Editorials

by Rajen Kumar

No Escaping Social Media

Running a magazine concentrating on issues of small and medium enterprises and managing with limited resources is a like living life on the edge. In this rush of meeting deadlines,...

Special Reports

Apr 2012

EMRC, Brussels Associates with SME WORLD as its New Media Partner

EMRC has promoted business partnerships with the developing world and has organised dozens of business forums in key decision-making cities, such as Amsterdam, Rome,...

Focus

Time for Women to Climb the Corporate Ladder

Sanjana Jog
Jan 2009

Page 1 of 2

In these days of job cuts and lower pay scales, you can be your own boss provided you are willing to be diligent and put in hard work. If you are going to work hard anyway (to find a good job or to retain a job in this 'lay-offs' era), then might as well work for yourself and reap the benefits. Because, you get to keep all the money you make! You can create your own income-producing opportunities as good jobs are becoming harder to find, and promotional opportunities in good companies have shrunk.

It's very simple, the harder you work, the more money you can make, so your earning potential is directly proportional to your performance. You can put in as much or as little time and money into your business as you want, depending on the extent of profits you wish to reap. When you are in control, you can make your own decisions about your business at any time, which is a necessary factor for either growth, or change in your venture.

Being your own boss gives you the chance to do different kinds of jobs and enhance your own skills at the same time. You can be a marketing professional, financial strategist, business developer, service provider, manufacturer and more. This varied experience gives you an insight into all the aspects of running a business, which in turn makes you even more marketable. The ability to do so many different things also increases your self confidence.

Another major advantage is that your workday can be planned to factor in family responsibilities. Being her own boss is less stressful for a mother with young children, because she knows she can plan her business commitments around the needs of her family. Also, if she is working from home she can save on a lot of commuting and stress, and give more time to her business. Thus, you get to decide your own time schedule and are not bound by stipulated working hours and conditions.

Some problems do come in the way of women who want to be entrepreneurs, but they can be easily resolved with training, determination, and perseverance.

The biggest deterrent to women entrepreneurs is the fact that they are women.

Our male dominant society seldom allows a woman to strive towards business success and thinks it a big risk to finance any venture run by women. Financial institutions too, are skeptical about the entrepreneurial abilities of women and make it very difficult for women entrepreneurs to get a loan sanctioned. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) report of 1995 says, "Despite evidence that women's loan repayment rates are higher than men's, women still face more difficulties in obtaining credit". Very few women have property in their sole name, such as land, or a fat bank balance, or gold jewellery, to keep as collateral for a loan. Therefore women entrepreneurs often suffer from inadequate financial resources and working capital.

Today, Indian banks as well as the government have realized the need to support women entrepreneurs with different Micro and Macro credit schemes. If you check out the websites of the major public sector banks in India, you will find details about many loan plans for women entrepreneurs at low interest rates or with other incentives.

Family Problems

In India, women are bogged down by family ties and relationships and have to walk a tightrope between business and home. A woman's business success depends a great deal on the support she gets from her family members. Due to social conditioning, sometimes women entrepreneurs do not have adequate management skills or are not confident enough, and have to depend on male family members or male employees to carry out the marketing and sales side of business. The confidence to travel nationally or internationally, and freedom of mobility are also much less in women. But if a woman is resolute enough, and determined to succeed, she can easily surmount these difficulties through her will power and ability to convince her family members.

Other factors like inadequate knowledge of the latest technological advances, sketchy knowledge of accounting and book keeping, low-level negotiation skills, and a low-level risk taking attitude, could come in the way of women entrepreneurs, but these issues can be addressed by adequate training.

Page 1 2

0 Comments >>

Our Achievements

Winner of appreciation award for promoting SMEs in India.
1st ever Indian magazine to penetrate tier II, III cities & the rural belt.
Industry Partnerships include CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, PHDCC, AIMA, ITPO, SME Network, Federation of Indian Micro Small Enterprises (FISME)
Official Magazine Partners for several national & international MSME events.

The Last Word

More Learned than Educated, You were!

I was speechless. Rather hesitatingly I asked him, “So, what have you decided, Sominder ?” His reply was curt and candid, “I have told the doctors that I don’t want to live life as dumb. Only...

You can also write for SME WORLD

We are looking for writers and experts to contribute original stories and articles. Send an email to smeworld@gmail.com with your story idea and lets get talking.

Some of our valued contributors are...