Women Entrepreneurship is a word with great meaning. It is a process in which a woman or group of women build their business empire, are the risk takers, and the ones who manage the working of the whole business. Kamal Singh, a woman entrepreneur from Rajasthan, has defined a woman entrepreneur as “a confident, innovative and creative woman capable of achieving self-economic independence individually or in collaboration, generates employment opportunities for others through initiating, establishing and running the enterprise by keeping pace with her personal, family and social life.” 

Female entrepreneurs are said to encompass approximately one-third of all entrepreneurs worldwide. The number of self-employed women has steadily increased over the past three decades. The joint effort of women worldwide has created this scenario where women live freely, are financially independent, and do not need to depend upon men.

Before the 20th century, females operated small businesses like dressmaking, private home domestic work, etc.  To avoid poverty or were replace the income from the loss of a spouse. In earlier times, Entrepreneurship term was reserved for men. The 20th century brought with it a great change. That was the time when women's entrepreneurial world started to take shape.

It is believed that women in comparison to men are multi-taskers and far more innovative. These features not only make them different from men but also increase their chances of setting up a business with their creativity and innovative minds.

Even in this modern era of equality, women have to face some specific problems-

• Mobility problems
• Lack of support from family members
• Women have to depend on men for doing work which requires muscular strength.
• Indian Society projects women as weak creatures and thus men are preferred over women to face troubles and hardships related to an enterprise.
• Due to lower personal financial assets than men they control less capital.
• 96% of capitalists are men and do not give financial support to female-centric businesses.
• Racial discrimination and inadequate networks have been and continue to be barriers for them.

A study in India (Bangalore), "Barriers of Women Entrepreneurs”, has concluded that despite all these problems, female entrepreneurs do rise to fame. They have more to ‘acquire’ than their male counterparts. However, the socio-cultural environment in which women are raised hinders them and the social customs, caste restrictions, cultural restraints, and norms leave them lagging behind men.

People supporting women's entrepreneurship have jointly found a solution to the problem of financial crisis i.e. financing. Microfinance is a financial institution that is very popular in developing countries. Female entrepreneurs have even benefitted through crowdfunding and the partners who provide the right support at the right time.

Some renowned Indian Entrepreneurs are:

• Indu Jain - She is the current chairperson of India’s largest media group, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., which owns the Times of India and other large newspapers.
• Kiran Mazumdar Shaw - She is the founder and CMD of Biocon Limited, a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company. Today Biocon is a leading player in biomedicine research with a main focus on Diabetes and Oncology.
• Indra Nooyi - She is the CFO and President of PepsiCo. Her struggle and hard work have helped the company garner as much as 30 billion dollars within the last couple of years. 
• Vandana Luthra - She was listed as the 33rd most powerful businesswoman by Fortune India for her beauty company VLCC.
• Naina Lal Kidwai - The first woman to graduate from Harvard Business School, Kidwai is one of the most successful Indian Businesswomen of today. She is the Vice Chairman of the well-known JM Morgan Stanley. Besides this, she has held eminent positions at HSBC, Nestle SA, and as a member of Governing Board NCAER.
• Ekta Kapoor - A renowned personality who changed the face of Indian Television by founding the Balaji serials. Ekta has won the Hall of Fame award for her contribution to the industry.

Even after being one of the women of India, who by birth are taught to be Chef, good Wives, and Mother and to be someone who stays right below the shoes of men, these personalities have made their name in the world by their hard work and dedication. They are a role model to many women who belong to Rural India Urban India or some Foreign Nations. 

Hats off to these Women Entrepreneurs!!

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