Opinion: Encouraging Women's Entrepreneurship For Society As A Whole

According to the World Bank, gender equality in entrepreneurship could add close to $700 billion to India's GDP by 2025. Another study highlights that India could add 68 million more jobs by the same year if women participated in the workforce at the same rate as men.

There is already ample evidence to show that households that include an earning woman are more likely to prosper and make better fiscal decisions overall. A landscape study shows that women entrepreneurs spend most of their income on food (65%), children¡¯s education (53%), clothing (51%) and health/medical facilities (24%), which results in better educated and healthier generations.

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But it has also become increasingly clear that in a country as dynamic and diverse as India, the untapped potential of women workers and entrepreneurs is a gold-mine that could not only transform households but reshape the entire socio-economic landscape of the country.

In the case of India, inclusion isn¡¯t just a moral imperative; it becomes a financial one as well. An imperative that has the potential to empower women; while creating a flourishing economy and pushing India closer to becoming a global superpower.

The important question is: In the unfolding era of solopreneurs and digital revolutions, how can we re-imagine this ¡®woman entrepreneur¡¯? Can we perhaps update our approach for women entrepreneurs so that they can thrive in the new and emerging digital economy?

Time To Break Some Myths

When I ask you to imagine a female entrepreneur from a rural village in India, what do you think of? Surely, images of old women sewing clothes, weaving some baskets or maybe even making pickles and agarbatis are flooding your mind.

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For decades now, the traditional approach to empower women from the grassroots has been through creating small businesses for a handful of such products that are easy to make from the village. Despite the many economic and technological advancements that we have seen in the past many years, our imagination of how to include female workers from the grassroots in this digital economy has not yet advanced as much.

Imagine a world where a young girl from the village is using digital tools to run a virtual service centre, or creating a thrift store for clothes that she is running on the cloud or even a digital marketing agency on the cloud with clients across the country.

Thanks to the digital world becoming more ¡®real¡¯, women don¡¯t need seed capital to set up a physical store and figure out marketing and distribution strategies. Infrastructure costs are truly minimal, and there is incredible scope in how much one can achieve even if you¡¯re just a solopreneur.

The Way Forward

Empowering women to embrace entrepreneurship in this digital economy can be a challenge in India¡¯s context. But the following are certain strategies that could be useful as we pave the way forward:

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Digital Literacy and Skill Development: We need to start with the basics. Women from the grassroots should be taught how to use the internet and master digital tools for business management and marketing. The DISHA program in India has already trained millions of women in this direction.

Access to E-commerce Platforms: Government should partner with e-commerce giants and new age media companies to run CSR initiatives that offer training and support specifically targeted for women entrepreneurs to ensure that they have a fair share of the digital market space.
Access to Funding and Investment: Digital platforms are revolutionising the way women entrepreneurs can now access funding. In 2020, female-led startups received 13% of the total funding in India. And if we want this number to go up, we need to teach more women how to access crowdfunding platforms and online venture capitalists.

Digital Networking Communities: We also need to think of providing a platform for women entrepreneurs to share experiences and seek advice from peers. These networks can foster a sense of community and inclusivity in an otherwise alien digital space.

Conclusion

Unlocking the potential of women as entrepreneurs will lead to a more inclusive society and a more vibrant economy. By challenging traditional gender roles and breaking down barriers, we can foster innovation and inspire future generations to reach for the stars. So why settle for less?

About the author: Priya Subodh is the Director of Women Skilling and Social Entrepreneurship, 1M1B Foundation. All views/opinions expressed in the article are of the author.