The birth of a sustainable, profit-making entity that contributes to the development of a society is a task not all can shoulder. Entrepreneurs are bearers of this exalting burden. Although hailing from different backgrounds and cultures, all entrepreneurs share the courage to venture into the unknown. Though entrepreneurship knows no boundaries of faith, the present paper specifically looks into the status of Muslim women entrepreneur in India. Muslim women are overwhelmingly self-employed (engaged in home-based work) in India. Sewing, embroidery, zari work, chikan work, readymade garments, agarbatti rolling, beedi rolling are some of the occupations in which Muslim women workers are concentrated. There is high share of Muslim women workers engaged in selfemployment activity like in own account worker in household enterprise 29.1% and employer in household enterprise 0.7% (higher than Hindus). As compared to all other socio religious groups, a much larger proportion of Muslims (both men and women) work in self-owned proprietary enterprises. This is particularly so in urban areas. Participation of women workers in women-owned proprietary enterprises is significantly higher for Muslims (13.7%). However, as enterprises of Muslim women are mainly home-based, they are typically engaged in sub contracted work with low levels of earnings. KEYWORDS Entrepreneurs, Women Entrepreneur, challenges, growth. INTRODUCTION n the manufacturing sector today, human capital is still essential for most factories to carry out a variety of task. The concept of entrepreneurship was first established in the 1700s, it refers to the activities related to undertaking the efforts to set up an industry or business establishment. Entrepreneurship has different meanings to different people. In practice Entrepreneurship is about creating something new, or discovering a new way of making something that already exists (Henderson, 2002; Schumpeter, 1947). An entrepreneur undertakes innovations or introduces new things in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods. Drucker (1985) stated that Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice. The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield. In economics, entrepreneurship combined with land, labour, natural resources and capital can produce profit. An entrepreneur is a person who mobilized the resources for more benefits with lowering the cost. Entrepreneurs develop new goods or processes that the market demands and are not currently being supplied. Innovation is needed for the development of new methods in production process, exploration of new sources for raw materials, finding out new segment of markets and development of strategies. An entrepreneur is a risk taker, intelligent decision maker, recognize potential profit opportunities, and conceptualize the venture strategy. WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP- THE CONCEPT According to the general concept, women entrepreneur may be defined as a women or a group of women who initiate, organize and operate a business enterprise. The Government of India has defined a women entrepreneurship as “an enterprise owned and controlled by a women having a minimum financial interest of 51% of the capital and giving at least 51% of the employment generated in the enterprise to women”. A female who plays a fascinating role by frequently interacting and actively adjusting herself with socio-economic, financial and support spheres in society is called women entrepreneur (Anjum, et. al). Women entrepreneurship means the enterprise established and managed by women. REASONS FOR THE SLOW GROWTH OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN INDIA In spite of the initiatives taken by the government, the growth of women entrepreneurship is very slow in the state. The reasons are outlined as below: 1. Unfavourable family background. 2. Lack of business education. 3. Dual role of women. 4. Lack of aptitudes and training. 5. Absence of individualistic spirit. 6. Lack of freedom to choose a job according to ability, influence of sex, custom etc. 7. Inadequate infrastructure facilities. 8. Shortage of capital and technical knowhow. 9. Lack of adequate transport and communication facilities. 10. Shortage of power. 11. Lack of security. 12. Absence of ideal market conditions. 13. Corruption in administration. PROBLEMS OF MUSLIM WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN INDIA The basic problem of a woman entrepreneur is that she is a woman. Women entrepreneurs face two sets of problems specific to women entrepreneurs. These are summarized as follows: 1) Shortage of Finance: Women and small entrepreneurs always suffer from inadequate fixed and working capital. Owing to lack of confidence in women’s ability, male members in the family do not like to risk their capital in ventures run by women. Banks have also taken negative attitude while lending to women entrepreneurs. Thus women entrepreneurs rely often on personal saving and loans from family and friends. 2) Shortage of Raw Material: Women entrepreneurs find it difficult to procure material and other necessary inputs. The prices of many raw materials are quite high. 3) Inadequate Marketing Facilities: Most of the women entrepreneurs depend on intermediaries for marketing their products. It is very difficult for the women entrepreneurs to explore the market and to make their product popular. For women, market is a ‘chakravyuh’. 4) Keen Competition: Women entrepreneurs face tough competition from male entrepreneurs and also from organized industries. They cannot afford to spend large sums of advertisement. 5) High Cost of Production: High prices of material, low productivity. Underutilization of capacity etc. accounts for high cost of production. The government assistance and subsidies would not be sufficient for the survival.
