Despite the progress in women empowerment in the country, female entrepreneurs face numerous challenges while starting a new business due to lack of basic entrepreneurial supportive factors, according to women entrepreneurs.
Establishment of a supportive environment could play an important role in welcoming the initiatives of women entrepreneurs, they said.
“Women entrepreneurs have less working capital. So when their businesses face any loss, they lose the capital and it becomes harder for them to recover,” said Selima Ahmad, President of the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI).
She suggested measures in the budget, where an allocation should be specifically made for the women entrepreneurs and used for their skill development and access to the market.
“The government is committed to women entrepreneurs’ access to finance, but the banks show lack of commitment. This is why women entrepreneurs usually don’t get the required loan at district, upazila, or union levels,” Selima told Bangladesh Post.
She said with a little support they can contribute to a greater extent to the country’s economy.
During the Covid-19 crisis, digital commerce has also accelerated facing various challenges. The e-commerce sectors have boomed amid the Covid-19 crisis. A group of young entrepreneurs also emerged during this time. Some of them were motivated to start their business out of a knack for something, some wanted to utilize the time stuck at home, and some started out of necessity.
Female entrepreneurs, who run their businesses online, received orders in large numbers during the pandemic as people preferred to shop from online platforms due to fear of being infected.
Nasima Akter Nisha, president of Women and E-Commerce (WE) forum, a popular support group based on Facebook, told Bangladesh Post that during the March-April period of 2020, when a complete nationwide lockdown was enforced, many people lost their jobs and were stuck in their homes. Many women took the helm of their families during this time by starting small businesses with their existing skills.
Some skill development programmes were introduced by WE free of cost to develop the skills of its members.
“Our motto was to optimize their latent skills and transform those into their strengths. They were also provided with assistance through the platform of WE to sell their products,” she added.
So far, around 4 lakh entrepreneurs have been created through this platform of 1.2 million members.
Bangladesh was ranked bottom among 58 countries in the 2020 Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE), which indicates the country’s failure in creating a supportive environment for women entrepreneurs.
Razib Ahmed, founder and former president of CAB, emphasizing on creating a supportive system for women entrepreneurs told Bangladesh Post that a survey should be conducted at national level to detect the problems faced by women entrepreneurs.
“Financial assistance should be provided and various training programs should be launched for them. A national survey might help identify exactly where they require help and what kind of problems they are facing,” he said.
Shammi Naz, a successful entrepreneur of Rajshahi, who had to leave her job to take care of her baby, shared the story of her entrepreneurial journey.
“I had a knack for embroidering and it wasn’t until I had the spare time of three to four months after my baby’s birth that I was inspired to start my own business,” she said.
She created a Facebook page and started business with a working capital of Tk1600 in 2015.
“Although I started my business with hand-embroidered dresses, I gradually included grocery items, homemade spices, ghee, frozen foods, and the famous Kalai Ruti of Rajshahi in my business,” she added.
Regarding the barriers she faced throughout her journey, she said, "I had to struggle a lot at the beginning, but I have always tried to turn these obstacles into my strength."
