Women Small Business Owners Research Articles

Development of financial literacy and fintech adoption on women SMEs business performance in Indonesia

Women-owned small businesses are crucial to the Indonesian economy. Despite this contribution, women entrepreneurs face many challenges when building their businesses, especially getting business loans. Women entrepreneurs adopt less technology and have less financial expertise than men. This study aims to determine financial literacy factors affecting women SMEs' business success and the extent of financial technology (FinTech) use as an alternative funding source to formal financial institutions. The study examines FinTech adoption using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT Theory). This study also examines how FinTech adoption mediates the indirect effect of financial literacy on SME business performance. The study uses a quantitative research approach using a judgmental sample of 270 women entrepreneurs who have previously used FinTech. The data is analyzed with SEM-PLS. According to the study, effort expectancy, performance expectancy, and social influence all have a beneficial impact on FinTech adoption among women-owned small businesses. The survey found that FinTech adoption was a key factor influencing women SMEs' business performance. The findings also indicate that financial literacy has a beneficial effect on business success. The study reveals FinTech adoption as a mediating factor in the association between financial literacy and SMEs business success. As a result, our findings contribute to a better understanding of how digital technology adoption affects SMEs' performance and long-term sustainability. The findings offer insights for entrepreneurs, policymakers, and company owners looking to enhance the survival rate of SMEs by improving operations and harnessing digital technology to promote capital accessibility, FinTech adoption, and financial literacy.

Navigating Uncharted Territory: A post Covid-19 Exploration of the Resilience of Women Owned Small Businesses in the Wake of the Pandemic

Resilience has long been acknowledged in the literature as a crucial aspect of the entrepreneur's character and personality. Additionally, it is acknowledged as a vital component of the entrepreneurial process that propels businesses to great outcomes. However, to the researchers’ knowledge, there remains limited understanding regarding how women-owned small businesses in South Africa withstand and function during challenging social and economic crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. In the post-modern period we live in today, women will inevitably play an important part in business and economic development, and they are eager to become involved and make a difference in their communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the challenges faced by female entrepreneurs in growing their businesses. This research focuses on investigating how resilient South African women entrepreneurs have been in response to the pandemic. Drawing from resilience theory, the study employed a qualitative approach to gather and analyze data from a group of 15 women entrepreneurs based in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, using thematic analysis. The following four themes emerged from the findings; business agility; optimistic outlook; leveraged digital technology; and business networks. This research enhances existing resilience theory by integrating fresh insights gathered from the resilience strategies employed by female entrepreneurs in times of crisis. Results from the study are also expected to contribute to sustaining South African women owned small businesses and empowering their resilience, despite adversities.

The Role of Women's Business Performance in Promoting Sustainable Development

The relationship between women's business performance and sustainable development is a topic of increasing importance and interest. Research has shown that empowering women in business can have positive effects not only on their individual performance but also on the broader sustainable development goals of society. Therefore, recognizing and fostering the relationship between women's business performance and sustainable development is crucial for achieving gender equality and realizing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The objective of this study was to identify the factors affecting Micro and Small-Scale Enterprises in Karat Town of Konso Zone in Southern Ethiopia. Hence, the researchers use a quantitative research approach with an explanatory research design where the effect caused by the independent variables on the dependent variable is observed through regression analysis. Simple random sampling techniques have been used by the researcher in order to select 251 sample sizes of women small business owners. The primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire in the form of a five-point Likert scale. Then, both descriptive and inferential statistics analyses were done through SPSS version 21.0 in order to get reliable research findings. Accordingly, the regression result showed that customer satisfaction, access to finance, marketing skill, information technology, and access to entrepreneurship training have positive and statistically significant effects on women's business performance. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher forwarded possible recommendations for the women's micro and small-scale enterprises operating in Karat town.

Financial Resilience and Financial Education among Malaysi-an Women Small and Micro Business-Owners: Lessons beyond the Covid-19 Crisis

Abstract
 Policy makers across the countries have embraced financial education as a remedy to barrier militating against the need of women small and micro business owners to improve their financial decisions, behaviours, and invariably financial resilience and economic opportunities. A review of academic and policy literature on financial education and financial inclusions shows that policymakers have initiated different activities with focus on building and improving financial literacy of groups of women entrepreneurs who operates small and micro businesses. In order to highlight this important objective, one that resonates with development objectives, the paper discusses the following: first, the benefits of financial education for low-income group, in particular, women who operates micro and small businesses; Second, how financial education can support financial inclusions; and third, how financial education could be applied to deal with risks and challenges confronting the low income groups of women business owners, and enhance their financial resilience through appropriate financial decision making and adaptation over a long term. This paper finds relevance in the light of numerous financial challenges such as, financial shortfall, loss of income, trouble meeting other financial obligations experienced by group of low-income groups of women business owners during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. One that has proven to be a severe test on their financial resilience. This research is supported by Ministry of Education (MOE) through Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS/1/2021/SS01/UIAM/03/3).

The Enterprise at the Service of Society in the 21st century

The Enterprise at the Service of Society in the 21st century

An Assessment of Awareness and Attitudes towards Green Practices among Women-Owned Enterprises

The aim of this study is to explore the response of catering suppliers to environmental sustainability initiatives. The sample was collected from women-owned small businesses catering, and the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method was used. The study found that attitudes play an important role in influencing the behavior of catering suppliers' sustainable practices. The finding also indicates that the caterers engaged in environmentally friendly techniques for processing food waste. However, their techniques varied. The results of this study can serve as a valuable guide for conducting green practice action research in the context of policy. Keywords: : Professional Catering; Women Entrepreneur; Green Practices; SDGs eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i21.3668

Equality Means Business: Factors Affecting Indian Women-Owned Small Business’s Scalability & Impact of Entrepreneurship On Financial Independence

The lack of women’s economic participation and financial independence is a major contributor to gender inequality in India. The creation of women-owned MSME businesses in the cottage and F&B industry not only provides women with job opportunities, but also empowers them in the sense that they no longer need to be socioeconomically subordinate to their male representatives. Towards this need, the aim of this study was to understand the factors that impact the financial independence of India’s urban-based women entrepreneurs owning small F&B businesses, as well as evaluate the impact of entrepreneurship on their social and economic empowerment. The sample set of the data were 21 urban India-based female entrepreneurs, between the ages of 20-60 years of age, owning small (less than 10 employees) businesses. The interviews and surveys were conducted in English. The results of this research study have established that the creation of MSME enterprises results in a significant increase in Indian women’s financial independence and social empowerment. While the 95% entrepreneurs aspire to upscale their business ventures, they are being held back by a lack of access to mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs and financial support. Qualitative analysis evidenced the ability of entrepreneurship to socially empower Indian women, through the formation of a professional identity, as well as newfound economic self-sufficiency. These findings imply that entrepreneurship is a tool that can be leveraged by government and non-profit organizations to radically increase Indian women’s financial independence and economic participation, leading to an increase in social empowerment as well.

Reshaping the Image of Women Owned Businesses in Difficult Times With Entrepreneurship Skills as Mediator Between Motivation and Efficiency : An Empirical Study

COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the health, financial systems, and human relations across the globe. Economic and social systems are forced to adopt new ways. India too has witnessed negative growth rate during the pandemic and has been experiencing far greater effect on the whole population. On the other hand, women-owned small businesses were negatively affected and the revenue of their businesses declined due to underlying reasons like subdued demand, disrupted supply chain systems, and lack of flow of funds. Exceptionally, there are few women-owned businesses that witnessed gains by reshaping their businesses with their bold and courageous steps. Inner traits like motivation skills are the combination of notable motivating factors considered in the study for women to enter into business. The other variable is entrepreneurship skill to become self-reliant through self-confidence, self-control, creativity, adaptability, innovation, and influence for entrepreneurial growth. The third and important variable is efficiency skill which is the combination of communication, commitment, team capabilities, collaboration, and high profitability promoting mobilization with efficient linking up with other economic, social, and political interventions. This success and increase in their revenue have been predominantly driven by some of the inherent traits in women which are entrepreneurial in nature like innovation, creativity, reinvention, and adapting to new things. The present paper was an understanding of how the mediating effect between the mediator was undertaken to measure and inspect the straight and ancillary trails affecting the variables. The goal was to describe the provisional and depending instruments by which variable motivation skill communicates its effect with mediator(s) entrepreneurship skills on to the other variable efficiency skill using process macro3.1v of SPSS-21. The results showed that there was significant correlation between the three variables and the total effect of women motivational skills on women efficiency skills was suggestively variant from zero. Thus, it was assumed that women are confident in decision-making, holding and reshaping the image in these difficult times with their combined motivation skills and entrepreneurship skills leading to efficiency of their businesses.

Gender-responsive public procurement: strategies to support women-owned enterprises

PurposeThis paper aims to inform strategies to enhance public procurement opportunities for women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To do so, the study examines two research questions: To what extent are women-owned enterprises under-represented among SME suppliers to government; and Do barriers to public procurement – as perceived by SME owners – differ across gender?Design/methodology/approachThe study draws on the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and on theories of role congruity and social feminism to develop the study’s hypotheses. Empirical analyses rely on comparisons of a sample of 1,021 SMEs that had been suppliers to government and 9,376 employer firms that had not been suppliers to government. Data were collected by Statistics Canada and are nationally representative. Logistic regression analysis was used to control for systemic firm and owner differences.FindingsControlling firm and owner attributes, majority women-owned businesses were underrepresented as SME suppliers to government in some, but not all sectors. Women-owned SMEs in Wholesale and Retail and in Other Services were, ceteris paribus, half as likely as to be government suppliers as counterpart SMEs owned by men. Among Goods Producers and for Professional, Scientific and Technical Services SMEs, there were no significant gender differences in the propensity to supply the federal government. “Complexity of the contracting process” and “difficulty finding contract opportunities” were the obstacles to contracting cited most frequently.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of using secondary analyses of data are well documented and apply here. The findings reflect only the perspectives of “successful bidders” and do not capture SMEs that submitted bids but were not successful. Furthermore, the survey did not include questions about sub-contractor enterprises, data that would likely provide even more insights about SMEs in government supply chains. Accordingly, the study could not address sub-contracting strategies to increase the number of women-owned businesses on government contracts. Statistics Canada’s privacy protocols also limited the extent to which the research team could examine sub-groups of small business owners, such as visible minorities and Indigenous/Aboriginal persons. It is also notable that much of the SME literature, as well as this study, define gender as a dichotomous (women/female, men/male) attribute. Comparing women/female and men/males implicitly assumes within group homogeneity. Future research should use a more inclusive definition of gender. Research is also required to inform about the obstacles to government procurement among the population of SMEs that were unsuccessful in their bids.Practical implicationsThe study provides benchmarks on, and directions to, enhance the participation of women-owned SMEs or enterprises in public procurement. Strategies to support women-owned small businesses that comply with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are advanced.Social implicationsThe study offers insights to reconcile economic efficiency and social (gender equity) policy goals in the context of public procurement. The “policy-practice divides” in public procurement and women’s enterprise policies are discussed.Originality/valueThe study is among the first to use a feminist lens to examine the associations between gender of SME ownership and public procurement, while controlling for other salient owner and firm attributes.

Spirituality and ethical treatment of customers and employees by devout Thai women small business owners

AbstractThe role of spirituality in management is of growing interest, not least because it is closely related to business ethics, and, thus, how businesses treat customers and employees. The topic, however, still needs some conceptual development, as well as empirical research, especially outside Western, Christian contexts. This qualitative research examines spirituality among women small business owners in Thailand. These women follow Kuan Im bodhisattva, a Buddhist role model teaching compassion and morality. In Jackson's terminology, this is an example of an Eastern, practice‐oriented approach to ethics rather than (in his view) the somewhat theoretical wisdom‐oriented approach common in the West. The nature of their spirituality and their treatment of customers and employees maps strongly to a servant leadership style. Servant leadership has occasionally been proposed as the style most closely associated with spirituality. In this context, it seems to be thoroughly intertwined, and highly concerned with ethical treatment of others.

Financial Strategies for Long-Term Success in Women-Owned Small Businesses

Failure of small businesses many times is because of poor implementation of long-term financial strategies. Women small business owners face many challenges in financing their small businesses because they may not have a financial plan. Interviews with 11 women small business owners in Cleveland County, North Carolina were completed to discuss ways to fund and sustain their small business. The success of women small business owners can strengthen the local economy by stimulating economic growth, increase the quality of life for the owner and their family, and can improve the standard of living in their community.

Leveraging on the Urban Economy to Promote the Growth of Women-Owned Small Businesses in Bangladesh

Purpose: The contribution of small businesses to a country’s economic growth is vital. It makes sense to accentuate the small businesses by emphasizing the neglected segments. The present study aims to explore the women-owned small businesses (WOSB) and their various problems. The study also examines if the city-based features of the urban economy can be favorable to promote the growth of WOSB.
 Methods: The concept paper conducts secondary research by selecting sample literature on WOSB of Bangladesh from the manufacturing, and trading sectors. The selection and classification of extant literature were conducted by emphasizing problems faced by WOSB, and the city-based amenities of developing countries. The extracted information is analyzed by categorizing and interpreting relevant issues to create a base-model of venture-growth.
 Results: Based on the literature review, a growth-framework is formulated that reflects the issues faced by WOSB categorized as financial illiteracy, inadequate human capital, insufficient social capital, and business environmental hiccups. Also, the substandard growth of WOSB is envisaged in the model if the problems are not addressed timely. The study also discovers that the urban economy could be leveraged to make these issues less coercing for the women owners.
 Implications: The paper creates a nexus with the WOSB and the privileges of urban platforms to ensure better growth of the firms.
 Originality: As far as authors could determine, the aimed research-domain was mostly covered from the perspectives of developed countries, rarely covered in the context of developing countries, and almost absent in Bangladesh. This paper attempts to fulfill that gap.

Impact of Race and Gender on the SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan Amounts

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) helped to preserve employment relationships during thesudden shutdown of economic activity due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In this paper, we analyzeaccess of the minority and women-owned businesses to PPP loans. Our quantitative results showthat a minority-owned business with 5 to 9 employees received a 21% smaller PPP loan thantheir white-owned business counterpart. A women-owned small business with 5 to 9 employeesreceived a 15% smaller PPP loan than a male-owned business. Using Lee bounds, we found thatwomen-owned businesses in rural counties received $2,634 and $8,856 smaller PPP loans thanthose in urban counties. From the interviews with PPP loan recipients in Northeast Ohio, welearned that businesses that received smaller loan amounts had more difficulty with the loanapplication process compared to businesses that received larger loans. The discrepancy in PPPloans to women- and minority-owned businesses may have stemmed from a lack of access andknowledge about the program itself.

Entrepreneurship and women’s economic empowerment in Zimbabwe: Research themes and future research perspectives

This article explores women’s entrepreneurship research conducted in Zimbabwe. For this purpose, a literature review approach was adopted where all journal articles published between 1990 and 2018 that addressed the issues of women entrepreneurship in Zimbabwe were searched and analysed. The articles were searched on Google Scholar using the following keywords: women entrepreneurs, women small business owners, women in informal sector and Zimbabwe. In total, 11 articles were retrieved, indicating a dearth of research studies on women entrepreneurship, particularly from the formal sector perspective, giving a glimpse of the entrepreneurship landscape in Zimbabwe. The content analysis of the selected articles resulted in the identification of eight themes: (1) feminism perspective, (2) informal sector trading, (3) motivations for entrepreneurship, (4) entrepreneurship characteristics, (5) obstacles in entrepreneurship, (6) socio-cultural challenges, (7) cross-border trading and (8) coping strategies within the context of women entrepreneurship in Zimbabwe. Discussions on these themes were situated within the broader literature and trends on existing women entrepreneurship literature. The study has implications at a practical and theoretical level. Supporting women entrepreneurship has positive effects on poverty reduction in agreement with the Sustainable Development Goals, and this study suggests women’s empowerment to operate at higher echelons of the business sector with bespoke support mechanism that fosters sustainable development. Also, the study proposed suggestions for future research on women entrepreneurship in Zimbabwe and other African countries.

Accessing finance among women-owned small businesses: evidence from lower Manya Krobo municipality, Ghana

The study examined the constraints to accessing finance among women-owned small businesses in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region, Ghana. We employed largely qualitative methods using the case study approach. The purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select 50 respondents. In-depth interview guide and focused group discussion were used to gather data from participants. The data were thematically analysed. The study revealed that there are constraints of poor market demand and lack of capital and credit. In furtherance, although collaterals exist for small businesses, they are being discriminated against women micro-entrepreneurs due to the patrilineal inheritance system of the area. Again, it was found that the financial institutions generally considered giving loans as risky as a result of lack of codified business strategy and plan, proper costing of business and informational asymmetries about business owners and their businesses. The study, therefore, recommends that the activities of women micro businesses in the private sector of the economy should be urgently recognised within the lending models and structures as they constitute a valuable area of economic growth. The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) through the Business Advisory Centre (BAC) should organise educational and training seminars regularly to educate women micro-entrepreneurs on business management to be able to negotiate effectively on the various landed properties in such a patriarchal system to reduce high start-up mortality of women micro businesses. The study further recommends to the National Identification Authority to take cogent action to fast-track the identification system of citizens as it remains one of the major factors to reduce loan risks and interest rates.

Informal learning of women small business owners

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate women small business owners’ informal learning behaviour. There is limited qualitative research that examines women small business owners’ learning process and this study aims to address this gap. The study was driven by the following research questions: “Do women small business owners prefer informal learning to formal training?” and if so, “Why do women small business owners prefer informal learning to formal training?” and “If informal learning is preferred, what role do networking and mentoring play in this learning process?”Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 Western Australian women small business owners who were recruited through purposive sampling methods.FindingsThe small business owners had a strong preference for informal learning. Participants used their own work experience and knowledge to start-up their businesses. A low uptake of formal training was found due to time and resource constraints and personal preferences. Participants relied on contacts within their networks to acquire knowledge or they hired others who possessed the requisite knowledge or skill. Only a small portion of participants had mentors or acted as a mentor.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has limitations that tend to be commonly found in exploratory studies, such as a small sample size.Practical implicationsThe research has implications for recognised training institutions that are engaged in entrepreneurship education. By gaining greater understanding of the nature of learning in small business, they may be able to offer more affordable and flexible informal courses that specifically target women small business owners, incorporate mentorship programs within their business courses by engaging with industry partners, or appoint instructors with industry contacts and experience, to provide mentoring support for these business owners.Originality/valueThis research responds to calls for studies aimed at developing a more nuanced understanding of the learning behaviour of women small business owners.

Determinants of relationship marketing by women small business owners

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship marketing behavior of women small business owners, and the significance of trusted strong-tie relationships for these business owners related to relationship marketing. The study was driven by the following research questions: ‘Do women small business owners engage in relationship marketing? And if so why?’ and ‘Does women small business owners’ preference for strong ties drive their relationship marketing behavior?’ Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 West Australian women small business owners who were recruited through purposive sampling methods. There were four reasons why participants engaged in relationship marketing: direct and indirect contributions to the business; limited time and resources due to the overwhelming roles these women face in business and at home; women small business owners’ preference for strong-tie relationships that are based on trust; and the social dimensions of relationship marketing. This study has limitations that tend to be commonly found in exploratory studies, such as a small sample size which limits the researchers' ability to generalize the findings to the broader women small business owner population. Practical implications of the findings and directions for future research are outlined.

Women business owners’ start-up motivations and network structure

AbstractThis research responds to calls for studies aimed at developing a more nuanced understanding of women small business owners’ networking behaviours and structures. The study examined whether business start-up motivations and phase of the business (prestart-up, start-up and established) influenced women’s networking behaviours and structures. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 28 women. Interview data were used to categorise participants into classic, forced, and work–family owners. Analysis of the interviews found no marked differences in networking behaviours and network structures of participants during prestart-up phase. During start-up and established phases differences began to emerge. Given that classic and forced owners had established their businesses for financial reasons, a diverse network was more relevant for them. However, work–family participants established the business for family/work balance, thus a small network of close ties was sufficient to achieve their business goals. Theoretical, practical and research implications of the findings are outlined.

Women business owners’ adoption of information and communication technology

Purpose This study aims to investigate the uptake and usage patterns of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by women small business owners (SBOs). Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 women SBOs who were recruited through purposeful sampling methods. Interview data on communication technologies participants used were broken down into six main categories: internet search, internet advertising, online transactions, telephone, email and fax. Participants were also asked questions regarding proximity between them and different business contacts, and whether technology influenced how they communicated with these individuals. Findings All participants had moved up from having a basic website to transacting goods and services online. ICTs were used to acquire tangible and intangible resources as well as for informal learning. Geographical distance between SBOs and individuals within their business and convenience of ICT failed to affect participants’ preference for face-to-face communication with key business contacts. Research limitations/implications This study has limitations that tend to be commonly found in exploratory studies, such as a small sample size. However, the findings lay the groundwork for future quantitative studies that examine the potential influence of other factors, such as gender and culture, on adoption of ICT by SBOs. Originality/value This study responds to a call for research that develops a more nuanced understanding of how women SBOs use ICTs in their business. The findings can be used by policymakers and development agencies in their teaching and training interventions.

Women business owners’ start-up motivations and network content

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine how women small business owners’ (SBOs) business start-up motivations influence their network content.Design/methodology/approach– Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 women SBOs who were recruited through purposeful sampling methods. Interview data on their start-up motivations were used to categorise them into three types: classic, forced and work-family. The interviews explored the network contents of the three categories of participants.Findings– There were many similarities between network contents of classic and forced SBOs, as both groups had started their business for financial reasons rather than family reasons. All the participants’ networks contained information and advice, economic transactions, intangible support and strong ties. However, the sources and types of network content were different for the classic and forced SBOs when compared to work-family SBOs.Research limitations/implications– This study has limitations that tend to be commonly found in exploratory studies, such as a small sample size. However, the findings lay the groundwork for future quantitative studies that examine associations between SBOs’ motivations for starting a business and their network contents.Originality/value– This research responds to calls for studies aimed at developing a more nuanced understanding of SBOs’ networking behaviour. The study provides empirical evidence of a relationship between the motivations for starting a business and the network content of SBOs. The findings can be used by businesswomen’s network organisations in their mentoring and training interventions.