Profile of Women Entrepreneurs: A Case Study of Chandigarh

Abstract

Entrepreneur is one who innovates, organizes, manages and assumes the risk of an enterprise and acts as a catalytic agent in growth process. When an enterprise is established and controlled by a woman, it not only boosts economic growth but also has many desirable socio-economic outcomes. Pt.Jawahar Lal Nehru had once remarked, "When a woman moves forward the family moves, the village moves and the nation moves." Women have innate flair for entrepreneurship. They are natural organizers and relationship builders. They can perform all the functions of an able entrepreneur in as efficient manner as their male counterpart, still they constitute less than 12% of self employed workforce in India, which is very less as compared to developed nations. This calls for concerted efforts to promote their role in entrepreneurial activities so that they can contribute to the growth process of the nation. Growth of women entrepreneur can go a long way in bridging the gap in gender inequalities in our country. The present paper is an empirical study of 150 women entrepreneurs from tricity of Chandigarh i.e. Chandigarh (U.T), Mohali (Punjab) and Panchkula (Haryana). The paper examines the socio-economic profile of women entrepreneurs, reasons for their being in business i.e. motivational factors, attitude of family and society towards them and problems they face in achieving their goal.