Internship report on

“Challenges of Women Entrepreneurship Development in

Bangladesh: Special focus on Family and Social culture and
risk appetite”

Submitted to
Department of International Business
Faculty of Business Studies
University of Dhaka

Supervised by
Dr. Khondoker Bazlul Hoque
Professor
Department of International Business
University of Dhaka

Submitted by
MD. Solaiman Hossain
Roll no- 48
MBA 10th Batch
Department of International Business
University of Dhaka

Date: 09.10.2018

i
 Letter of Transmittal
9th October, 2018
The Chairman
MBA Examination committee
Department of International Business
University of Dhaka
Subject: Submission of Internship paper on “Challenges of Women Entrepreneurship
Development in Bangladesh: Special focus on Family and Social culture and risk appetite”

Dear Sir,

I here submit my internship paper on “Challenges of Women Entrepreneurship Development in

Bangladesh: Special focus on Family and Social culture and risk appetite” to fulfill the
requirement of my MBA program. The study paper has been prepared on the basis of the
collected data from university students and some existing entrepreneurs.

I have tried my best for the successful completion of this term paper and I hope that any
unintentional error while preparing this report will be considered with sympathy.

Therefore, I hope your kind consideration in this regard. I will be very grateful if you find my
effort satisfactory and oblige thereby.

Sincerely yours,

.......................................

MD. Solaiman Hossain

ID No. 47
MBA 10th Batch
Session: 2017-2018
Department of International Business
University of Dhaka

ii
 DECLARATION

This project proposal is my original work and has not been presented for examination in any
other university.

Signature………………………………… Date………………………………

MD. Solaiman Hossain

MBA 10th batch
Roll no: 48
Department of International Business
University of Dhaka
This is to certify that this Internship Report on “Challenges of Women Entrepreneurship
Development in Bangladesh: Special focus on Family and Social culture and risk appetite” has
been prepared by Md. Solaiman Hossain as an academic requirement to fulfill Masters of
Business Administration (MBA) degree from the department of International Business.

This report has been prepared under my supervision and a record of bona-fide work carried out
successfully.

Signature…………………….

Dr. Khondoker Bazlul Hoque

Professor

Department of International Business

This report has been prepared with my facilitation.

Signature…………………………

Md. Rashedur Rahman

Assistant Professor

Department of Organizational Strategy and Leadership

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the almighty God for the strength, good health, and wisdom as I undertake
this study.

I am very much thankful to my honorable supervisor Dr. Khondoker Bazlul Hoque, professor of
department of International Business, University of Dhaka, and MD. Rashedur Rahman,
Assistant Professor, Department of Organizational Strategy and Leadership, University of Dhaka
for providing all facilities, guidance, inevitable help, counseling, encouragement and special
attention and support at different phases of preparing this study.

I would like to thank all of my respondents for their kind attention to my work. Without the help
of respondents the work might not have been completed as properly and easily as required. For
the help of the respondents I’m very much grateful to them.

Finally, I would like to thank all the individuals involved in completion of the study. Their
contribution and dedication will always be remembered.

iv
 Abstract

This paper is aimed at exploring the challenges faced by women in entrepreneurship

development in Bangladesh. Thus the purpose of this study is to observe the challenges that
come from different perspectives to women entrepreneurship development in Bangladesh. The
past decade have seen a growing interest in strategies to enhance the economic status of women,
especially in the developing world through promotion of small and informal sector enterprises on
entrepreneurship, Although their participations are still small, factors such as strong government
support in terms of promoting equal opportunities and the provision of better access to business
skills and knowledge are pushing more and more women towards entrepreneurship. An
entrepreneur is a person who possesses the entrepreneurial qualities, bears the risk, provides
capital and uses them in setting up business. We can explain women entrepreneurship as the
women or a collection of women who initiate, arrange and operate an enterprise.
Entrepreneurship development is a highly prioritized issue for a country like Bangladesh because
entrepreneurship development can help realize the development visions Bangladesh is pursuing.
It is important to study the challenges of women entrepreneurs in entrepreneurship development
because the findings of this paper may help us to know about the challenges faced by women
from family members, society cultures and own risk appetite of women's of our country. To
conduct this research, the prior studies are reviewed first so that objectives can be set for this
study. Four objectives have been set as finding out the challenges of women entrepreneurs come
from family, society and risk appetite of women in Bangladesh, and tries to find some solution of
these challenges. The population of this study encompasses some existing entrepreneur and some
University students in Bangladesh. Forty (40) is the sample size for conducting this study while
convenience sampling technique is used to select the respondents. Primary data for this study
have been collected through a semi-structured questionnaire consisting of questions for
university students and existing entrepreneurs and different published articles, journals and
books are the sources of secondary data. As this is an explorative study, the data have been
analyzed using descriptive statistics like graphs and charts drawn with Microsoft Excel. In
Bangladesh most of the women are less educated and they don’t have the knowledge about
business management and risk management. For this reason they fear to start their own business.
Financial problem is not the only reason behind the less women involvement in entrepreneurship.

v
It is found that Bangladeshi women entrepreneurs faces some challenges from family members,
like lack of motivation, lack of financial support and lack of recognition. Society cultures also
create some challenges that are lack of cooperation from society, lack of security etc. Some
challenges are arise from a woman's own risk appetite they are like; lack of confidence, lack of
education and training, lack of knowledge about entrepreneurship etc. Another finding of this
study is the present status of women entrepreneurs and some incentives providing by government
to improve the condition of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. For this purpose government
agencies tries to providing education and arranging training for women entrepreneurs in different
sections and providing easy loans for them. On the other hand, the universities are working
comparatively well in terms of motivating the students to become entrepreneurs and providing
them with networking facilities. Finally, a few recommendations are drawn so that government
can play roles in developing entrepreneurship effectively in future.

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Table of Contents
Letter of Transmittal ................................................................................................................................ ii
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... v
Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 2
Background of the study ........................................................................................................................... 3
Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................................................ 4
Scope of the Study .................................................................................................................................... 4
Objectives of the Study ............................................................................................................................. 5
General Objectives ............................................................................................................................... 5
Specific objectives ................................................................................................................................ 5
Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................................................ 6
Literature review........................................................................................................................................... 7
Women entrepreneurship ........................................................................................................................ 7
Challenges of women entrepreneurship ................................................................................................ 10
Chapter 3: Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 12
Methodology............................................................................................................................................... 13
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 13
Study Design ........................................................................................................................................... 13
Research Site ........................................................................................................................................... 13
Target population ................................................................................................................................... 13
Sampling design ...................................................................................................................................... 13
Sample size.............................................................................................................................................. 13
Data collection methods ......................................................................................................................... 14
Data Analysis Techniques........................................................................................................................ 14
Current scenario of Women Entrepreneurship in Bangladesh ................................................................... 15
Important special programmers by government for women’s development include: .......................... 16
Present Government's strategies for women entrepreneurship development ..................................... 17
Last 10 years data of budget allocation for women entrepreneurship development ........................... 17
Current scenario of women entrepreneurship globally ............................................................................. 18
Chapter 4: Analysis of data ......................................................................................................................... 20
Analysis of data ........................................................................................................................................... 21

vii
 General attitude toward entrepreneurship development in Bangladesh .............................................. 22
Challenges of Women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh ............................................................................. 24
Risk appetite attitude of women ............................................................................................................ 26
Entrepreneurship and Family culture ..................................................................................................... 28
Challenges from family ........................................................................................................................... 30
Challenges from society .......................................................................................................................... 32
Lack of appreciation from the society ............................................................................................... 32
Lack of confidence in women’s ability ............................................................................................... 33
Male dominance ................................................................................................................................. 33
Non cooperative attitude of relatives ............................................................................................... 33
Personal challenges faced by women entrepreneurs............................................................................. 34
Lack of risk taking attitude ................................................................................................................. 34
Lack of self confidence ....................................................................................................................... 34
Lack of time ........................................................................................................................................ 35
Lack of self confidence ....................................................................................................................... 35
Solution of the problems ........................................................................................................................ 36
Entrepreneurship development programs available in Bangladesh ................................................ 36
Awareness campaign for family......................................................................................................... 38
Technical skill development ............................................................................................................... 38
Increase social recognition................................................................................................................. 39
Identification of business ideas ......................................................................................................... 39
Risk management ............................................................................................................................... 39
Small enterprise management........................................................................................................... 40
Chapter 5: Findings ..................................................................................................................................... 41
Findings ....................................................................................................................................................... 42
Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendation ............................................................................................ 44
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 45
Recommendation.................................................................................................................................... 46
References .................................................................................................................................................. 47
Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................... 49
Interview questionnaires ........................................................................................................................ 49

viii
ix
 List of tables

Number of table Name of table Page number

1 Budget allocation for women entrepreneurship development 25
2 Current scenario of women entrepreneurship globally 27
3 Demographic Information 29
4 Women’s risk taking attitude 34

List of charts

Number of chart Name of chart Page number

1 Preferred sectors of start ups 30
2 Importance of entrepreneurship development in 31
Bangladesh
3 Role of innovation and entrepreneurship development in 31
development vision of Bangladesh
4 Challenges of Women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh 32
5 Reason of having less risk appetite than man 35
6 Supports an entrepreneur expect from family 36
7 Initial support rate from family 37
8 Challenges from Family 38
9 Challenges from society 40
10 Personal challenges faced by an entrepreneur 42
11 Need of Entrepreneurship Development Programs” 44
(EDPs)

12 Areas of Entrepreneurship Development Programs for 45

women entrepreneurs

x
Chapter 1: Introduction

1
Introduction

An entrepreneur is a person who possesses the entrepreneurial qualities, bears the risk, provides
capital and uses them in setting up business. They generate ideas, take new business
opportunities, make investment by themselves or borrow, take risk and enjoy profit as a reward
of their endeavor and expand the business. Begum (1993) identifies that an entrepreneur can be
defined as one who initiates and establishes an economic activity or enterprise. Entrepreneurship
thus refers to the general trend of setting up new enterprises in a society. The International Labor
Organization (ILO, 1984), defines an entrepreneur as a person with a set of characteristics that
typically includes self-confidence, result-oriented, risk taking, leadership, originality and future-
oriented. Women entrepreneurs as those who innovate imitate or adopt a business activity. Given
that entrepreneurship is the set of activities performed by an entrepreneur, it could be argued that
being an entrepreneur precedes entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship has become an important
profession among the women of Bangladesh today at various levels of the society, both in the
urban and the rural areas. The reason for the interest varies according to the different classes of
the society. Where women of the poorer sections of the society, especially of the rural areas,
have been forced into off-house income through entrepreneurship for economic solvency; the
women of the middle class families, who have always lived restricted lives, have today, ventured
into entrepreneurship as a challenge and an adventure into a new world of economic activity. On
the other hand, many women have taken up entrepreneurship and become businesswomen not
necessarily to earn and survive and raise the living standards, but to form their careers and
become professionals in order to establish their rights through the development of a sector and
thereby contribute towards the progress of the society and the nation. Entrepreneurship is
recognized as the engine of growth in the economies of worldwide. Over the last 20 years
woman owned organizations grew dramatically in numbers, revenues and employment. Females
are increasingly turning to entrepreneurship as a way of coping with the “glass ceiling” that
seems to prevent them from reaching to management levels in organizations. This phenomenal
trend also has been seen in many Asian countries such as China, Indonesia, Singapore, and India.
The importance of women entrepreneurship for economic development has been widely
acknowledged in recent years. Women entrepreneurship is associated with innovation and
creating something that did not previously exist, it is often treated as equivalent to new venture

2
creation and, as a consequence, business ownership. Nevertheless, women entrepreneurship can
also be present within large organizations or outside the business environment. In this report I
would like to find out two types of such factors; one type can be characterized as facilitating
factors, and the other one as stumbling blocking factors. Facilitating factors refer to those factors
that ensure women entrepreneurship development, whereas stumbling blocking factors hindrance
this development.

Background of the study

Development of women entrepreneurship is a significant aspect to empower women.

Entrepreneurship has become an important occupation among the women of Bangladesh today at
numerous levels of the society, both in the urban and the rural areas. Women in Bangladesh face
different types of problems from their family, society, educational background and from risk
taking tendencies. Despite these obstacles women are engaging in entrepreneurial activities now
a day. Where women of the poorer pieces of the society, exclusively of the rural areas, have been
obligatory into off-house income through entrepreneurship for economic creditworthiness; the
women of the middle class families, who have always subsisted circumscribed lives, have today,
volunteered into entrepreneurship as a defy and an voyage into a new world of economic
activity. Besides, many women have encouraged entrepreneurship and become businesswomen
not unavoidably to earn and survive and advance the living values, but to form their careers and
become specialists in order to found their rights through the development of a segment and
thereby give towards the development of the society and the nation .Women economically and to
integrate women into the fiscal development as well as empowerment women of the nations like
Bangladesh.

3
Statement of the Problem

Need and significance of the research paper is divided into few characteristics. The followings
are some of important reasons for me to show the keen interest in the field of women
entrepreneurship.
1. Lack of suitable and secured jobs for educated women in Bangladesh.
2. Women’s are not comfortable to work in their houses all day long.
3. Women have an instinct to prove their innovative skill like men.
4. Women desire additional income to provide support to their families.
5. They have an appetite for new challenges and opportunities for self-fulfillment.
6. Desire to enjoy social status and empower themselves to that of men.
7. Economic compulsions have encouraged for emerging of women entrepreneurs.
8. Women desire to share family responsibilities like men.

Scope of the Study

This study will be conducted mainly based on primary and some secondary data sources like
published articles, related online data sources and face to face interview with women
entrepreneurs and university graduates. To find out the required information on the challenges of
women entrepreneurship development in Bangladesh, some interview and interactive sessions
was conducted with the assigned persons of this sector.

4
Objectives of the Study

General Objectives

This study aims to investigate the challenges of women entrepreneurship development of

Bangladesh from the perspectives of family and social culture, risk appetite.

Specific objectives

Thus, more specifically the study aims to explore:

1. The profile of women entrepreneur of Bangladesh.
2. The constraints/challenges confronted by the women entrepreneurs with an emphasis on the
type and nature of their family encouragement or discouragement, risk appetite of entrepreneurs
and, social culture as well as a few other constraints.
3. The factors contributing to overcome these challenges.
4. Finally, the study attempts to recommend some policies to reduce the hindrances and to pave
the way of their success.

5
Chapter 2: Literature Review

6
 Literature review

Bangladesh is still a developing country, but she is rich in human resource. In Bangladesh
women constitute slightly less than half of the population. The majority of them are
underprivileged, under nourished, illiterate and poor. According to the 2017 labor force survey
(LFS), the economically active population above the age of 15 is 63.5%. According to
Bangladesh Labor Force Survey 2010, labor force participation for women is 36 percent,
compared to 82.5 percent for men. If the female labor participation rate rises by 2.5 million a
year, the participation rate will equal the current rate of male participation in Bangladesh in a
decade. Still, the rate is higher than the South Asian average of 35 percent.

Economic census 2013 found that only 7.21%of the total entrepreneurs of Bangladesh are
women. Number of women proprietorship is very low compared to male proprietor. Women hold
only 5.87% proprietorship in Bangladesh.
Entrepreneurs are acknowledged because the prime movers of economic improvement, they
rework thoughts into movement. (Githeko, 1993). An Entrepreneur is a man or woman with a
revolutionary business concept who takes the dangers vital to set up the production and
advertising and marketing of the related products or services, expecting the task to grow (Moore
1986).

Women entrepreneurship
Women entrepreneurs are seen as women who have initiated an enterprise, are actively worried
in dealing with it, and own as a minimum 50% of the firm and were in operation twelve months
or longer (Ahmad et al, 2011). Characteristics together with innovativeness, risk taking, self-
discipline, intuition, independence, need for success and leadership talents are all part of
entrepreneurial conduct (Githeko, 1993). An entrepreneur is someone who possesses the
entrepreneurial features, bears the hazard provides capital and uses them in putting in
commercial enterprise. They generate innovative commercial enterprise thoughts, take new
commercial enterprise possibilities, make funding by them or borrow, take hazard and revel in
income as a praise of their undertaking and expand the business. Begum (1993) identifies that an
entrepreneur can be described as person who initiates and establishes a monetary activity or
organization. Entrepreneurship therefore refers to the general fashion of putting in new

7
corporations in a society. The International Labor Organization (ILO, 1984), referred to in Islam
and Aktaruzzaman (2001) defines an entrepreneur as someone with a set of characteristics that
generally consists of self-self-belief, result-orientated, hazard taking, leadership, originality and
future-orientated. Khanka (2002) refers to women’s entrepreneurs as people who innovate,
imitate or adopt an enterprise activity. Given that entrepreneurship is the set of activities
performed by an entrepreneur, it can be argued that being an entrepreneur precedes
entrepreneurship. Schutte et al. (1995) recommended that the male entrepreneurs were
substantially studied and the focal point has now shifted to the examine of woman entrepreneurs,
their history, motivation for celebrity ting a commercial enterprise and business issues faced by
way of them are based on research of male marketers. Further John (2004) mentioned that it is
essential to differentiate marketers on the idea of gender if women entrepreneurship is to be
promoted. Rinkal et al., (2004) encouraged that women of nowadays are distinct from the
woman’s of beyond years in numerous methods. In present times, they searching for social and
economic independence and are organized to take hazard for the equal. Mitchell (2004)
discovered that women marketers tend to be inspired by means of the need to provide protection
to their families and through their circle of relative’s occasions. Women marketers are influenced
through the need to be independent, economically and otherwise. Entrepreneurship permits
women to mix being concerned for their family with bringing in the cash wished for every day
survival. This fashion has additionally been seen in several Asian nations including Indonesia
Singapore and other developing countries. In the opinion of Watson (2003), there are quite a
number of capability systematic differences among male and female owners that could provide
an explanation for why female-owned companies appear to underperform than male owned
companies. The outstanding factors are age of girl owned enterprise, circle of relatives
commitments, lesser get entry to capital, specific schooling ranges, previous enjoy of business
and mindset in the direction of danger. According to Jesselyn (2004), developing international
locations need to also tap the capacity of women marketers. Entrepreneurship refers to a man or
woman's capacity to show ideas into motion. It comprises creativity, feel of initiative, innovation
and threat reputation, as well as the ability to devise and control tasks so as to acquire goals.
Garga and Bagga (2009) defined women entrepreneurship as the women or a collection of
women who initiate, arrange and operate an enterprise. According to Kumar (2006) Government
of India has described girls’ entrepreneurs as an enterprise owned and controlled by means of a

8
ladies having a minimum monetary hobby of 51% of the capital and giving as a minimum fifty
one% of employment generated within the organization to ladies. In a wide feel,
entrepreneurship needs to be taken into consideration as an attitude that may be usefully carried
out in all working activities and in existence. Therefore, entrepreneurship is a key competence
for all.
More recently, a new fashion has emerged wherein women are venturing as entrepreneurs and
are contributing to the financial development. Women marketers in Bangladesh represent a set of
ladies who have broken away shape the damaged tune and are exploring new vistas of financial
participation. Their mission has been complete of challenges (Begum 2000). Latest American
research examines in top notch depth each by way of motivation by means of lady begin-up and
the problems faced by way of a girl whilst starting a business (Hisrish and Brush, 1984).
Motivations for commercial enterprise start-up as Bangladeshi have been recognized as a choice
for task delight, independence and fulfillment (Begum, R 2000). The primary troubles, identified
via the girl respondents in this observe, have been beneath capitalization and a lack of expertise
and schooling in business capabilities. A majority of the respondents suggested difficulties in
“overcoming a number of the social ideals that women are not serious as men about business.”
In spite of women taking entrepreneurship in lots of tough fields, the prevailing women
entrepreneurial activities in Bangladesh is not very high. Women are collaborating in starting
small-scale industries in the use of a, out of which simplest 8% of the industries are run
completely by using women entrepreneurs (LFS, 1996). Entrepreneurial characteristics are same
for ladies and men to prevail as entrepreneurs. The important entrepreneurial traits visible in
Bangladeshi women marketers are that they have got confidence, dedication, innovative and
creative information, need for success, earnings orientated, hard paintings using power and
danger taking potential (Begum R.2000).
Women marketers in Bangladesh are mentioned to have interaction in small and medium
establishments. In the Bangladeshi context, small agencies are those that have 10-50 personnel,
while middle establishments are those companies that employ 51-ninety nine people (Ongori &
Migiro, 2011). Bangladeshi women conveniently have startups of small establishments earlier
than transferring on to the medium and sometimes even overcoming the challenges and having
larger groups that offer greater employment and contribution to monetary improvement.

9
Schumpeter, 1967 clarified entrepreneur as an innovator with potentialities of doing new things,
as a monetary leader, as a main conducive feature inside the technique of financial development.
McClelland, 1965 views that the delivery of entrepreneurship is distinctly structured upon the
intensity of overachievement motivation, called the “want for achievement”. Rahman, 1997 said
that, entrepreneurship is the feature that is particular to the entrepreneurs’ capacity to take the
factors of production – land, hard work and capital and use them to supply new goods or
offerings. Entrepreneurship is defined as a kind of behavior of someone that consists of
perceiving financial opportunities, initiative taking, creativity and innovation, organizing social
economic mechanism to turn sources and state of affairs to sensible account and is the reputation
of chance to failure.

Challenges of women entrepreneurship

An entrepreneur is someone who possesses the entrepreneurial features, bears the hazard
provides capital and uses them in putting in commercial enterprise. They generate innovative
commercial enterprise thoughts, take new commercial enterprise possibilities, make funding by
them or borrow, take hazard and revel in income as a praise of their undertaking and expand the
business.
(Afroze, Alam, Akther, & Jui, 2015) describes that, There are not enough employment
opportunities for women. Therefore, economic activities, through self-employment have become
essential for potential working women. As a matter of fact, women entrepreneurship or “women
in business” is a very recent phenomenon in Bangladesh. Although women are taking to
entrepreneurship in many challenging fields, their activities in Bangladesh are not that extensive.
In spite of fewer opportunities, many women have succeeded in business, but they are still very
small in number. (Afroze, Alam, Akther, & Jui, 2015) also found various economic, social,
family related problems. Among the problems inadequate capital, sales promotion, seek
permission to start-up a business, gender discrimination, illiteracy and lack of knowledge among
women, availability of training program and technical support, lack of managerial experience
were identified as major challenges that women entrepreneurs faced at starting entrepreneurship
as means of self-employment.
Ahmed, Nazneen says that, Women face a range of barriers at home and at work that severely
obstructs their performance in the labor market such as - conservative perceptions of family
members, absence of reliable transportation, lack of safety and security at workplace and limited

10
access to proper education as major constraints. Marriage and motherhood restricts women’s
ability to pursue a career as it is difficult for them to ensure support from the husband and
extended family.
Women entrepreneurs around the world are making a difference. They make a contribution
numerous thoughts and a first rate deal of power and capital assets to their communities, and
generate jobs as well as create additional work for suppliers and different spin-off enterprise
linkages. Women owned enterprises have increased by a satisfactory numbers all around the
world now a day. Women are entering in entrepreneurial activities because they think that they
are capable enough to compete with male owned enterprises and they want to be self-employed.
Most of the women appear not to be driven by profits but rather, by the need to provide for their
families. They see enterprises as a means of setting them free from ‘begging’ from their spouse’s
money for the basic necessities of their families. (Mwobobia, F. (2012). Promoting women’s
economic, political and social empowerment has gained greater attention over the last three
decades. Mwobobia, F. (2012) says that, women entrepreneurs have faced several types of
challenges in running their businesses include such problems as lack of enough capital,
difficulties in transportation and marketing, the perishability of some commodities and
competing demand related to household chores, difficulties in licensing procedures, finding staff
with the right skills, willing to work for a small firm can be a problem, as is ensuring they have
the time to update their skills and keep up with developments in the field. Vasanthakumar.M, &
Abbamonte, K., Dr. (2016) tries to describe the problems of women entrepreneurship broadly
under two heads; they are internal problems and External problems. Internal problems include
choice of ideas, weak structures, faulty planning, poor management, poor quality of production,
lack of marketing, and under capacity utilization. And external problems Include depictive or
improper location, lack of power supply, lack of water supply, lack of communication facilities,
.inadequate capital supply, lack of working capital, lack of sources of supply of long term funds,
inability to keep up the schedule of payment of loans and interest accrued thereon lack of expert
marketing support and lack of quality controls and inspections.
Different scholars have found different challenges related to women entrepreneurship but
in my report I will discuss about three different challenges. The challenges that I want to
focus on my report are social challenges, risk appetite of a women entrepreneur and
challenges that come from family members of a women entrepreneur.

11
Chapter 3: Methodology

12
 Methodology

Introduction
This section describes the research study design, research site, the target population, sampling
methods and sample size. It also describes the data collection methods and ethical
considerations.

Study Design
This report employs descriptive research design. A descriptive survey research seeks to acquire
information that describes current phenomena about women entrepreneurship by asking
individuals about this topic. The aim of descriptive research is to define the nature and situation
as it exists at the time of the study and the causes and reasons of particular phenomena.

Research Site
The study area was Dhaka city as it is considered as a first growing city in terms of economic
development. Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh and it considered as the business hub of
our country.

Target population
The target population was member of women group as I wanted to know the situation about
challenges of women entrepreneurship development. The study targeted some existing
entrepreneurs and students, some of them are Graduate and some are post-graduate.

Sampling design
A sample size is a subset of the population to which researcher intends to generalize the results.
Any statements made about the sample should also be true of the population. Purposive sampling
was adopted as it will best focus on particular characteristics of a population that are of interest,
which will best enable us to get answers to the research questions.

Sample size
Sample size is the number of observations in a sample. Any statement made about the sample
should also be true of the population. A satisfied random sampling was applied to select the
respondents as it requires the population to be divided into smaller group. This study samples 40
women (existing entrepreneurs and students) to collect information.

13
Data collection methods
Primary data was collected by using a questionnaire and interview. Most of the data was
collected through online interview by using Google forms. The questionnaire tool included both
structured and semi-structured questions and some open ended questions.

Data Analysis Techniques

In this study, qualitative data will be analyzed by using the research questions and grouping the
data. This study consist a descriptive analysis which is the elementary transformation of the data
in a way that describes the basic ideas and characteristics. The analysis will contain organizing
the data using different tables, charts and diagram, identifying a framework to structure and
finding out the similarities and differences among the data collected from the respondents.
Frequency of the data, percentage and other calculations will be conducted using the Microsoft
Excel. The tabulation format will also be used to orderly arrange the data in a table or other
summary format to show the number of responses to each response category.

14
 Current scenario of Women Entrepreneurship in Bangladesh

Through the years, Bangladesh has completed excellence in its financial order, academic
improvement, social adjustments and residing standards. The dark a long time of retaining ladies
at the back of doorways have given away to women empowerment, through instructional and
profits incomes opportunities. The finest advancement is found as women’s increasing
participation as marketers, inside Bangladesh and additionally inside the worldwide area.
Women have braved circle of relatives and social structures to project into entrepreneurship both
inside the city and rural areas. The commercial enterprise sports range however the overall
performance is commendable in opposition to the social and cultural restrictions for ladies in
Bangladesh, such as the wonderful odds surrounding the socioeconomic order.

In Bangladesh, women entrepreneurs have a part over male entrepreneurs which topics to
traders. One of the most apparent motives to spend money on women leaders in Bangladesh is
that ladies manipulate the great majority of household spending. So until the business is one this
is focused mostly on men, girls are much more likely to understand the patron's attitude. Women
are frequently higher at constructing long-time period relationships than men. Lasting
relationships benefit a commercial enterprise surprisingly, as a lot as can be executed with
consider among personnel, customers, suppliers, shareholders, government, and many others.
Since entrepreneurship is a vital driving force of innovation and monetary boom, fostering
entrepreneurship is a vital part of financial boom techniques in lots of local and national
governments round the sector.

Female entrepreneurship in Bangladesh has witnessed many a metamorphosis. Initially,

commercial enterprise ventures had been taken up via the knowledgeable top elegance men who
invested their personal cash to construct fortunes. Then educated girls accompanied and some
have made a sizeable mark over time. Many uneducated women nowadays are enthusiastically
raising circle of relatives earning via micro ventures and reinvesting their earnings in their
households and groups. These women additionally inspire other ladies in their localities to
pursue their dreams via entrepreneurship at the grassroots degree. Even although they do not

15
undertake their organizations at a business stage, they're breaking barriers and inspiring different
ladies to end up self-reliant.

Like different developing countries, Bangladesh has been focusing on the most disadvantaged
organization within the society—ladies. Realization that a society cannot afford to waste half of
its human resources by using discrimination on grounds of sex has gradually dawned. This
growing attention on the part of the authorities has caused the adoption of countrywide rules to
facilitate a development process regarding women in all spheres especially in financial sports
focusing in particular on entrepreneurship development. The majority of women aren't simplest
poor, but also stuck between two hugely one-of-a-kind worlds—the world decided through
tradition and way of life that confines their activities inner circle of relatives homesteads,
wherein they're appeared extra as a commodity essential simplest for bearing and rearing
children, and the world formed by using increasing landlessness and poverty, which places them
outdoor the house into diverse financial activities for survival. Women entrepreneurs, who have
accepted the demanding situations of existence and have emerged as leaders within the
socioeconomic improvement in Bangladesh, earn for themselves and for his or her households or
contribute in the direction of the socio-political development of the girls.

Important special programmers by government for women’s development

include:
a. Employment of women labor force on a priority basis for development of local infrastructure;

b. Keeping designated areas reserved in market places for women entrepreneurs;

c. Inclusion of women representatives in water management co-operatives committees; and

d. Implementation of projects for delivery of primary health care services to the urban women.

(Mof.portal.gov.bd, 2018)

16
Present Government's strategies for women entrepreneurship development

Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith has proposed Taka 1,37,742 crore for women’s
development Prioritizing women’s development, which is 5.43% of GDP and 29.65% of the total
budget. Bangladesh has seen the highest allocation in history in the women development sector
in the budget for 2018-19 fiscal years. In women entrepreneurship development sector, women’s
advancement through access to education, health, labor market, employment, and social
protection have been prioritized. In the outgoing budget of 2017-18 fiscal year, the government
allocated Tk1,12,019 crore for this sector. However, during the first gender budget in FY2009-
10, only Taka 27,248 crore was proposed.

Last 10 years data of budget allocation for women entrepreneurship

development

Source: Dhaka Tribune.com

Table 1: budget allocation for women entrepreneurship development

17
 Source: Dhaka Tribune.com

Current scenario of women entrepreneurship globally

In 2016 a research shows that an estimated 11.3 million business in the U.S. are owned by
women and those businesses employ approximately 9 million people and pull in more than $1.6
trillion in revenue. Since 2007, women owned companies have increased by 45% where the
general business growth is only 9%. That means that business owned by women entrepreneurs
are growing five times faster than general business in U.S. Women owns business are not only
increased but also they employ at least 10 people to expand their activities. They’re growing
revenues, too. According to a study commissioned by American Express OPEN, "Business
revenues among women-owned firms have increased by 35% since 2007, compared to 27%
among all U.S. firms — thus at a rate that is 30% higher than the national average." Abbamonte,
K. (2017, March 7).
According to the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute’s Female Entrepreneurship
Index, the U.S. scores highest for development of "high potential female entrepreneurship,"
followed by Australia and the U.K.

18
 Source: Abbamonte, K. (2017, March 7).

Table 2: Current scenario of women entrepreneurship globally

19
Chapter 4: Analysis of data

20
 Analysis of data

This chapter details the results obtained from the survey questionnaire to address the research
objectives of the study.

The study is based on students from different educational institutions. Mainly the responses from
students have been taken into account to find out their current attitude toward women
entrepreneurship. Out of 40 respondents 19(47.5%) students have bachelor degree and
21(52.5%) have master degree. All of the respondents were university students. Among them
majority numbers 90% were single and only 10% were married. Majority of the respondent
about 80% were aged from 20-25, and only 17.5% were aged between 25-30 years. After
analyzing the responses, we can say that young people who are in the age group of 20-25 years
are more interested about entrepreneurship.

variable Frequency Percentage

Age
Below 20 1 2.5
20-25 32 80
25-30 7 17.5
30 and above 0 0
Education background
primary 0 0
secondary 0 0
diploma 0 0
bachelor 19 47.5
master degree 21 52.5
Marital status
married 4 10
single 36 90
divorced 0 0
widowed 0 0
Table 3: Demographic Information

21
 In which Sector you want to start your
enterprise?
30
27.5
30
25
20 15
11 12 12.5
15
6 7.5
10 5
3
5 1 2.5 1 2.5 1 2.5 Series1
0 Series2

Chart 1: Preferred sectors of start ups

In response to the question to the question in which sector they prefer to start their business it is
found that 30% of respondents wants to start clothing or cloth related business and about 27.5%
want to start food business. Others want to start their business in manufacturing sector (15%),
ladies accessories (12.5%), fancy and general store (7.5%), agriculture, baby food and service
related sector (2.5%) each. Here series 1 represents number of respondents and series 2
represents percentage of respondents. As Bangladesh is good at garments sector most of the
people think that clothing business is easy to setup and run comfortably. As income of the people
is increasing in our country some people wants to focus on food related business, because now
people are very fond of quality foods.

General attitude toward entrepreneurship development in Bangladesh

In response of the question, do you think entrepreneurship development is important for
Bangladesh? 100% of the respondent says yes. They think entrepreneurship development is
important for Bangladesh. Along with government and private jobs entrepreneurship can
eradicate unemployment problem of our country. On the other hand entrepreneurship will help us
to fulfill our vision of 2021 and 2041. About 85% of respondents think that innovation and

22
entrepreneurship development will help us to achieve our future development vision taken by
government.

Do you think entrepreneurship development is

important for Bangladesh?

No
0%

1
Yes 2
100%

Chart 2: Importance of entrepreneurship development in Bangladesh

Chart 3: Role of innovation and entrepreneurship development in development vision of

Bangladesh

23
Challenges of Women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh
Women entrepreneurs commonly face many obstacles when building a business. Three common
obstacles identified as the most challenging are: social values and beliefs, pressure from family
and neighbors and her own risk taking attitude.

Entrepreneurship was once considered a man's domain, but the tide has shifted. Although more
women are becoming entrepreneurs, they often face a set of challenges not typically shared by
their male counterparts. Some of the key challenges faced are:

challenges that are faced by women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh

80 72.5
70 65
60
50
40 35 32.5
26 29 27.5
30
17.5 17.5
20 11 14 13
7 7 frequency
10 1 2.5 1 2.5
0 percentage

Chart 4: Challenges of Women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh

About 72.5% respondent identifies challenges come from society are most challenging for
Women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. Social values and culture is not favorable to Women
entrepreneurs. The challenging situation of women's entrepreneurship in Bangladesh is due to the
complexities in the social environment and administrative structure. Many social and operational
constraints continue to restrict women from starting and running economic enterprises. We live
in a male dominated society and from the very beginning people think that male member should
be money earner and women should do household activities.

24
On the other hand about 65% respondent thinks that challenges are come from family members
and relatives. Most of the parents don’t want their daughter to be an entrepreneur. They think it
is not a respected occupation and society won’t take it easily. Most of the women don’t get help
from the husband in business. For this reason many women have to shut down their venture after
marriage.

Other main challenges are networking problem, education and training, technological support
and lack of support from the government for women entrepreneurs. Training opportunities by
government and NGO facilities exist for entrepreneurial development are not available
everywhere. The majority of women have little knowledge on entrepreneurship development.
Sometimes for reasons of personal requirements or the welfare of their families, the need to earn
instigates women towards entrepreneurship. However, most of them have little idea about
maintaining a business, production, acquiring raw materials, marketing techniques, book-
keeping, and obtaining warehouse requirements. Government agencies think that women are not
suitable for entrepreneurial activities. For this reason they are not willing to give them enough
financial and administrative support. Sometimes lack of proper education and training creates
problem for women entrepreneurs to start and run their business.

Some personal problems like lake of risk taking attitude, physical strength, mental strength and
self-motivation are also creates problem for women entrepreneurs.

25
Risk appetite attitude of women

Variable Frequency Percentage

Do you think you are confident enough to eliminate risk?
Yes 21 52.5%
No 5 12.5%
Maybe 14 35%
Do you have training or education about risk management?
Yes 23 57.5%
No 17 42.5%
Women have more risk appetite than man
Yes 16 40%
No 15 37.5%
Maybe 9 22.5%

Table 4: women’s risk taking attitude

About 52.5% respondents think that they are confident enough to eliminate risk in their business,
but a large number of people (35%) are not sure about their ability to eliminate risks. And only
12.5% people think that they won’t be able to eliminate risk in their business. From the above we
can see that about 57.5% respondents have training or education about risk management and
42.5% respondent don’t have training or education about risk management. Despite the situation
only 40% Women have more risk appetite and 37.5% Women don’t have more risk appetite and
22.5% are confused about it. From the above situation we can summarize that lack of risk taking
attitude is a big problem for women entrepreneurs in our country. They have education and
training about risk management but they don’t have that much courage to confront with risks.
For these reason women entrepreneurship situation in Bangladesh is not satisfactory. Risk taking
attitude comes from various sources like family, idols, society values and beliefs, support from
relatives, education, training and many other sources. But in our country women don’t get
support from most of the sources. She has to fight alone against all problems. For this reason
women in our country have less risk appetite than other countries women. There are some

26
reasons behind why women have less risk taking attitude than man; they are displayed in next
chart.

Reason of having less risk appetite than man

frequency percentage

35
27.5

15
11 7.5 7.5 14
2.5 3 6 3 2.5 2.5
1 1 1
lack of Lack of family Lack of Lack of safety It's natural Lack of women love Don’t know
proper support knowledge for women support from to work
education people perfectly and
around us want to be
sure about
future

Chart 5: Reason of having less risk appetite than man

In the above chart the series 1 represent the number of respondents and series 2 represent
percentage of respondents.

While asking about the reason behind women’s having less risk appetite than man about 35%
respondent says that it’s because of lack of support from people around them that means the
relatives and neighbors. Other 27.5% says that lack of family support is responsible for women’s
having less risk appetite than man. By combining this two we can say that about 62.5% people
think that women have less risk appetite than man because of lack of social and family support.
They discourage women to take risk, because they think that women are less confident then man.
About 7.5% respondents think that naturally women have less risk appetite in our society. Lack
of safety 15% and lack of knowledge 7.5% are also responsible for women’s having less risk
appetite than man. When a person doesn’t have knowledge about risk management he/she will
not want to take risk. Only educated people can handle risk diplomatically.

27
Entrepreneurship and Family culture

What kind of supports you expect

from your family?
Knowledge Other
0% 0%

Motivation
25%

Financial
support
75%

Chart 6: supports an entrepreneur expect from family

There are at least three reasons for the family’s importance in entrepreneurial outcomes.
First, when engaging in entrepreneurial activities, the family constitutes very specific types of
entrepreneurial team. Strong ties in terms of kinship relationships between family members bind
the family closer together than any other type of entrepreneurial team Second; the family
provides the entrepreneur with a diverse set of resources which haven the potential to impact the
individual entrepreneur as well as the family business. Third, the family and the business are
intertwined, denoted as family influence. Financial support is very important for an entrepreneur
because at the very beginning of a business investors don’t show much interest on a business.
For this reason about 75% of respondent expect financial support from family at the initial stage
of his business. Initial investment is very important for a smooth start of an enterprise. On the
other hand 25% people think that they don’t need financial support rather they need motivation
from their family. With proper motivation from family and relatives a women can face
difficulties easily. Motivation can encourage women to take risk and succeed in her goals.
Hence, family background has been considered as one of the major factors to motivate a person
to enter into a business, existing or new. It is believed that if a person is exposed to a family
culture where innovating thoughts have been successfully transformed into great business empire

28
or a huge wealth for them children tend to view this as a tradition which they need to take
further. This belief inspires many of them to create a separate venture for themselves where they
not only inherit their tradition of business success but also have opportunities to prove their
mettle. On the other hand negative attitude of family members works as a hindrance to setup an
enterprise.

Chart 7: initial support rate from family

Most of the respondent 70% think that they will not get initial support from their family and
22.5% think that they maybe get initial support from their family. Only 7.5% respondent thinks
that they will get support from their family. This situation is true in our society because most of
the parents of our country prefer government jobs or other jobs over entrepreneurship. Because
they think that jobs are safe source of income but in entrepreneurship one need to take risk in
every time. Profit is uncertain in this field. For this reason number of women entrepreneurs is
very low in our country.

29
Challenges from family
From the evidence availed by the respondents, the major challenge that come from family is lack
of financial support. About 57.5% respondent identified lack of financial support as a main
problem in women entrepreneurship development. In our country most of the people think that
women should do household activities, not business or other jobs. Majority of the parents want
their daughter to do a job or remaining in house. They don’t support to do business or
entrepreneurial activities.

variable frequency percentage Cumulative

total
Lack of financial support 23 57.5% 57.5
Pressure from parents 1 2.5% 60
Pressure from husband 0 0% 60
Pressure from relatives 6 15% 75
Pressure from husband’s family 8 20% 95
people underestimate women 1 2.5% 97.5
Didn’t face any challenges 1 2.5% 100
Total 40 100%

Challenges from Family

Didn’t face any challenges 2.5
1
people underestimate women 2.5
1
Pressure from husbans's family 20
8
Pressure from relatives 15
6
Pressure from husband 0
0
Pressure from parents 2.5
1
Lack of financial support 57.5
23
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Series2 Series1

Chart 8: Challenges from Family

30
Another major challenge comes from husband’s family after marriage. About 20% respondents
think that challenges also come from husband’s family. Women entrepreneurs suffer from family
pressure. They have to devote their time for household works and for children. They are over
burden with family responsibilities like extra attention to husband, children and in laws which
take away a lots of their time and energy. This limits them to use time for new venture.

When you start an entrepreneurial venture and are finding your place in the business world, you
need as much support as you can get from family and relatives. Unfortunately, in many cases,
women find themselves on their own with no one to guide them. About 15% respondents think
that challenges also come from relatives around us. In this day and age, it is almost necessary to
have experienced mentors and role models. For women, managing their businesses becomes
even more difficult if their family and relatives don’t step up to take some household and family
responsibilities.
Some other challenges that come from family are pressure from parents and people
underestimate women most of the time. People of our society think that women are not as
capable as male in doing entrepreneurial activities. Women entrepreneurs face a dilemma once
they grow to be the bread-winner of the own family as the cultural price of our country includes
that the person/husband be the breadwinner. A female exhibiting her entrepreneurial proficiency
is presumed as looking to take over the commanding function of the husband. This impediment
also arises in families wherein the husband/father is an entrepreneur. The male youngsters are
generally prepared to run the family enterprise after the dying of the parent at the same time as
the daughters are usually neglected of this entrepreneurial grooming manner.

31
Challenges from society

Values and Limited

beliefs Challenges from society number of
5% idols
Customs 3%
0%
Lack of confidence
Non cooperative
in womens ability
attitude of
25%
relatives
Male dominance
13%
17% Lack of
appreciation from
society
37%
Lack of social
contract
0%

Chart 9: challenges from society

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.
Fernandes, P. (2018, August 27). Men and women have always had different expectations in
society. That's the way history has played out and continues to play out today. As women gained
more equality, doors were opened to more opportunities. Despite the advances women have
made, there is obviously more changes that need to happen. The roles of a woman are plenty.
She is a mother, a wife and daughter in law too. But most of the cases they are not considered as
a business person. Society creates different challenges for women to be an entrepreneur.

Lack of appreciation from the society

Although women’s social and economic participation in the work environment has advanced
substantially in the last few decades, negative gender stereotypes persist. Women face a range of
subtle barriers associated with their gender when participating in the labor market, either through
employment or self-employment. The construction of entrepreneurship as a “masculine”
phenomenon has long historical roots, sustained by cultural, social and economic processes and
is embedded in social and cultural attitudes and norms. Traditional gender roles may also lead
women to self-restrict in their business and entrepreneurship activities to “feminized”

32
professions, sectors and business fields such as personal services or care professions.
Furthermore, norms about how different genders should behave may restrict women in access to
important resources such as human, financial and social capital. The small number of successful
women entrepreneurs who can act as role models is highly detrimental in encouraging women to
consider entrepreneurship as a career, especially in science and technology related fields. The
ideal of the male entrepreneur as the norm continues to be perpetuated by social media, in
education and even through policies in many countries.

Lack of confidence in women’s ability

About 25% of respondent says people have less confidence in women’s ability to do
entrepreneurial activities. Women entrepreneurs because of their inherent nature, lack of self-
confidence which is essentially a motivating factor in running an enterprise successfully. They
have to strive hard to strike a balance between managing a family and managing an enterprise.

Male dominance

For a long time, entrepreneurship has been a field dominated by men. And while the scenario is
changing, there is still a long road ahead. It is challenging to execute and demand work from
male because of pre-setting notions amongst the community of not valuing the position of a
female. About 17% respondents think that male dominance is also a challenge for women
entrepreneurship development in our country.

Non cooperative attitude of relatives

About 13% respondents think that Non cooperative attitude of relatives is a challenge for women
entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. Women entrepreneurs are facing gender discrimination problem for
continuing their business. It varies from case to case. But most of the cases women face gender
discrimination and lack of cooperation from their relatives.

33
Personal challenges faced by women entrepreneurs

What kind of personal challenges do you think faced by an entrepreneur?

2.50%
2.50%

11 25% Lack of self confidence

25% 10 Lack of time

10 Lack of risk taking attitude
Lack of inspiration
2 5% Lack of idols
Lack of recognition

16

40%

Chart 10: Personal challenges faced by an entrepreneur

Lack of risk taking attitude

An entrepreneur’s life is not enviable, at least in the beginning. It’s extremely easy to get
discouraged when something goes wrong or when you’re not growing as fast as you’d like. Self-
doubt creeps in, and you feel like giving up. If an entrepreneur have risk management ability
he/she can easily eliminate risks related to business which will encourage him/her in future.
About 40% respondents think that the main personal challenge of an entrepreneur is lake of risk
taking attitude. So, by giving knowledge about risk management we can eliminate the challenge.

Lack of self confidence

Entrepreneurs tend to have strong personalities. And because business success is typically
measured by how well a company performs financially, entrepreneurs have a tendency to tie
their self-worth to their net worth.

34
But remember: The majority of businesses eventually fail, so this can force many entrepreneurs
into a struggle with identity issues that have been based on lofty expectations.

Lack of time

Not everyone is cut out to work for himself, or to lead a company, for that matter. Most of us are
naturally designed to thrive in structured environments. In other words, most people need
direction; they crave guidelines to nudge them in the right direction. That isn't to say we all love
structure, but nearly all of us need some measure of it. Entrepreneurs may struggle when they
find themselves operating with the general structure removed. The biggest way this shines
through is in time management. When you're laboring with five, six, or seven different
responsibilities at the same time, having to manage them all and allocate the appropriate amount
of time to each becomes almost impossible.

Lack of self confidence

Self Confidence is the belief in one’s personal worth and likelihood of succeeding. The source of
self-confidence is a combination of self-esteem and general self-efficacy. About 25%
respondents think that lack of self-confidence is a big problem of women entrepreneurs in our
country. For this reason number of women entrepreneurs in our country is very low.

35
Solution of the problems

Chart 11: Need of Entrepreneurship Development Programs” (EDPs)

Entrepreneurship is often considered one of the most effective and flexible strategies for
economic development of a country. 87.5% respondents think that special “Entrepreneurship
Development Programs” (EDPs) will increase the prospects of women entrepreneurship in
Bangladesh. So lack of entrepreneurship development programs is one of the reasons for not
increasing the number of women entrepreneurs in our country. In Bangladesh at the time of
initiating enterprise, an entrepreneur faces many problems such as shortage of skilled workers
and infrastructural facilities. In Bangladesh lack of political commitments and absence of
creation of healthy environment required for entrepreneurial growth are the limiting factors in
the process of adequate supply of reasonable number of entrepreneurs. Today, some Govt. and
some non-govt. organizations have come forward with great facilities for entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurship development programs available in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, both Govt. and NGO’s provide special support to entrepreneurs. Among them
some Govt. organizations are-

 BSCIC,
 Karmasangsthan Bank,
 Krishi Bank,

36
  Basic Bank Ltd.

Some NGO’s are-

 Grameen Bank Ltd.,

 BRAC,
 MIDAS Financing Ltd.,
 BRAC Bank Ltd

Entrepreneurship development programs for

women entrepreneurs
Awareness campaign for family 42.5
17

Increasing social recognition 40

16

Risk management 30
12
percentage
Technical skill development 55
22 frequency

Identification of business ideas 25

10

Small enterprise management 42.5

17

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Chart 12: Areas of Entrepreneurship Development Programs for women entrepreneurs

Government and Non-government organization should initiate Entrepreneurship Development

Programs for women entrepreneurs. By this program we can create more entrepreneurs in our
country. The program works with service providers promoting entrepreneurship development
(financial, non-financial, public, private, associative, freelance etc.) and builds their capacity to
better support women entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses. It also works towards
creating a more positive enabling environment for Women Entrepreneurship Development, by
supporting assessments of the situation, and working with governments and policy makers to

37
remove the specific gender barriers that women entrepreneurs may face. Government can initiate
some programs; some of them are given below:
Awareness campaign for family

Till now, the ratio of women employment is very low even though Bangladesh government has
the special policy to increase the number of women employees through quota system in the
government sector. But most of the family in our country discourages their daughters to entering
in a job or entrepreneurial activities. Besides this, most of the organizations are working now in
balancing the ratio of male female employees. These initiatives are not enough to create
employment for the women. Further, many woman cannot do job after managing their family
and children. But these woman can be self-employed by small initiatives which can create
earning opportunities for them as well as it can create employment opportunities for others too.
They need only some support from their family member. Few women in the urban areas appear
themselves as entrepreneurs who are working in few selective business sectors while a few in
rural areas are running very small enterprises with the help of micro finance services of NGOs.
Though in the education system, girls are doing great but the reality is that till now our society
encourages our women to become only housewives. Our society does not encourage women to
take a job or be self-employed. In most cases, they become dependent and they do not have
opportunities to earn themselves. Consequently keeping such a large portion of population - the
women - unemployed, it is not possible to achieve economic development.

Technical skill development

There are few organizations like Bangladesh Federation of Women Entrepreneurs, Association
of Grassroots Women Entrepreneurs - Bangladesh, Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, Women Entrepreneurship Development Wing of SME Foundation, BSCIC which
are working to improve the conditions of women entrepreneurship. These organizations are
providing necessary services like training, motivation, mentoring support and any other
necessary required services within their limits. They also provide some training on developing
the technical skills of women entrepreneurs. It is conceivable that when safety at the workplace

38
will be ensured for the women entrepreneurs, they will start working in all sectors to compete
with their male counterparts.
Increase social recognition

Women entrepreneurship still is a matter of struggle, and yet to receive recognition from the
society. There are many obstacles like family, society, safety, funding to improve women
entrepreneurship scenario in Bangladesh. Our family members are very much frightened of old
social values and the criticism of others. They always try to abide by the rules and follow the
values of the society regardless of whether these are good or bad. For this, any family cannot
appreciate if any female member would like to create a venture because they do not want to go
against the society’s accustomed life style and do not want to elicit criticism. So it is very
apparent what the role of society is in case of women in Bangladesh. Till now, they have been
creating a negative environment for the women to work in, and not empowering them to become
equal to man. Even at this modern age, the society follows the old values and conservative
religious instructions. This is the high time for the society to change its so called old values and
appreciate the equal rights of women with respect to man. Safety is another major concern for
the women entrepreneurs.
Identification of business ideas

One of the most important factors in explaining differences in the characteristics of businesses
operated by men and women, and also some of the challenges that they face, is the sector in
which they operate. From my interview I have found that most of the women are interested in
clothing business (30%), food products (27.5%) and manufacturing business(15%). whereas only
a few self-employed men are operating in these sectors. Men on the other hand were much more
likely to operate in construction, transportation and storage and manufacturing businesses. If
identification of business idea program can be organized for women it will help them to select
suitable ideas for their business.
Risk management

About 30% respondent think that entrepreneurship development programs for women
entrepreneurs should include risk management program. Every business has risks, and without

39
having sound knowledge about risk management one can fail to eliminate risks. For this reason
training about risk management is important for women entrepreneurs who want to start their
new ventures.
Small enterprise management

In the current era of globalization, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are recognized as
major players in innovation and job creation. Furthermore, entrepreneurship is no longer a male
preserve: although few women can be found at the head of large companies, an increasing
number are taking up the challenge of creating and managing their own businesses. This
conference proceeding explores the phenomenon of women entrepreneurs in small and medium
enterprises, examining such issues as governmental support, networks, doing business overseas,
starting businesses, and financing. This small and medium sized enterprise management training
will help them to manage their own ventures easily.

40
Chapter 5: Findings

41
Findings
Research objective is to find out the challenges of women entrepreneurship faced from her
family, society and own risk appetite. While most of the women are wasting their time at home
enjoying watching television just then some enthusiastic women are contributing in family
income. It’s not an easy task for women to setup her own business in our society. They faced
various problems from family members, relatives and social culture. Despite these challenges
women entrepreneurs are engaging in this sector and making profit to make them self-dependent.
There are some major findings which is found from my online survey
 100% respondents think that entrepreneurship development is important for Bangladesh.
Most of them think that innovation and entrepreneurship development will help
Bangladesh to achieve its visions.
 Age category of most of the respondents is between 20-25 years and they have graduation
or post-graduation degree.
 Most of the women are interested in clothing and food business. Because in present
condition they need less capital investment then other business
 The major challenge that faced by women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh is come from
society. Social culture and values toward women entrepreneurs are major constraints.
Other challenges arise from family and government rules and regulations.
 About 41.5% women in our country have lack of risk taking attitude. Personally they
think that they are weak to handle stress. The main reason behind this is lack of education
and lack of family support (63.4%)
 Most of the respondent (56.1%) said that they don’t have any education or training about
risk management.
 About 56.1% women think that they will not get family support from her family at the
time of the beginning of business. For this reason about 75.6% respondents said that they
only want motivation but not financial support from their family.
 Major challenge that comes from society is lack of appreciation from society especially
from relatives and lack of confidence in women’s ability.
 About 87.8% respondents think that special “Entrepreneurship Development Programs”
(EDPs) for women will increase the prospects of women entrepreneurs.

42
 Most of the people think that training should be given on small enterprise management,
technical skill development, increase social recognition of entrepreneurial activities and
introduce awareness campaign for family members of women entrepreneurs.

43
Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendation

44
 Conclusion

Entrepreneurship is the key to the creation of new enterprises that energies and revitalize the
economy. It serves as a catalyst in the process of industrialization and economic growth. Women
entrepreneurs can play a vital role in combating poverty. The emergence and development of
women entrepreneurship largely depend on the supporting conditions of social, cultural, family
culture and psychological factors like risk appetite of a women entrepreneur. To improve
women's socioeconomic status, it is necessary to formulate appropriate government policies,
aware family members, take necessary actions and introduce effective measures to integrate
women in the mainstream development process. The government's industrial laws and policies
sometimes create problem to easy access to capital and family attitude hinders the development
of women entrepreneurs in our country.
Although the impact of the family on entrepreneurship has been discussed in the extant literature,
few empirical studies have attempted to join these very interrelated fields. I demonstrated that
the family’s influence is a powerful force affecting entrepreneurial outcomes at different levels
of analysis. Most of the women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh think that they don’t get enough
support from their family members and relatives. They consider entrepreneurship is a risky
activity and they don’t want their daughter to involve into this. Most of them want a safe job for
their daughter. I showed that the family’s influence is so strong that under certain circumstances,
it even comes to light when family members are not directly involved with it.
Training opportunities by government and NGO facilities exist for entrepreneurial development,
are not available everywhere. The majority of women have little knowledge on entrepreneurship
development. Sometimes for reasons of personal requirements or the welfare of their families,
the need to earn instigates women towards entrepreneurship. However, most of them have little
idea about maintaining a business, production, acquiring raw materials, marketing techniques,
book-keeping, and obtaining warehouse requirements. . Realization that a society cannot afford
to waste half of its human resources by using discrimination on grounds of sex has gradually
dawned. This growing attention on the part of the authorities has caused the adoption of
countrywide rules to facilitate a development process regarding women in all spheres especially
in financial sports focusing in particular on entrepreneurship development.

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 Recommendation

1. Identification of viable women entrepreneurs capable of running independent businesses

2. Maintaining gender-based data on credit disbursement and dissemination of information
on credit opportunities
3. Creation of a one-stop service at the Ministry of Commerce for women entrepreneurs
4. Encouraging women to come up with new products and diversify their products
5. Women entrepreneurs must minimize all loss caused by lack of training and low level of
education that leads to lack of managerial skills in their routine activities of business by
seeking various trainings available.
6. The government needs to introduce some awareness programs for family and society.
7. More attention is needed to influencing the environment and context to remove barriers
to women entrepreneurship at source. The introduction of gender-neutral entre-
preneurship education will be important for changing social attitudes towards
entrepreneurship for women and encouraging women to go into entrepreneurship field.
8. Women should also expand their markets; participate in different trade fairs since it is an
opportunity for marketing their products, in order to achieve high levels of performance.
9. Government should introduce more training and education programs on risk management
and entrepreneurship development.
10. Women should participate more training related to risk management and enterprise
management to achieve confidence.

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 References

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CHENNAI WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS ABOUT THE PROBLEMS FACED. Primax
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content/uploads/2017/02/CompresedArticleKSR4.pdf#page=44.
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Bangladesh- Challenges and Determining Factors. Journal of Business and Technology
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761_e1641e3aec9b/Pre_Report_Econo_Cen_13.pdf.
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Apr. 2017.
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January 1st, 2016 From University of Pennsylvannia-african studies center
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problems of women entrepreneurs”, Asia-Pacific Business Review, Jan-March, 2009.
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12. Jesselyn, Mary (2004), “The Formal Institutional Framework of Entrepreneurship in the
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14. McClelland, D.C. (1965) .N Achievement and Entrepreneurship: A Longitudinal Study.
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Proceedings of the Academy of Management Association Annual Meeting. Pg 66
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 Appendix

Interview questionnaires

Questionaries’ on Challenges of Women Entrepreneurship Development in Bangladesh: Special

focus on Family and Social culture and risk appetite.

Organization type

1. Please mention the sector you want to start your enterprise:

 Manufacturing
 Food products
 Agriculture
 Fancy & general store
 Clothing
 Ladies accessories
 Others

Challenges or problems

2. Please mention the challenges that are faced by women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh
(You can choose more than one option)
 Personal problems
 Family problems
 Social problems
 Networking problems
 Education and training problems
 Government support problem
 Raw material problem
 Technological problems
 Others

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 Personal challenges

3. What kind of personal challenges do you think faced by an entrepreneur?

 Lack of self confidence
 Lack of leisure time
 Lack of risk taking attitude
 Lack of inspiration
 Others

Risk appetite

4. Do you think you are confident enough to eliminate the risks in entrepreneurship?
 Yes
 No
 Not sure
5. Do you have any education or training about risk management?
 Yes
 No
6. Do you think women have more risk appetite than man?
 Yes
 No
7. If no, what is the reason behind this?
 Lack of proper education
 Lack of family support
 Lack of knowledge
 Lack of safety
 It’s natural for women
 Lack of support from people around us
 Others

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 Support and challenges from Family

8. Do you think you will get initial support from your family (parents or husband?)

 Parents a. Yes b. No

 Husband a. Yes b. No

9. What kind of supports you expect from your family?

 Financial support

 Motivation

 Knowledge

 Others

10. What kinds of challenges a women entrepreneur face from her family?
 Lack of family support
 Pressure from parents
 Pressure from husband
 Pressure from relatives
 Pressure from husbands family
 Others

Challenges from society

11. What types of challenges comes from society for a women entrepreneur?
 Lack of confidence in women’s ability
 Lack of appreciation from society specially from relatives
 Lack of social contract
 Male dominance
 Non- co-operative attitude of relatives
 Customs
 Values and beliefs

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 Limited number of idols
 Others

Solution of the problems

12. Do you think, whether Special “Entrepreneurship Development Programs”(EDPs) for

women will increase the prospects of women entrepreneurship?
 Yes
 No
13. If yes, choose the areas of entrepreneurship development programs for women
entrepreneurs from the following areas:-
 Small enterprise management
 Identification of business ideas
 Technical skill development
 Stress/risk management
 Increasing social recognition
 Awareness campaign for family

Personal information

14. What is your age category?

 Below 20
 20-25
 25-30
 35 and above
15. What education background do you have?
 Primary school
 Secondary school
 Diploma or less

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 Bachelor degree
 Master degree and above
16. Your marital status
 Married
 Divorced
 Widowed
 Other
17. Do you have family (husband or children?)
 Husband a. Yes b. No
 Children a. Yes b. No
18. Do you think entrepreneurship development is important for Bangladesh?
 Yes
 No
19. Do you think innovation and entrepreneurship development have any role in realizing the
development visions of Bangladesh?
 Yes
 No

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