There is a strenuous year of hardships behind the success of every outstanding women entrepreneur’s life. Success stories of many entrepreneurs such as Angela Markel, Sofia Vergara, Debbie fields are the crystal-clear examples for emerging and talented young women entrepreneurs. Being women, if you are intelligent, creative and have the spark to make up your mark in the business world, you have to fight on many ends, especially in male chauvinistic societies. According to some general perceptions, prevailing in our societies – successful entrepreneurs can only be men as they are considered as more trustworthy, risk-takers, focused and leaders. Trends have been changed now, about 9 million US firms are owned by women entrepreneurs who are inspiring, impressive and encouraging figure for those women who want to start a new business. They just need to make up their minds for certain challenges which may occur in their way to success.
Why Women Entrepreneurs find more Obstacles to Develop Business than Men
Here are some common hurdles, women entrepreneur of every country and society has to face during their journeys.
1. Hardship in Raising Capital for their Start-up
The first problem that every woman entrepreneur has to face is the lack of investment. The typical behavior of investors toward new ventures is prudent. They are more attracted toward those businesses which lead to bright future, high growth and high market value. Moreover, they considered a women-owned business, riskier than men. That’s why hesitate to invest.
Furthermore, the loan process is also challenging for women. Since in many cases being new to the business, they don’t own property and hence unable to fulfill the collateral condition for the loan. You can overcome these obstacles by well-executed plan and efficient teamwork.
2. Balance Between Family and Business Life
A woman has many roles in her pocket to play in her day to day life because at times; she is a mother, a wife, a daughter with many responsibilities. Along with these roles, if she wants to be businesswomen, her burden would be two folded. She has to balance her life efficiently and effectively to accomplish all her tasks. She has to deal with ‘N’ numbers of criticism and discouragement, if, by the end of the day, if she fails to fulfill her duties as a homemaker or as a businesswoman.
But as we know, nothing is impossible, and women can multitask. So it’s not a big deal for a passionate and enthusiastic businesswoman. Through proper time management, delegation and dedication; she can easily achieve the required equilibrium in her life. Although it’s not a steady path, eventually, with constant hard work, patience and strategies, she can be one of the successful and famous entrepreneurs of the world.
3. Tremendous Pressure Exerted from Social and Cultural End
Woman of almost every society has to face many social and cultural pressures when she decided to be financially independent. There are many biases, prejudices and myths associated with the working woman of our society. If any woman wants to support her family financially, she is stigmatized as to hold the control of the family. Moreover, men also feel insecure working under the leadership of a woman. Gender discrimination is another bitter reality of societies as far as women entrepreneurship is concerned. Initially, Women have to face deterrence and obstruction because they are less competent and inexperienced than men as society think that men are the only one born with these inherent qualities.
Sometimes, a working woman has to face exploitation and harassment of all types in the workplace by their male co-workers. This becomes the reason a woman left her work or hesitated to communicate their ideas. These societal pressure points can never be a hurdle in your way if you have believed in yourself. Take out yourself from the state of pity and focused on your traits, ignore all the negativity of the societies and prove yourself as a responsible, creative and competent part of the society.
4. Risk Aversion due to Fear of Failure and Losses
In a male chauvinistic world, a woman has to face many pressures at every aspect of her life which resultant develop many fears in her heart such as fear of failure and losses because she has to face much criticism than men. They are more sensitive and timider, which hindrance them to take the risk. That’s why they are known as risk averse. But the primary motto of the business is “The higher the risk, the more the return”.
So, if you want to compete with the male competitors, you have to fight with this fear and take the risk. Your ideas may face rejection and ridicule several times but don’t get disheartened, learn from it and continue your struggle toward success as Sara Blakely, the owner of Spanx did. Oprah Winfrey’s success story is another striking example of how she turned her wounds into wisdom and became one of the most successful and influential women entrepreneurs of the world.
5. The Dearth of Mentor ship, Education and Support Channels
Mentor ship and guidance play a pivotal role in the success of any new business, but unfortunately, women hardly find advisors and mentors for their ventures. Due to the biased behavior and discrimination of the societies, they have less networking opportunities and support channels. Moreover, lack of education which is the burning issue, especially in developing and underdeveloped countries, is the root cause of many challenges for women entrepreneurs.
Business day to day activities along with financial activities is affected because of the shortage of technical and formal education. As a result, they had to face many losses. They had to facilitate themselves and find business opportunities in their own struggle. Through Education and market know how you can lead yourself at an initial level of your business. Struggle hard to find mentors and advisors by yourself. Don’t hesitate to take help from others. Learn from the success stories of famous entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneur should support and collaborate.
Verdict
In the modern era of business, entrepreneurship is not confined to any specific gender. Now the trend has been changed the CEO’s of many international brands are women. They attain this position by sacrificing many years of their lives and fight all challenges bravely. They have broken the taboos of society and become a source of encouragement for emerging talent. Now any hardship can never let down women entrepreneur to prove their skills and shine brightly in the azure of the corporate business world.
