Women Entrepreneurs in Micro and Small Businesses: What Differentiate Them from the Rest of the Women Business Operators?

Abstract

There is very little indication that women are able to upscale their businesses even in traditionally feminine sectors. This study therefore attempts to understand how certain women entrepreneurs prosper than their less successful counterparts through investigating the motivations to start-up, up-scale and diversify businesses and constraints and opportunities faced. General application of the findings of the case study analysis to wider population was eventually tested through a questionnaire survey. Majority of successful women entrepreneurs found to be opportunity driven whereas the rest were mostly necessity driven. The presence or absence of family involvement together with certain entrepreneurial and managerial qualities was of crucial importance in business success or failure. Remaining within traditional sectors was not a reflection of a lack of entrepreneurship as generally believed. Majority of successful women were found to have confined business activities to familiar arenas to avoid critical socio-cultural constraints. Sri Lankan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Vol.1(2) Oct 2009