
example, Nesma said this of her business: “Of course, it made me work, get money and
depend on myself and feel the value of what I gain from business. I’m now able to get
what I want… in the past as I was suffering to get what I want from my parents.” Maria
echoed Nesma’s comment with “since I have started this business, I didn’t ask for pocket
money from my father and depended more on myself and manage spending money,”
which she noted improved her confidence. As such, financial freedom is intertwined
heavily with the gaining of confidence and independence.

5.6.3 Gain confidence

An increase in confidence as a result of the business was noted by respondents. ‘self-
confidence’ was reflected in various ways and provided the women with numerous
benefits. Maha had this to say: “… you can imagine that you were like a zero before
making this business and then you start it and increase your self-confidence, there is a
will and a reach for what you want, at least your head is working and active.” For others
in the dataset, the resulting confidence helped them handle certain situations better, such
 A road to empowerment 327

as dealing with customers and making decisions. Ahlam summarised this: “[my business]
helped me feel more self-confident, deal with others, make more friends and able to take
decisions quite easily.”

5.6.4 Gain independence

Financial freedom and confidence is related to independence. For example, Hana noted,
“I became no longer ask people to do me any help as long as I have money and buy a lot
of things I need without being obliged to take permission from anybody and able to take
my own decisions.” As such, independence was expressed through the ability to engage
in actions without reliance upon others. Laila noted that her business had provided her
with a clear benefit in this regard: “I’m my own independent entity without depending on
others or interference from others.” This was also echoed by Zena, “I work alone and
make everything I want including meeting customers without needing for partners.
These, of course, made me feel independent and don’t rely on anybody.” This increased
independence allowed these women to have more self-control over their lives and their
decisions, as expressed by the words of Hala: “Not relying on others makes you feel
strong and not being controlled by others.”

5.6.5 Gain control over life

Increased control over their lives was related to independence and confidence and
generally expressed as a way to make decisions by them. For example, Kholod relayed
how running her own business had allowed her to make her own decisions about who to
associate with and what materials to use in her products. Ola also discussed how she had
to take control of solving customer problems. As such, increased control is accompanied
by more capabilities and knowledge in areas such as customer service and dealing with
others in the supply chain. Amany conveyed this relationship: “I started to control
everything in my life, learn how to act in many situations and learn from them.”
This ‘learning how to deal with other people’ was noted by many. Other benefits in
this domain included the improvement of organisational and time management skills and
learning from mistakes. This relates back to confidence and independence as exemplified
by Wahida: “I consult myself, although consultation [with others] is an important thing.
At the beginning, I was hesitant and afraid to take decisions, but now I can and trust my
decisions.”

6 Discussions

Based on our analysis of the interviews conducted with the 30 women entrepreneurs in
Egypt, we find clear support for the conceptual model developed by Ajjan et al. (2014)
where the authors theorised that social media use by women entrepreneurs in emerging
economies would increase the women’s social capital and self-efficacy and lead
ultimately to empowerment. As described previously, social capital is defined as
networks that enable collective actions (Woolcock and Narayan, 2000), self-efficacy is
defined as one’s belief that she can use resources to a desired end (Bandura, 1997), and
empowerment is a multi-dimensional construct where women can achieve self-reliance,
independence, and control over their lives (Keller and Mbewe, 1991).
328 S. Beninger et al.

Our data offers evidence that the social capital of women entrepreneurs in Egypt is
enhanced via the increased exposure and reach to customers, suppliers, and knowledge.
The use of social media to run their businesses also allowed these women to market and
sell their products to customers across Egypt and beyond. The professional benefits, such
as reaching a larger customer base and expansion across geographical areas, align with
the improvement in the women’s social capital, as this allowed them to build their
reputations in both the personal and professional marketplaces. Importantly, our
interviewees utilised their social capital to acquire necessary resources and skills and
were able to expand their reach to diversified networks (Granovetter, 1995).That reach
also allowed these women entrepreneurs to diffuse information (Putnam, 2000) through,
for example, sharing marketing information. As such, social media supported women
entrepreneurs in creating and maintaining large social capital in an accessible and cost
effective way.
Regarding self-efficacy, there was a belief that social media enabled women
entrepreneurs to improve their lives. This was generally expressed through self-
confidence such as that gained through the trusting of themselves, independence in their
decision-making, and in taking action in relation to male partners and parents. In other
words, women gained independence through the ability to engage in actions by
themselves and acquired confidence in their abilities to run a business and control their
lives. This improvement in self-confidence and independence allowed the entrepreneurs
to gain more and better control of their own lives. As such, women entrepreneurs in our
sample recognised their abilities to start their own businesses, define their self-interests,
and make their own choices (Kabeer, 2001).
In future research, variables found in this study in relation to self-efficacy and social
capital can be tested. This current study found that women felt they improved financial
freedom, while gaining independence and control at home, while increasing their
participation in work through their entrepreneurial endeavours. Future studies could test
whether these, and other elements, are mechanisms to improving self-efficacy, thus
testing Ajjan et al.’s (2014) proposition regarding the use of social media in improving
self-efficacy. Further, Ajjan et al. (2014) proposed that social capital of women
entrepreneurs could be increased through the use of social capital. Though women
interviewed in this study reported that they were able to access more people, as social
capital is comprised of both bonding (close ties) and bridging (non-closely related ties)
(Putnam, 2000), future studies could investigate which types were pivotal to women
entrepreneurs and whether that has an impact on the outcomes for the entrepreneurs.
Overall, we found that the enhanced self-efficacy and social capital generated by the
use of social media tools empowered women to improve their lives. The effects of this
greater empowerment should have long-term ramifications in emerging markets where a
country’s growth potential is dependent upon the contributions of many people.

7 Conclusions

As global access to social media tools increases exponentially, it is imperative that we

come to a better understanding of the role such tools can play in contributing to economic
growth and improvements in social wellbeing. The conundrum created by greater access
and use of social media, yet decreased start-ups rates for women-owned businesses, in the
Middle East warrants research if scholars are to have an impact on the development of
 A road to empowerment 329

emerging economies. The results of this current research suggest that social media tools
can and do empower women entrepreneurs, which should result in greater economic and
social benefits.
At the same time, however, the women entrepreneurs interviewed highlighted critical
areas where social media presents its own challenges with regards to the transparency
concerns. Such transparency concerns are not new to social media marketplace
discussions; however, the impact upon emerging economies and women entrepreneurs in
particular brings these concerns to the forefront in a slightly different way and context.
The current research is twofold. First, this contribution advances the knowledge about
women entrepreneurs in the academic literature, ideally increasing the attention paid to
this topic by other academics. This paper has presented use, benefits, and challenges in
relation to businesses run through social media by women entrepreneurs in Egypt.
Second, the research advances provides evidence as to the benefits and challenges of
social media use in running entrepreneurial businesses in Egypt. It is also anticipated that
this could help inform interventions aimed at increasing entrepreneurial activity among
women in emerging economies, ultimately improving female empowerment around the
world.
While the research is not without its limitations, particularly as related to the one-
country context and interview format, the findings do offer insight into the power of
social media in the lives of women entrepreneurs and in the further development within
emerging economies. While the findings are necessarily limited in generalisability, they
do offer guidance for larger scale empirical projects that can offer more nuanced insights
into women entrepreneurs in emerging economies.

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