Force Fostering Women Entrepreneur Ecosystem: A Case of Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank

Abstract

One of the major hurdles entrepreneurs face is seed capital, securing it becomes even more galling for women entrepreneur and further it becomes treacherous for rural women entrepreneurs. Motivated by one such strenuous journey of Kantabai, a welder, in securing business loan Chetna Gala Sinha pioneered in the field of women microfinance by establishing first rural bank in 1996 which could suffice the needs of women from hinterland of India where the majority resides. This case validates Entrepreneurship can emerge from the revolutionised process of facilitating microfinance along with raising awareness and skill through various customized program. Thus a customized financing with customised education created a successful social entrepreneurship called Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank. The case tries to highlight inherent challenges existing for women entrepreneurs in the current ecosystem and the solutions put forth by Mann Deshi Mahila bank for rural women entrepreneurs. The preference by the financially excluded women for the “costly” Mann Deshi Bank over others is a case of successful outreach efforts made by the bank. The financially excluded segment of the society probably needs social inclusion to precede financial inclusion. They need respect, recognition, timeliness and doorstep service more than interest rate benefits. This case tries to map organisations initiatives in the “3M” framework required for entrepreneurs to initiate and establish their businesses (Bates et al. 2007). It is possible for a bank to profitably design customised loan products for low income households that are made available through individual BCs. Perhaps, the high expectations the development community has had from micro-credit could have been better met if the products offered were custom-designed and went beyond term loans.