Discover Potential

Business Opportunities for Women - Indian Context

Manoj Kumawat

INTRODUCTION
The educated Indian women have to go a long way to achieve equal rights and position because traditions are deep rooted in Indian society where the sociological set up has been a male dominated one. Despite all the social hurdles, Indian women stand tall from the rest of the crowd and are applauded for their achievements in their respective field. The transformation of social fabric of the Indian society, in terms of increased educational status of women and varied aspirations for better living, necessitated a change in the life style of Indian women. She has competed with man and successfully stood up with him in every walk of life and business is no exception for this. These women leaders are assertive, persuasive and willing to take risks. They managed to survive and succeed in this cut throat competition with their hard work, diligence and perseverance. Women entrepreneurship has been recognized as an important source of economic growth. Women entrepreneurs create new jobs for themselves and others and also provide society with different solutions to management, organization and business problems. However, they still represent a minority of all entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs often face gender-based barriers to starting and growing their businesses, like discriminatory property, matrimonial and inheritance laws and/or cultural practices; lack of access to formal finance mechanisms; limited mobility and access to information and networks, etc. Womens entrepreneurship can make a particularly strong contribution to the economic well-being of the family and communities, poverty reduction and womens empowerment, thus contributing to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Thus, governments across the world as well as various developmental organizations are actively undertaking promotion of women entrepreneurs through various schemes, incentives and promotional measures. As a fact, Women entrepreneurs in the four southern states and Maharashtra account for over 50% of all women-led small-scale industrial units in India.

WOMEN ENTERPRENUERSHIP
Women Entrepreneurs may be defined as the women or a group of women who initiate, organize and operate a business enterprise. The Government of India has defined women entrepreneurs as an enterprise owned and controlled by women having a minimum financial interest of 51 per cent of the capital and giving at least 51 per cent of the employment generated in the enterprise to women. Women Entrepreneur is a person who accepts challenging role to meet her personal needs and become economically independent. A strong desire to do something positive is an inbuilt quality of entrepreneurial women, who is capable of contributing values in both family and social life. Women entrepreneurs engaged in business due to push and pull factors which encourage women to have an independent occupation and stands on their on legs. A sense towards independent decision-making on their life and career is the motivational factor behind this urge. Saddled with household chores and domestic responsibilities women want to get independence. Under the influence of these factors the women entrepreneurs choose a profession as a challenge and as an urge to do something new. Such a situation is described as pull factors. While in push factors women engaged in business activities due to family compulsion and the responsibility is thrust upon them. The entry of women into business in India is traced out as an extension of their kitchen activities, mainly 3Ps, Pickle, Powder and Pappad. But with the spread of education and passage of time women started shifting from 3Ps to modern 3Es i.e., Energy, Electronics and Engineering. Skill, knowledge and adaptability in business are the main reasons for women to emerge into business ventures. With the advent of media, women are aware of their own traits, rights and also the work situations. The challenges and opportunities provided to the women of digital era are growing rapidly that the job seekers are turning into job creators. Many women start a business due to some traumatic event, such as divorce, discrimination due to pregnancy or the corporate glass ceiling, the health of a family member, or economic

reasons such as a layoff. But a new talent pool of women entrepreneurs is forming today, as more women opt to leave corporate world to chart their own destinies. They are flourishing as designers, interior decorators, exporters, publishers, garment manufacturers and still exploring new avenues of economic participation.

New Challenges and Opportunities for Self Fulfillment

Self Identity and Independence

Family Occupation

Role Model to Others

Education and Qualification

Bright Future of their Wards

Additiona l Income

REASONS WOMEN BECOME ENTREPRENEURS

Its a Natural instinct Women are naturals when it comes to multitasking. They can deftly handle home, business and entrepreneurship. They are a great resource that remains untapped till date. Women entrepreneurs are more cautious, and will usually ( read take calculated risks. They are great at communication ( most men will agree to that wholeheartedly!) and at building relationships, and are great at problem-solving. They dont really need to go to a B-School to learn management techniques, they are naturals at it!

OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN

In India, the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises development organizations, various State Small Industries Development Corporations, the Nationalized banks and even NGOs are conducting various programmes including Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) to cater to the needs of potential women entrepreneurs, who may not have adequate educational background and skills. The Office of DC (MSME) has also opened a Women Cell to provide coordination and assistance to women entrepreneurs facing specific problems. There are also several other schemes of the government at central and state level, which provide assistance for setting up training-cum-income generating activities for needy women to make them economically independent. Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has also been implementing special schemes for women entrepreneurs.

1. General FieldsEntrepreneurial success brings a sense of deep satisfaction and achievement that comes after you are past the initial obstacles. Setting up a viable and profitable business venture with minimal capital is certainly possible and it is best to start out small. Considering following points, any woman can initiateSearch a Business that works for you and your personal life Research the product/ service Assess the market Start business with adequate funds Do networking Consult with professionals

Consultancy If you think you know the market around you well and have an enviable network of contacts with professionals from diverse industries, go ahead and share the information with those who need it. Setting up a consultancy firm does not require much investment. You can turn your garage or a spare room into your office and start away. Boutique This is usually the first thing that comes in any womans mind while thinking about small business ideas. And why should it not be? Even though there is no dearth of boutiques in an average city, the customer base of such stores is also increasing every day. Your boutique can house anything from clothes and accessories to home decoration items. Fitness Center (Gym) This might take up a little more investment to set up but the returns are great. Gym equipment is somewhat expensive but it is a one-time investment. With everybody being fitness-conscious these days, you should not have to worry about your business being non-profitable. If you are a yoga expert or a trained aerobics trainer, you need not bother with any equipment. Restaurant Most women are talented in the kitchen and passionate about cooking. So why not apply you skills into your business venture? Start your own caf or restaurant and do what you love the most- feeding people! You can also start a catering or take-away service too, using your culinary skills. Daycare/Crche You can turn your love for children into a small scale business by opening a daycare center at your place. Women these days are finding it increasingly difficult to balance

their work and home life. They would definitely appreciate a venture where they can leave their kids without worrying about their care and safety. Spending the day with chirpy kids can be fun and lucrative at the same time. Internet Business Just like everything else, the Internet has changed the way we can think about earning money too. There are lots of ways to start earning online. You can put almost any of your skills to use and start freelancing on the Web. Niche blogs, interactive websites and e-stores generate a lot of revenue if marketed well. Beauty Parlor This is one of those small business ideas that you just cannot go wrong with. With a little investment on training, quality products and basic equipment, you can turn your spare room to a cozy beauty salon. Gift Shop You do not necessarily need prior experience to set up a gift shop business. Most of us know what to expect in a gift shop, and you can order things from a trusted dealer, accordingly. You can run up a search on the Internet about the latest gift items and build up your stock. There should be people lining up outside your store in no time! Interior Decoration Store Most Indian women are expert in this niche. Stock up your shop with the things you would ideally decorate your house with, and capitalize on local arts and crafts. Pet Shop Every second family has a pet animal these days and pet lovers are more than willing to splurge on accessories and fancy knick-knacks for their furred friends. Why not start a shop to cater to the needs of indulgent pet owners? Load up your store with doggie

treats and other pet foods, accessories, clothes, houses (cages, kennels, etc.) and soon you will find yourself in great demand. Freelancer Journalism According to Bloomberg Businessweek, 45 percent of single Indian women say they would like to pursue a career in journalism. Television reporters, particularly female anchors, are perceived as living a glamorous life while providing a valued service to the community. Indian women hoping to get their foot in the door could start a local magazine or try their hand at being a freelance reporter. Culinary Arts Another great way for Indian women to start a business without leaving home is opening their own food service or catering company. Whether you're looking for something to supplement your duties as a housewife or you're ready to pursue a fulltime career, making specialty dishes and traditional Indian meals for hotels, private parties and even restaurants can be a lucrative way to spend your spare time. IT Services NASSCOM reports that almost 38 percent of India's IT professionals are women, and the country's educational system has prepared many young women for this career path. By steering girls towards "softer skills" such as computer science, electronics and communication, the Indian educational system gives women a head start in succeeding as IT professionals. Indian women with the right educational background could start a lucrative mobile IT service business and work from home, keeping overhead low and a schedule of their own choosing.Fashion Photography is increasingly seeing a number of women photographers succeed, and so is travel photography.

Recycling If you are so concerned about the global environment, e-waste issues, you can be the first to fight against it. And if you can make profit out of it, it will be more of you dreamt off. With a good local advertising campaign and a pickup truck, you can start collecting the scrap metal, old computers, electronics, ink cartridges and other recyclable materials and take them to recycle plants.In this venture your friends can help you too and you will find yourself making money, along with doing serving our earth. Multi-Cultural Marketing Expert Many of the business firms are trying hard to invent new ways to connect with their customers. But connecting with a heterogeneous audience, especially with multicultural minorities is a difficult part in the job. The business ventures fail at reaching their minority customers because they don't take the time to know them closely.In order to reach these targeted customers, they must recognize the places where the consumer resides and design a specific message not just for one ethnicity, but for cultures among those segments. With the minority populations growing like ever before, business ventures are trying to wipe out the gap between them and their minority customers. If you are expert at dealing with people of different cultures and ethnicity, and if you are good at marketing, you can be a marketing expert for different businesses creating messages (containing corporate image and product advertising) that could reach to all sorts of audience around the world. Public Relation For every business house, big or small, they need good public relations works. There are lots of PR firms, but as businesses are becoming more specialized these days, their public relations needs are also becoming sophisticated. Socially responsible, fair trade, organic, local, B Corps and other kinds of businesses with a socially responsible bent need public relations that will market their story to a whole different audience and deliver a different kind of message. If you are skilled at public relations and if you are

ready to make specifications for your service, why dont you think of starting a PR business for your own? Employee-Monitoring Services With the advancement in technology, the employees all around the world are becoming highly mobile. Most of the full-time employees opt for work at home as well as over-time work. Thus, businesses find it difficult to monitor their employees in such situations. They are mostly unable to track of what their workers are doing. Employers often do not have extra staff to monitor their employees. A company that could offer employee-monitoring services can be, thus, profited. If you can come up with more innovative ideas of monitoring the employees, more than keeping register and punching, you can think of building a business house of your own.

Some More Areas School for recruiters: Help to Hire Cake decorating business Selling Insurance Salvage Job Aptitude Testing Services Heritage Tourism Card making Produce selling Like to grow vegetables Senior citizen assistance

2.

Govt. Schemes- Central Govt., State Govt., Tax Benefits in SetUpThe First Five-Year Plan (1951-56) envisaged a number of welfare measures for

women. Establishment of the Central Social Welfare Board, organization of Mahila Mandals and the Community Development Programmes were a few steps in this direction. In the second Five-Year Plan (1956-61), the empowerment of women was closely linked with the overall approach of intensive agricultural development programmes. The Third and Fourth Five-Year Plans (1961-66 and 1969-74) supported female education as a major welfare measure. The Fifth Five-Year Plan (1974-79) emphasized training of women, who were in need of income and protection. This plan coincided with International Womens Decade and the submission of Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India. In1976, Womens welfare and Development Bureau was set up under the Ministry of Social Welfare. The Sixth Five-Year Plan (1980-85) saw a definite shift from welfare to development. It recognized womens lack of access to resources as a critical factor impending their growth. The Seventh Five-Year Plan (1985-90) emphasized the need for gender equality and empowerment. For the first time, emphasis was placed upon qualitative aspects such as inculcation of confidence, generation of awareness with regards to rights and training in skills for better employment. The Eight Five-Year Plan (1992-97) focused on empowering women, especially at the Gross Roots Level, through Panchayati Raj Institutions. The Ninth Five-Year Plan (1997-2002) adopted a strategy of Womens Component Plan, under which not less than 30 percent of funds/ benefits were earmarked for women related sectors.

The Tenth Five-Year Plan (2002-07) aims at empowering women through translating the recently adopted National Policy for Empowerment of Women (2001) into action and ensuring Survival, Protection and Development of women and children through rights based approach. At present, the Government of India has over 27 schemes for women operated by different departments and ministries. Some of these are: Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) Khadi And Village Industries Commission (KVIC) Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment (TRYSEM) Prime Ministers Rojgar Yojana (PMRY) Entrepreneurial Development programme (EDPs) Management Development progammes Womens Development Corporations (WDCs) Marketing of Non-Farm Products of Rural Women (MAHIMA) Assistance to Rural Women in Non-Farm Development (ARWIND) schemes Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development (TREAD) Working Womens Forum Indira Mahila Yojana Indira Mahila Kendra Mahila Samiti Yojana Mahila Vikas Nidhi Micro Credit Scheme Rashtriya Mahila Kosh SIDBIs Mahila Udyam Nidhi Mahila Vikas Nidhi Micro & Small Enterprises Cluster Development Programmes (MSE-CDP). National Banks for Agriculture and Rural Developments Schemes Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana (RGMVP) Priyadarshini Project- A programme for Rural Women Empowerment and Livelihood in

Mid Gangetic Plains Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP) Swayam Siddha Scheme for construction and running of Girls Hostel for students of secondary and higher secondary schoolsSponsored By: Central Funding Pattern: Central government will bear 90% of the recurring and non-recurring project cost. 10% will be borne by the State Governments. Owner: Ministry of Human Resource DevelopmentDepartment of School Education & Literacy Description: This is a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme launched in 2008-09 and is being implemented from 2009-10 to set up a 100-bedded Girls Hostel in each of 3479 Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs) in the country. The Scheme has replaced the earlier NGO driven Scheme for construction and running of Girls Hostels for Students of Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools, under which assistance was provided to voluntary organisations for running Girls Hostels. The main objective of the Scheme is to retain the girl child in secondary school so that girl students are not denied the opportunity to continue their study due to distance to school, parents financial affordability and other connected societal factors. Another objective of the Scheme is to make Secondary and Senior Secondary education accessible to a larger number of girl students. Beneficiaries: women and children Benefit Type: Other Eligibility Criteria: The girl students in the age group of 14-18 yrs. studying in classes IX and XII belonging to SC, ST, OBC, Minority communities and BPL families will form the target group of the Scheme. Students passing out of KGBV will be given preference in

admission in hostels. At least 50% of girls admitted will be from SC, ST, OBC and Minority communities. How to Avail: States or UT Governments can submit their proposals to Project Approval Board headed by the Secretary, School Education & Literacy, MHRD. Introduced On: Wednesday, April 1, 2009 Valid Upto: Friday, March 31, 2017 Reference URL: http://mhrd.gov.in/girls_hostel

3. Bank Schemes
STATE BANK OF INDIA- FULFILLING DREAMS She has dreams. She has aspirations and ambitions. She is enterprising. A gogetter, set to create a world of her own. What she needs is the right support to fulfil her dreams. State Bank of India, the largest bank under the Reserve Bank of India, has recognised her need. The Bank, apart from pioneering many socio-economic upliftment projects, champions the cause of women. To encourage and develop entrepreneurship among women, it has launched a Women Entrepreneurship Programme. State Bank of India recognises the need for womens participation in economic and business activities. The Bank has devised several schemes for illiterate women as well as for professional women. Stree Shakti Package: The Bank has a special scheme called the Stree Shakti Package for encouraging entrepreneurship among women. Under the scheme, finance is available at a concessionary rate of interest and reduced margins. Margins are reduced by 5 per cent and interest is reduced by 0.5 per cent in respect of loans above Rs. 2 lakhs.

 PNB MAHILA UDYAM NIDHI SCHEME To meet gap in equity. The women entrepreneurs will be assisted for setting up of new projects in tiny /small scale sector and rehabilitation of viable sick SSI units. Existing tiny and small scale industrial units and service industries undertaking expansion , modernization technology up gradation & diversification can also be considered. PNB MAHILA Samridhi Yojna Under This Scheme , four schemes have been launched under the umbrella of one scheme. These are for purchase of required infrastructure for Setting up of 1) Tailoring shop/Boutique, i.e. for purchase of Sewing Machines, etc. 2) ISD/STD Booths, i.e. for Security Deposits with MTNL/other Agencies like Reliance/Tata Indicom.etc., for purchase of Fax Machine, Xeroxing/Photocopier Machine, etc. 3) Beauty Parlour, i.e. for purchase of Furniture, Chairs, Bench etc. 4) Cyber Cafe, i.e. for purchase of Computers and furniture like computer tables, chairs etc. and for recurring expenditure as per the need of the activity. Scheme For Financing Creches To provide support services for women empowerment to working women in terms of creches with necessary services by making cheaper and easier credit available for financing Creches. The women will be assisted for purchase of required infrastructure for setting up Creches like basic equipment, utensils, stationers, growth monitoring equipments, fridge, cooler/fan, water filter, etc. and for recurring expenditure for one month. PNB Kalyani Card Scheme For meeting working capital credit requirement of allied agricultural activities/ misc farm/non- farm activities either singly or in combination with other activities.The literate/illiterate women dwelling in rural / semi-urban areas who have attained the age of majority shall be eligible under the Scheme. Such Women shall include individuals, farmers, landless labourers, agricultural labourers, tenant farmers, share croppers,

lessee farmers, etc. The women desirous of undertaking non-farm sector activities should have aptitude/experience and capability for undertaking the activity chosen for self employment. PNB Mahila Sashaktikaran Abhiyan Under this scheme, following concessions will be admissible Interest rate to be relaxed by 0.25% in Non-Priority Sector Advances and 0.50% in Priority Sector advances Margin to be reduced to 10%, wherever the margin requirement is more than 10% Waiver of 50% upfront fee (wherever applicable)

4. Tax and Other Benefits

Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance And Development (TREAD) Scheme The scheme envisages extension of credit by the bank and grant by the Govt of India to NGOs for the benefit / on lending to women either through SHGs or individually for setting up of small & micro enterprises in non farm sector. Women in India have climbed up the earnings ladder drastically in the past decade. However every year when it is Budget time, we all hope that there are benefits for us tax-wise. The Budget doesnt really offer too many exclusive benefits to women, but in general there are some areas where everyone can save on tax. Heres a look at whats beneficial from a tax perspective, so women can make their choices wisely. Income Tax Exemptions Women India. For resident women up to the age of 65 years, there is no income tax on net income up to Rs.1,90,000. This is slightly higher than the bar for men, which is Rs.1,80,000. With effect from April 1st 2011, salaried women have a 10% tax deduction if their employer has invested more than Rs.1,00,000 in the Central Governments Pension Scheme. There are many different investment options which help in saving tax, and one should always read and research these thoroughly before investing. Earlier men solely made financial decisions and did all the investing. Now women are not to be left behind, and a lot of them do extensive research on investment options before deciding on whats best for them. The most well known Section 80C of the Income Tax Act, offers many tax benefits to investors. One can invest in instruments such as Public Provident Fund (PPF), National Savings Certificate (NSC), Tax Saving Fixed Deposits (FD) and so on, up to a limit of Rs.1,00,000.

Beyond this, one can also purchase Infrastructure Bonds up to Rs. 20,000. There are some market linked products such as Equity Linked Saving Scheme (ELSS) and Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP) which can also be considered. The risk that you can take with your money varies inversely as your age. If you are in your early working years, you can allocate a higher proportion to ELSS investments as opposed to the fixed income investments such as PPF and NSC. If you are living in a rented accommodation, then be sure to claim HRA (House Rent Allowance) tax benefits. There are 3 factors which are considered for HRA the actual rent allowance given by employer, 50% of basic pay in metros (40% in non metros) and actual rent paid minus 10% of basic pay. The least of these 3 factors is what you claim as HRA for tax exemption. There are tax exemptions offered on home loans under Section 80C, and on interest under Section 24. These should also be availed of wherever applicable. Investing together offers some benefits for a couple, such as eligibility for loans.

5. NGO's and Self Help GroupsFederation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs (FIWE) Consortium of Women Entrepreneurs(CWEI) Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of Andhra Pradesh Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka (AWAKE) Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) Women Entrepreneurs Promotion Association (WEPA) Women Entrepreneurs Promotion Association (WEPA) Bihar Mahila Udyog SanghBihar Mahila Udyog Sangh Mahakaushal Association of Woman Entrepreneurs (MAWE) SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneurship Council Women Entrepreneurs Association of Tamil Nadu (WEAT) TiE Stree Shakti (TSS) Women Empowerment Corporation Confederation of Women Entrepreneurs (COWE) COWE has a whole host of services and partnerships, and we strongly recommend you browse through their website carefully (Link below). However, here are some ideas from us on how you could tap into COWE's network. Information: The website is a treasure trove of information for women looking to start a business. The 'Category' tab on the left-hand side begins with 'Articles on Entrepreneurship' which is a must-read for anybody looking to start a business. Particularly women who bemoan the lack of information. The articles are further divided into several categories from Starting a Business, Managing a Business etc. It addresses important issues like Registering your company, Insuring your business etc. Training Programs: COWE definitely places a lot of emphasis on training. There are Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDPs) general and area specific that

cover industries like Medical Transcription, Food etc. (EDP) There are also training seminars. (Training Seminars) Networking: You could use COWE's seminars, exhibitions and study tours to network too. (Seminars, Exhibitions, & Study Tours) Scheme Information: One of the most exciting parts in the website to us was the training and information offering on 'Schemes'. It's the last header in the 'Category' tab and offers information on a whole range of government and private schemes for women entrepreneurs, from the Rajiv Gandhi Udyami Mitra Yojana to Goldman Sachs initiative for 10000 women. Main site URL: www.co-we.com

MANAGING OBSTACLES
The problems and constraints experienced by women entrepreneurs have resulted in restricting the expansion of women entrepreneurship. The major barriers encountered by women entrepreneurs are: The greatest deterrent to women entrepreneurs is that they are women. A kind of patriarchal- male dominant social order is the building block to them in their way towards business success. Male members think it a big risk financing the ventures run by women Women entrepreneurs have to face a stiff competition with the men entrepreneurs who easily involve in the promotion and development area and carry out easy marketing of their products with both the organized sector and their male counterparts. Such a competition ultimately results in the liquidation of women entrepreneurs. Lack of self-confidence, will-power, strong mental outlook and optimistic attitude amongst women creates a fear from committing mistakes while doing their piece of work. The family members and the society are reluctant to stand beside their entrepreneurial growth. Women in India lead a protected life. They are even less educated, economically not stable nor self-dependent which reduce their ability to bear risks and uncertainties involved in a business unit, The old and outdated social outlook to stop women from entering in the field of entrepreneurship is one of the reasons for their failure. They are under a social pressure which restrains them to prosper and achieve success in the field of entrepreneurship Unlike men, women mobility in India is highly limited due to many reasons. A single women asking for room is still looked with suspicion. Cumbersome exercise involved in starting with an enterprise coupled with officials humiliating attitude towards women compels them to give up their spirit of surviving in enterprise altogether.

 Women's family obligations also bar them from becoming successful entrepreneurs in both developed and developing nations. The financial institutions discourage women entrepreneurs on the belief that they can at any time leave their business and become housewives again. Womens family and personal obligations are sometimes a great barrier for succeeding in business career. Only few women are able to manage both home and business efficiently, devoting enough time to perform all their responsibilities in priority. The educational level and family background of husbands also influences women participation in the field of enterprise. Absence of proper support, cooperation and back-up for women by their own family members and the outside world people force them to drop the idea of excelling in the enterprise field. They are always making many pessimistic feelings to be aroused in their minds and making them feel that family and not business is a place meant for them. Many women take the training by attending the Entrepreneurial Development programme without an entrepreneurial bent of mind. Women who are imparted training by various institutes must be verified on account of aptitude through the tests, interviews, etc. High production cost of some business operations adversely affects the development of women entrepreneurs. The installations of new machineries during expansion of the productive capacity and like similar factors discourage the women entrepreneurs from venturing into new areas. Women controlled business are often small and it is not always easy for women to access the information they need regarding technology, training, innovative schemes, concessions, alternative markets, etc. Just a small percentage of women entrepreneurs avail the assistance of technology and they too remain confined to word processing software in the computer. They hardly make use of advanced software available like statistical software SAP, Accounting Package like TALLY, Animation software 3D MAX, internet, etc

 Lack of awareness about the financial assistance in the form of incentives, loans, schemes etc. by the institutions in the financial sector. So the sincere efforts taken towards women entrepreneurs may not reach the entrepreneurs in rural and backward areas. Achievement motivation of the women folk found less compared to male members. The low level of education and confidence leads to low level achievement and advancement motivation among women folk to engage in business operations and running a business concern. Apart from the above discussed problems there may occur other series of serious problems faced by women entrepreneurs as improper infrastructural facilities, high cost of production, attitude of people of society towards the women modern business outlook, low needs of enterprise. Women also tend to start business about ten years later than men, on average. Motherhood, lack of management experience, and traditional socialization has all been cited as reasons for delayed entry into entrepreneurial careers.

SUCCESS STORIES
From being treated as a quiet, supportive half of society, women who want to start a business in India now find the country to provide one of the most fertile environments based on indicators such as business confidence, motivation, financing options and other sources of support. The finding is part of Dell Women's Global Entrepreneurship Study conducted across 450 women entrepreneurs from US, UK and India commissioned by Dell. It reveals that 71 per cent of woman entrepreneurs in India have a branding in market for their businesses and eight in every 10 woman entrepreneurs are hiring which indicates an expansion spree in their individual businesses as well as increase in employment opportunities too. Some of the heart- warming stories are asRita Singh, MESCO Steel Group who has been awarded the "Best Woman Entrepreneur of the decade" by FICCI. Ishita Swarup, who owns a shopping portal 99 labels. Story of Patricia Narayan, Winner of Ficci Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award Story of Sarala Bastian who set up a successful mushroom business with just Rs 15000 Story of Kiran Majumdar Shaw, the Biocon Queen Story of Saloni Malhotra, founder of DesiCrew. Story of Revathi Krishna, the founder of Coffee, Books and More. Story of Lata Manohars boutique Vishuddi. Story of Radha Rajakrishnan, a successful entrepreneur in apparel business.

 Chetna Sinha- India's first rural bank for women From spearheading India's first rural bank for women, to running a business school, a women's chamber of commerce, farmer-turned-entrepreneur Chetna Sinha has come a long way. In this interview, she credits her success to the many women in her village who've inspired her. About 17 years ago, when Chetna Sinha and her husband -- both farmers by profession -- first approached the Reserve Bank of India with the idea of founding a bank to serve the rural women of our country, it was ridiculed upon. 'How can you run a bank with illiterate women who can't even read and write?' asked an officer. Today, the 53-year-old entrepreneur has been successful in not only starting but also successfully operating three different rural enterprises that are committed to the cause of rural women in the country, which includes India's first co-operative bank for rural women -- the Manndeshi Mahila Bank In 1997, when Sinha started the bank in Mhaswad, a small village in the Satara district of Maharashtra with a semi-literate workforce of women from the same village, she wanted to provide loans to help farmers recover from their economic condition. But 15 years later, she has managed to do more than just that. Today, despite facing over 8 to 10 hours of load shedding in a day, the bank has managed to successfully introduce both computerised and doorto-door banking to offer its services to over 1,80,000 women across nine districts in rural Maharashtra and Karnataka, which includes Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Raigarh, Ratnagiri, Pune, Kolhapur, Hubli and Dharwad. Of these, over 1,55,000 women are savings account holders; most of them earn less than Rs 50 a day. In 2006, Sinha who holds a Masters degree in Commerce and Economics from the University of Mumbai started the Mann Deshi Business School (MDBS). Since then it has managed to train over 46,000 women in vocational and entrepreneurial skills, of which over 24,000 have gone on to pursue entrepreneurship after receiving professional training. Further, to look after the needs of several underprivileged women entrepreneurs, in 2012, Sinha partnered with New York-based Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) to set up

the Manndeshi Chamber of Commerce for Rural Women (MCCRW), a first of its kind Chamber of Commerce for rural women in India. The MCCRW aims to both mentor and address the grievances of women entrepreneurs in rural India. In 2002, she was appointed as a World Fellow to Yale University and in 2003, she was recognised as the Bridge Builder by the Harvard University, USA.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Magazines and ArticlesZENITH - International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Vol.1 Issue 5, September 2011, ISSN 2231 5780 PTI Jun 19- Fertile environment for women entrepreneurs in India: Study IANS - Increasing opportunities for women-led businesses in India Econonmic Times, Herald Magazine. Personal Finance For Women In India: Plan Your Path To Financial Freedom Forever authored by Ankush Thakur & Priya Florence Shah, and published by the Naaree Academy for Indian Women Achievers. Business Finance: Loans For Women Entrepreneurs In India

Internetwww.naari.com http://www.sukh-dukh.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61648 http://www.siliconindia.com/news/business/10-Best-Business-Ideas-of-2012-nid130213-cid-3.html http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/04/11/50-side-businesses-you-can-start-onyour-own/ http://www.rediff.com/getahead/slide-show/slide-show-1-career-interview-withchetna-sinha/20120504.htm http://india.gov.in/my-government/schemes//