INTRODUCTION:

Microfinance services are essential to women's empowerment and also benefit them. Economic empowerment aims to provide women recipients more respect, self-worth, and other forms of empowerment. More precisely, microfinance services are development organizations that meet the financial needs of undeveloped or underserved markets. It eliminates poverty and vulnerabilities so that marginalized communities can live sustainably on their own. Sangmi and Tariq, (2019).

Entrepreneurs are essential to society because they provide employment opportunities and mobilizethe resources fully available in society.

Indian culture is changing in the twenty-first century as more women pursue higher education and start their businesses. The women are also taking the initiative to start their businesses or expand their family businesses. Women entrepreneursare essential components for the welfare of society. So, it is said that “Without improving the status of women, there is no prospect for the world's well-being.” Swami Vivekanand. In today’s era, women take the initiative to run an enterprise. There are many pushes and pull reasons women want to become entrepreneurs. They want to be independent, recognized, have social status, self-satisfaction, job security, be career-oriented, have self-identity, and develop personal and wealth in society.

India's female entrepreneur community has come a long way in the last several years, and they are essential to the nation's economic expansion. This group of determined and innovative women has broken traditional barriers, defying societal norms and expectations to establish themselves as successful business leaders. From diverse industries such as technology and healthcare to fashion and agriculture, women entrepreneurs in India have driven innovation, created job opportunities, and fostered gender equality. In this research, we will explore their challenges, impact on India's economy, and some notable success stories, shedding light on the inspiring journey of women entrepreneurs in India."

The women entrepreneurs help to utilize the resources and skilled labor forceand eradicate poverty and unemployment from the economy. It helps in the healthy development of the individual members of society. In the present era, many successful women entrepreneurs have uplifted the Indian economic system and have become societal role models.

The major problem faced by rural women is the shortage of funds or non-availability of funds. This can be resolved by providing a small bundle of financial products such as Microfinance. It aims to empower people who lack access to traditional banking by offering them opportunities to start or expand small businesses, improve their livelihoods, and reduce poverty. Microfinance institutions, often MFIs, facilitate these services and promote financial inclusion.

Microfinance gained significant recognition and popularity mainly due to the pioneering work of Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur and economist. In the late 1970s, Yunus started experimenting with providing small loans to impoverished individuals in Bangladesh, particularly women, who were often excluded from traditional financial systems. His efforts to combat poverty and provide resources to poor women via the Grameen Bank and the microfinance model. Microfinance programs like the Self-Help Bank Linkage Program in India have progressively promotedwomen’s empowerment and helpedcreate women entrepreneurship among rural women.

Literal Meaning of the term used in present research work:

Microfinance is financial assistance to unemployed or under privileged people or organizations who don’t have access to financial services. Offering financial support and insurance aims to give low-income people a chance to achieve self-sufficiency.

Women Entrepreneurs:

The Indian government defines women entrepreneurs as individuals who own and run companies in which at least 51 percent of the capital and 51 percent of the jobs the company creates are controlled by women.

To encourage savings and provide credit programs specifically for women, the Indian government has recently established several extra measures. In 1982, the IRDP developed a supplementary program called the Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas Programme. Savings and credit clubs that were given a revolving fund were created in this way. Following a funding pause in the early 1990s, the DWCRA program has recently grown in several states. Various large-scale programs have been initiated by the National Board for Agricultural Reconstruction and Development (NABARD), Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK), Mudra Yojana, Udyam Shakti, Bharatiya Mahila Bank, and Small Industries Development Board of India (SIDBI) to finance women through self-help groups and/or NGOs.

LITERATURE REVIEW:

Many authors have done several types of research in the past. Given below is a tabular matrix of studies conducted over several years on women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs are influenced by several elements, including market, financial, social, and political ones, to fully utilize the resources at their disposal and generate new chances for the Indian economy and society.

“Microfinance” financial services assistance to clients who are not served by the traditional banking system because of their lower socioeconomic status. Financial services, which are built on confidence and do away with the requirement for security, typically take the form of savings and loans. According to a clear definition provided by Rehman et al. (2015), microfinance serves low-income people who are not eligible for traditional loan arrangements. Usually, the goal is to encourage underprivileged groups to become more entrepreneurial to foster economic progress. According to Bruton et al. (2011), promoting business linkages, technical development, transfer, management, vocational skills training, consulting, advisory services, marketing assistance, and information all increase entrepreneurship among women.

Brush, C. G., and Cooper, S. Y. (2012) felt that creating a comprehensive community where research on women's entrepreneurship looks at issues develops theory and shares findings to inform practice and policy. Verheul et.al. (2012) investigates issues and disseminates about women's empowerment using a two (probit) equation model, distinguishing between the desire for self-employment and actual self-employment participation.

It systematically determine show gender affects one's inclination for and essential involvement in self-employment (mediation and moderation). This promise is unlikely to be realized unless Kabeer, N. (2005) elaborates and ensures that policy changes are implemented to allow women to engage, monitor, and hold policymakers, companies, and other key actors accountable for their activities. Women's access to education may increase their likelihood of having a happy marriage or their ability to sign documents, but only if it also gives them the analytical skills and bravery to challenge gender equality. The impact of microfinance and its contribution to poverty reductionwas analyzed by Hermes, N., Lensink, R., and Meesters, A. (2008). Majid Izaidinand Samer Sayed (2015), as well as Malyadri. P (2015) studied that microfinance programs support women since they are the most disadvantaged group in society; investing in women helps women become more empowered, and it promotes economic growth and development.

Literature reveals that increasing women's resources contribute to family well-being. In addition, despite the significance of building women's companies, Shkodra et al. (2021) discovered that funds remain their most difficult challenge. According to Mauchi et al. (2014), the main obstacles for female entrepreneurs are conflicts at the intersection of their work and personal lives, poor networking, a lack of managerial and educational abilities, and inadequate training.

Brush and Cooper (2012) conceptualized and developed explanatory theories about the growth process of women-owned businesses, but there was a shortage of accumulated knowledge. Du Rietz and Henrekson (2000) observed thatmost of the research focused on women's entrepreneurial drive, how those motivations affected growth performance, and how size and industry affected business development.

The primary goal of microfinance services is to enable individuals to obtain financial services to engage in income-generating activities. Despite playing a critical part in stabilizing the economic growth of their families and communities, women have faced challenges such as poverty, unemployment, poor pay, and societal bias that have prevented them from carrying out that role effectively. It is now apparent that female business owners find it challenging to obtain financing to support their ventures.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Having access to money is just one aspect of microfinance. Women's primary goal is to take back control of their means of subsistence. The story centres on how women overcome adversity and poverty. The present research contributes to our understanding of women's current social situations. Examining the many issues and obstacles female entrepreneurs encounter in society is also beneficial, particularly about money. In India, microfinance is increasingly recognized as the most effective means of enabling women to mobilize their financial resources. Most microfinance programs aim to reduce poverty and empower rural women. Furthermore, many microfinance institutions (MFIs) favour rural women members, perceiving them as more trustworthy and responsible. Microfinance programs, such as India's Self-Help Bank Linkage, have steadfastly supported empowering rural women through constructive economic transformation.

In addition to supporting the longer-term capacity-building of women entrepreneurs through microfinance, the study helps lower the economy's social, economic, market, and financial vulnerabilities. Women entrepreneurs can take advantage of the potential to the fullest extent by addressing these issues. The system dynamic approach was used in the present research framework to examine the different positive and negative correlations among the elements that impact rural women entrepreneurs in India.

Figure 1 illustrates how microfinance affects the empowerment of rural women:

· Improving women's financial literacy.

a. Raising women's access to finance can improve household well-being and income.

b. Economically empowered women who are involved in home decisions.

c. Economic empowerment for women at the individual level can influence macroeconomic trends.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:

· To determine the issues Indian women entrepreneurs face.

· To create a stock-flow and causal loop diagram to help with the issues female entrepreneurs face.

· To design a solution to help women entrepreneurs become aware of the bouquet of financial services available.

· To suggest an action plan to implement the microfinance policy to achieve sustainable entrepreneurship effectively.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

The system dynamic approach was used in the present research study to identify and alleviate the issues facing India's rural women entrepreneurs. For this investigation, a secondary data source is used. Several parameters were determined from the previous study to build the causal loop diagram and stock-flow diagram. The secondary data was provided by journals, articles, blogs, reports, and other sources.

Because it aids in examining the numerous problems and aspects that rural Indian women entrepreneurs encounter, the study is descriptive. By generating both beneficial and detrimental feedback loops among the variables, the system dynamic method helps alleviate the challenges rural women entrepreneurs face. It offers a workable solution in the form of microfinance.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

Problems Faced by Rural Women Entrepreneurs in India:

Various push and pull factors lead a rural woman to become an entrepreneur. Running or expanding a business is a big challenge for rural women. Women entrepreneurs are directly or indirectly affected by several problems and obstacles related to the social, economic, and financial spheres. The table explores the various issues and barriers faced by women entrepreneurs in society.

Table 1: Problems Confronted by Women Entrepreneurs in India

Problems Confronted by Women Entrepreneurs
Social Factors	Education, Religion, and Cultural Issues Support from family/relatives/community Work-Life Balance Male Domination Industry
Economic Factors	Financial assistance from Institutional sources Government Aids Labor Conditions Raw material Lack of access to credit
Competitive Factors	Potential Entrants Rivalry among existing firms Suppliers and Buyers
Facilitating Factors	Experience and training Lack of Risk-Taking Capacity Lack of exposure to the Business Environment

Source: Author’s compilation

The various factors identified from the review of related literature becomea significant hurdle for women entrepreneurs to gain their position in society. Women entrepreneurs can survive and expand their businesses in the long run with proper access to business education, training, financial support, skilled labor, stiff competition, raw materials, managerial and entrepreneurial ability, etc. The most crucial element in female entrepreneurs' success is preparation before starting any business.

Casual Loop Diagram to Mitigate the Problems of Women Entrepreneurs

The casual loop diagram is the system dynamic approach that explains the challenges of the women entrepreneur system for the present study. It identifies the various social, market, and financial factors which createpositive and negative relationships.

Figure 2: Casual Loop Diagram to Mitigate the Problems of Women Entrepreneurs

Source: Author’s compilation

If all women are motivated and educated to expand their businesses, then it would help mitigate gender discrimination, poverty, unemployment, etc., from society. When the government supports female entrepreneurs, they will have easy access to resources and shouldn't move. They can run the business from their native place and employ others. If the women entrepreneurs are educated, then it would help to know technical skills and awareness of the schemes that leadto the development of the country. Technical skills would help to reduce obsolete technology. If gender discrimination and unemployment are eliminated, it would lead to competition in the business. When there is enormous competition among businesses, it would reduce the monopoly from the market.

Stock Flow Diagram to Mitigate the Problems of Women Entrepreneurs:

The stock-flow diagram depicts several inflow and outflow variables that are controlled by social, finance, and market stocks. An inflow variable leads to capacity building, and outflow variables lead to mitigating the vulnerabilities of the women entrepreneur system. It creates virtuous and vicious loops among the variables.

Figure 3: Stock Flow Diagram to Mitigate the Problems of Rural Women Entrepreneurs

Source: Author’s compilation

The above diagram depicts that there are primarily three stocks, i.e., social, market, and finance, that enhance capacity building to eradicate vulnerabilities faced by women entrepreneurs. Suppose the individual women of the society get proper access to education, resources, financial institutions, awareness of schemes, government support, motivation, Competition, Technical skills, and healthy development to run or expand the business.

Further, it leads to mollifying or eradicating severance, poverty, gender gap, lack of structure, lack of capital, migration, and reduction in monopoly and reduces obsolete technology from society. The capacity building created through social and financial factors producesthe virtuous loop, which depicts that each variable positively affects other variables. The social finance and market factors of vulnerabilities makea vicious loop that shows that each variable hurts other variables.

CONCLUSION:

Empowerment cannot be taken for granted as a natural result of microfinance programs, regardless of whether they combat poverty or promote financial sustainability. Further innovation and research on conditions for the delivery of microloans are required. The study concludes that there are still no practical, affordable methods for combining microfinance with group development and other empowerment programs.

Indian women entrepreneurs greatly aid the economic advancement of the community. Women are a vital part of society that helps the economy's overall growth. Women are becoming motivated and educated to run business enterprises to generate employment for individuals. Women entrepreneurs work for the upliftment and welfare of society. India is a society where gender discrimination plays an important role.

Enhancing their health, education, skills, assets, and participation in social activities will give the poor entrepreneurs hope for ensuring sustainable entrepreneurship and acknowledge them as essential members of society capable of achieving a fundamental sense of economic security, opportunity, and dignity.

As depicted below, microfinance helps create sustainable entrepreneurship among women, whichrefers to the entrepreneurial opportunities that contribute to sustainability by creating social and environmental benefits for others in society.

Source: Hosseininia Gholamhossein and Ramezani Ali (2016) Factors Influencing Sustainable Entrepreneurship

REFERENCES:

1. Banuri, S. Impact of Microfinance on Poverty, Income Inequality and Entrepreneurship (Term Paper). School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences, Richardson, Texas. 2006

2. Barman Mridul and Debabrata Sutradhar. Self–Help Groups Bank Linkage Programme and Micro-Financing in North–East Region: An Overview. Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2019; 10(2): 314-318. doi: 10.5958/2321-5828.00056.1.

3. Basher, M. A. Promotional Role of Microcredit: Evidence from the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh. Journal of International Development. 2010; 22: 521-529. doi: 10.1002/jid.1583.

4. Bateman, M. Microfinance as a Development and Poverty Reduction Policy: Is It Everything It’s Cracked Up to Be? (Background Note). Retrieved from Overseas Development Institute and https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/6291.pdf 2011.

5. Becker, G. S. Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (U.S.A.). 1993

6. Bhatt Viral and Shastri Shital. Measuring the Impact of Microfinance on women empowerment amongst the women in Rural Gujarat. Int. J. Rev. and Res. Social Sci. (2018; 6(3): 255-260. doi: 10.5958/2454-2687.2018.00024.2

7. Brush CG, Cooper SY. Female entrepreneurship and economic development: An international perspective. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development. 2012; 24(1–2): 1–6. doi: 10.1080/08985626.2012.637340.

8. Bruton GD, Khavul S, Chavez H. Microlending in emerging economies: Building a new line of inquiry from the ground up. Journal of International Business Studies, Nature Publishing Group. 2011; 42(5):718–739. doi: 10.1057/jibs.2010.58.

9. Du Rietz A, Henrekson M. Testing the female underperformance hypothesis. Small Business Economics. 2000; 14(1): 1–10. doi: 10.1023/A:1008106215480.

10. Gandhi Shabana. Microfinance: Challenges and Hope in Future. Asian J. Management. 2011; 2(2): 81-84.

11. Gerdoçi Blendi. Market And Value Chain Analysis of Selected Sectors for Diversification of The Rural Economy and Women's Economic Empowerment Albania, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Budapest. 2018

12. Hockerts, K. and Wüstenhagen, R. Greening Goliaths versus emerging Davids—Theorizing about the role of incumbents and new entrants in sustainable entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing. 2010; 25(5): 481-492.

13. Hosseininia Gholamhossein and Ramezani Ali. Factors Influencing Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Iran: A Case Study of Food Industry, Sustainability, October. (2016

14. Impact of Microfinance on Self-employment: An Empirical Study of India, International Journal of Informative and Futuristic Research (Ambala, Haryana). 2015; 2(5): 1250-1258.

15. Malhotra S. Sustainability of Self-employment through Microfinance: An Innovative Service Approach of Financial Institutions. Intercontinental Journal of Finance Research Review. 2014; 2(9).

16. Mauchi FN, Mutengezanwa M, Damiyano D. Challenges women entrepreneurs face: A case study of Mashonaland Central Province. International Journal of Development and Sustainability. 2014; 3(3): 466–480.

17. Meenu Goyal. Women Entrepreneurship in India-Problems and Prospects. Zenith International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research. 2011; 1(5).

18. Menzies, T., Brenner, G., and Filion, L.J. Derogatory Myths about Women Entrepreneurs: Is there any substance to the Myths about Visible Minority Women Entrepreneurs in Canada? Management International. 2006; 10(3): 111-121.

19. Menzies, T.V., Diochon, M., and Gasse Y. Examining Venture-related Myths Concerning Women Entrepreneurs. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship. 2004; 9(2); 89-107.

20. Minai MS, Bin MH, Binti IY, Yusuf SNS. Achieving financial and social performance of microfinance institutions: Risk of mission drift. Academy of Strategic Management Journal. 2021; 20(60): 6104.

21. Nawaz A. Challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in Pakistan: A qualitative study. Management and Organizational Studies. 2018; 5(2):13. doi: 10.5430/mos. v5n2p13.

22. Palanivelu V. R., Manikandan. D. A Study on Prospects and Challenges of Woman Entrepreneurs in Erode District of Tamil Nadu. Asian Journal of Management. 2018; 9(1): 297-301. doi: 10.5958/2321-5763.2018.00044.6

23. Rehman H, Moazzam A, Ansari N. Role of microfinance institutions in women empowerment: A case study of Akhuwat, Pakistan. South Asian Studies. 2015; 30(1): 107.

24. Renu Chaudhary. Problems Faced by Women Entrepreneurship in India. International Journal of Management and Science; 2013; 3(1).

25. Rupa Santosh. Women Empowerment through Microfinance- An Empirical Study of Women Self Help Groups in Tumkur District, Karnataka. Int. J. Ad. Social Sciences. 2017; 5(4): 253-264.

26. Saharia R.P. Importance of Micro Finance and Small Savings to Maintain Home Budgets. Asian J. Management. 2013; 4(1): 60-62.

27. Sanjay Kaushik. Challenges Faced by Women Entrepreneurs in India, International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research. 2013; 2(2).

28. Satsangi Rupali and Anand Namrata. Human capital formation through microfinance: An impact assessment, Academicia: An International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 2021; 11(1); 632-642. DOI: 10.5958/2249-7137.2021.00258.5

29. Shkodra J, Ymeri P, Ibishi L. Role of microfinance institutions for developing women entrepreneurship—The case study of Kosovo. Economics and Sociology. 2021; 14(1): 120–129. doi: 10.14254/2071-789X.2021/14-1/8

30. Singh Harbhan and Atria Anoop Kumar. Social Capital Formation and Growth of Micro Entrepreneurship through Microfinance: A Study of Women in Self-Help Groups in Rajasthan. Asian J. Management. 2015; 6(2): 91-100. doi: 10.5958/2321-5763.2015.00014.1

31. Tambunan, Tulus. Women entrepreneurship in Asian developing countries: Their development and main constraints, Journal of Development and Agricultural Economics. 2009; 1(2): 27-40.

32. Tariq S, Sangmi M-U-D. Impact of microfinance on women entrepreneurship. Oman Chapter of Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review. 2019; 8(1): 7–16. doi: 10.12816/0052847.

33. Vossenberg, S. Women Entrepreneurship Promotion in Developing Countries: What explains the gender gap in entrepreneurship and how to close it, Repec.Org, available at: ftp://ftp.repec.org/opt/ReDIF/RePEc/msm/wpaper/MSM-WP2013-08.pdf2023

Received on 11.01.2024 Modified on 29.02.2024

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2024;15(2):109-114.

DOI: 10.52711/2321-5828.2024.00016