Women entrepreneurs still deal with hurdles

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Nargis Ahmed didn’t look and feel quite easy about taking funds from her spouse to get her ailing daddy fruit and drugs. She decided to do something positive about it and started on web business through Facebook, with only 30 dresses.

Nargis today owns a full-fledged boutique in addition to a crockery store. Her husband and she have even bought a set in Dhaka with their pooled assets. And now Nargis will pay for the installments on their toned, her two sons’ university fees and other family expenditures.

Women are actually rapidly jumping onto the entrepreneurship wagon, many in the clothes, cosmetics and such businesses, together with entering the software, light machinery, household furniture and similar industries. By using social media, girls are getting a lot more into business as they can do consequently from their homes aswell. Their entrepreneurship is also providing employment to more women.

Senior researcher of Bangladesh Institute of Production Research (BIDS) Nazneen Ahmed stated that women entrepreneurs are adding to their families and also to the national economy. However, they nonetheless face innumerable obstacles on the way forward. A lot of women plunge to their businesses without correct preparation.

According to the last economic census of Bangladesh Bureau of Figures (BBS) completed in 2013, there have been around 7.8 million businesses in the country, which only 7 % were owned by girls.

The latest labour survey of BBS (2016-17) explained that just over one-third of the ladies within the 15 and over generation were involved with some income producing activities and 12 % of them were entrepreneurs.

Mastercard's last year’s survey said that just over one-third of Bangladesh’s business owners are women
The multinational financial transaction company Mastercard completed a survey in 58 countries. Their previous year’s survey said that merely over one-third of Bangladesh’s entrepreneurs are girls.

Homemakers and students

Lubana Yasmin of Sylhet got married before she even passed out of senior high school and became a mother within a time. She in the future earned her Bachelor’s degree and today she actually is a contractor. She has her own firm and is applying three authorities projects in Sylhet city.

The government-run Little and Medium Enterprise (SME) Foundation ran a survey in 2017 about 1510 women entrepreneurs. The benefits of the survey published last year showed that most of the women entrepreneurs were between 30 to 50 years. And 67 per cent of these were homemakers. Students were subsequent among the ladies entrepreneurs.

Shakera Begum of Khulna used a job as school instructor back 1984 and her wage was just Tk 300 a month. Later she commenced a block print, batik and embroidery business.

Joyeta Base of the ministry for women and children’s affairs provides training for women business owners. They request the marketing of items. Women entrepreneurs of 88 member organisations of the building blocks can avail these establishments.

Online entrepreneurship

Taslima Miji designs and manufactures leather items found in her factory and markets these in the home and abroad. She explained that by virtue it, anyone can now utilize local and foreign markets. Women must take advantage of this.

The upsurge in women entrepreneurship is from the growth of e-commerce and Facebook. Females are available everything online, from clothes to cosmetics, meals to furniture and more.

ShopUp is a one-stop solution for entrepreneurs. Over 20,000 small entrepreneurs get excited about this, half of whom will be women.

Vice president of the e-commerce Association of Bangladesh, Mohammed Shahabuddin, said that we now have around 40,000 Facebook pages actively involved in web business with an gross annual turnover of around Tk 200 billion.

Ishratul Jahan, who graduated from Dhaka University’s Section of Journalism and Mass Communications, borrowed Tk 30,000 from a friend to start up business of doing bridal make-up in her own residence. Today, through Facebook publicity, she nowadays owns a cosmetic salon.

Obstacles remain

State minister for females and children’s affairs, Fazilatun Nesa Indira, said that the government provides importance to women’s monetary equality. They would like to create 100,000 women entrepreneurs this year. The federal government is increasing facilities in this regard.

But women even so have various obstacles, both within the family members and within the society all together. They face more challenges than their male counterparts.

Professor Abu Yunus of the advancement studies department at Dhaka University said that capital remains the key challenge for women entrepreneurs. The family can often be unwilling to supply start-up funds. Banks require trade licences and guarantors for loans.

women even now have many obstacles, both within the family group and within the culture all together. They face more challenges than their male counterparts.
Not all women can meet up with the conditions for a trade licence, particularly students. In line with the National Industrial Insurance plan 2016, 15 % of the loans must be distributed to ladies business owners in the SME sector, but that will not always happen.

According to a survey run last year by the international organisation Asia Basis, Bangladesh Bank offered Tk 800 billion in little loans from January to June 2019. Only 7 % of the recipients had been women. Yet 22 % of the enterprises had been owned by women.

Swarnalata Roy’s in-laws were adamantly against her doing business so she secretly started her business, doing women’s make-up in her room. Only her partner was aware of the business. Now she had two wonder salons in Sylhet and an outsourcing training firm. She actually is the president of the divisional Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In 2004 Swarnalata had applied or a mortgage and was turned apart. She advised Prothom Alo, initially the family will not give funds. Banks also reject you.

Women entrepreneurs talking with Prothom Alo stressed the necessity for the federal government to facilitate fairly simple procedures to avail loans. They want easy procedures for licences also. They want assistance in training and marketing.

Experienced entrepreneur of Khulna, Shakera, says that alongside all of this, shifts in the public attitudes are vital.
Source: https://en.prothomalo.com

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