WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Hilary Clinton has said and I quote “Investing in women is not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do”.  Modern society has seen arrays of changes significantly in women liberation and empowerment, thereby enabling them participates in all spheres of activities, ranging from academics, administration, and politics and to social works and so on.

Women entrepreneurs are confident, innovative, creative and knowledgeable women, who are capable of maintaining a balance life and taking a personal vision and turning it into lucrative businesses.

“Momtrepreneurs”, as they are called today ventures into business, not limiting themselves to the four walls of their house duties for different reasons. Some decide to start business because they have an idea of a business plan. Others because they have passion for solving a specifically career related problems; they want to be more in control of their careers. However, societal indifferences, cultural practices, religion and other specific factors have forced women into being self employed.

The importance of these great women, however cannot be over- emphasized, as they have been recognized globally as an important source of economic growth. Female entrepreneurs create new jobs for themselves and other, thereby aiding wealth creation in the society. And particularly, women managers contribute to economic well being of their families, reduction of poverty, thereby contributing to the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

However, it is heartbreaking to  know that women still represent the minority of all entrepreneurs, even though they constitutes more than half of the population of the world. Subsequently in a gender role society like ours, female entrepreneurs face a lot of difficulties in starting and growing new enterprise.

Also, because entrepreneurship is considered widely as a male-dominated field, it is often difficult for female entrepreneurs to surpass this view. Apart from that, in terms of resources, women usually have to secure more additional resources in other to exploit opportunities, because they control less capital compared to men. Moreover, there tends to be mixed expectations from employees to woman managers; expecting “woman manager” to be a ‘manager’ as well as a ‘mother’. Also business relations customers, suppliers and banks, constantly reminds the woman that she is different, though most time it’s in form of praises to them.

Particularly, work balance is often a goal of entrepreneurs across board, but mothers have to simultaneously run their families and their company. Also it is obvious that the workload associated with being a small business manager is not easily combined with taking care of the children and a family.

These challenges however, must not stop women from being self- reliant. Female entrepreneurs today are CEO of Multi National Companies all around the world, and they are actually setting the pace for their counterparts, plus doing exceedingly well in all spheres they venture into.

It is encouraging enough to know that government and various developmental bodies across the globe are thriving very hard on establishing promotional measures and incentives for women entrepreneurs.

To face the test of time, female entrepreneurs must be able to bear risks and must possess organizational skills coupled with being innovative.  Successful women entrepreneurs are women who have the ability to eliminate self –doubt that every business owner’s face.

It is no doubt that investing in Nigerian women would salvage the dwindling economic of Nigeria that has left every home penniless.  To empower women, is to empower the whole nation, leading to wealth creation and economic growth and most importantly eradication of abject poverty.