Loreni yanthan
St Joseph’s college, Jakhama
An Entrepreneur is a people who commence to categorize or systematize and run an enterprise or venture out with risk involvement. In the sense, a person may take up self-employment under various programs launched by the government or NGO’s and who in addition to being employed himself and also employ others at least one person in his enterprise can be called as an Entrepreneur. Therefore, Entrepreneur can be understood better by calling those people who can take the risk of taking up a business.
Women Entrepreneurs may be defined as the women or group of women, who initiate, organize and operate a business enterprise. Women Entrepreneur is a person who takes the challenges of becoming more economically independent. There are different authors that define women entrepreneurs differently. Women Entrepreneurs in the business world can be categorized into three: chance, forced and created entrepreneurs which are based on how their business got started.
The term ‘women empowerment’ through Entrepreneurship has come to occupy an important position globally over the years. Economic participation and educational attainment are the key constituents in ensuring empowerment of women through Entrepreneurship. The economic empowerment of women through Entrepreneurship is a vital element of strong economic growth and development in any country. The Participation of women in entrepreneurial activities would ensure her effective utilization of labor and generation of income. Thus, Women empowerment through entrepreneurship is a requirement for a modern developing economy. In many parts of the countries, the majority of business owners or managers are male. However, there is increasing evidence that more and more women are becoming interested in small business ownership and actually starting up their business in their own little ways. Infact, development of women entrepreneurship enables men to understand and appreciate women abilities. Now it is an accepted fact that entrepreneurship is not the exclusive property of those who are gifted with certain qualities by birth rather it can be developed and acquired. Recent statistics confirm that women’s economic activities play a crucial role in the growth of many world economies.
According to women CEOs of the fortune 1000, the world average of female top executives is 8% in the emerging companies of the world. ________________________________________ Country South Korea China Europe US Women CEO’s 30 % 19% 9% 5% ________________________________________ Source: CEO’s of the fortune 1000
In the context of Nagaland, The governments as well as the society have been neglecting the essence of women Entrepreneurship in the growth of the economy. Nevertheless, the paramount small vendor women Entrepreneurs are one of the most important contributors in the growth of the Economy of Nagaland. Readymade garments, second hand, Beauty parlor, Retail stores, flower shops, small vendors like selling vegetables, these are mostly done by a woman Entrepreneur. Yet, women Entrepreneurs in Nagaland are not so much recognized and honored. A Naga woman, in addition to her everyday busy agenda of managing domestic chores has a time to fit into a world of trade. The Naga women Entrepreneurs generate a job for themselves and employ others too once their business is well settled and make available to the society indirectly with different management skills, organizational dynamics and paraphernalia for new business to explore higher. The emergence of a woman on the economic scene as an Entrepreneur is a significant progress in the emancipation of women to organize them a safe and sound place in the society. The world in the present day can be soothed and healed with the involvement of women as an Entrepreneur in the economy development. There have been numerous studies demonstrating that women in business have to face greater professional isolation, continue to encounter sexual harassment, and are promoted more slowly than men in comparable situations, resulting in lower salaries. All these occurrences have helped to increase a rise in women Entrepreneurship. Therefore, the economic Empowerment of women through Entrepreneurship is being regarded these days, as an important issue for our country and for Nagaland in particular.
A suggestion to encourage women Entrepreneurs in Nagaland is to endorse more researchers on women Entrepreneurs so as to engage themselves in interacting with women from diverse Naga tribes and bring out certain nuances and intricacies that are associated with the women Entrepreneurship. And also to evaluate the multiple schemes provided to women in the state and to look at the impact of such governmental schemes and programs in the lives of Naga women Entrepreneurs and society at large. A lot of research works has been through on the subject matter of self-employment and small business ownership from a diverse perspectives, however studies on women entrepreneurship has not been given much significance.
The purpose of writing on “Emerging Naga Women Entrepreneurs” is to give prominence to the involvement of women Entrepreneurs in Nagaland and to highlight how women Entrepreneurs have propelled and sustained the economic growth of Nagaland in their own ways.
