Business Management
The women in the community have requested WEAN to provide training in business skills to enable them become efficient in their business ventures. With this training they will be able to use the funds borrowed from the village bank efficiently and run successful businesses. The program will consist of intensive week-long sessions of instruction each month for three months with certificates awarded at end of the training. This program builds on the belief that business, community and nature are interlinked. Economic growth in itself can no longer be seen as the answer. Instead it must be coupled with a broader understanding of the principles of sustainability and ecology. Otherwise we only accelerate the destruction of the web of life that we all depend on. Understanding how to sustain this web of life will help people to build healthy and thriving communities.
WEAN conducts an entrepreneurship and small business management training course for women, especially on rural parts of Nepal. The classes focuses on basics of business planning, budgeting, market dynamics, savings, bank loans, and how to analyse business opportunities in the area. WEAN runs a successful micro-finance from which members borrow small loans. The community, especially members of the micro-finance, had requested that WEAN provide them training in business skills so they could be able to utilize the loans efficiently and run successful businesses. The majority of the population served by the micro-finance is illiterate or semi-literate which makes it more challenging in business management.
The classes focuses on basics of business planning, budgeting, market dynamics, savings, bank loans, and how to analyse business opportunities in the area.
Highlights
- Trainings on financial literacy and business management have created a strong cadre of financially literate women and entrepreneurs.
- Under WEAN, women learn business skills through Business Management Training. Women were able to eke out meager profits with middle men taking the larger share. Realizing the power of the collective and greater awareness about the potential of their business, women come together to take their new found knowledge to the next level.
- On average the profits of the trainees can significanlty increase by eliminating middlemen and taking charge of all the processes involved in supplying their products. Women can do a lot. But when women don’t have money they become helpless and there’s very little they can do. That’s why they decide to get together and set up company so they can make some money and progress.
- Besides financial and management training it is important to make women aware about the process of social mobilization, building their respect, confidence and resilience at all levels.
- Our training has motivated women entrepreneurs to supply their products to national retailers and export markets.
- By building the capacities of women and supporting them to set up viable businesses, WEAN hope to lay the ground for lasting institutions and transformational change.
Factors that influence managerial skill of women
The Managerial skills of the women entrepreneurs were analyzed based on their Decision making skills, Leadership skills and Problem solving skills. The study analyzed shows that there is a significant relationship between age, educational qualification and the family background that influences the degree of managerial skills possess by the women entrepreneurs in micro enterprises.
The young women entrepreneurs below the age of 35 years are found to give more importance in procuring raw materials of good quality than women above 45 years. The young women attribute this decision that good quality raw materials make good products. As they are in the beginning stages of their career, they fear the risk of losing their business in the event of any failure. However the women entrepreneurs above the age of 45 years who have stabilized in the market and more technically sound risk on the quality of raw materials. The women above 45 years are confident in making a decision to market their products by word of mouth than the women below 35 who still adhere to marketing through the existing network. The women above 45 ensure that they always have sufficient raw materials on hand to ensure an unaltered functioning of the organization rather than the women below 35 years. The managerial skills of the women above 45 shows that they have a better sense of supply chain management than the women below 35 years.
We found that the core problem solving skills were managed better by women who have completed the diploma courses. The financial handling activities and motivational factors leading to minimizing the labor turnover was handled better by women under higher secondary education. It is found that the women under degree and post graduation were more oriented towards providing quality of service. This is a major factor that the women found to counter the competition from male entrepreneurs. The study also reveals that the women entrepreneurs were also focused in expanding their business and marketing their products than the other women as these women believe they would be able to sustain their existence in the market only thorough the continuous improvements.
We found that there is not a big difference in the managerial skills between the women entrepreneurs coming from the business family background and non-business background. The women coming from non-business background manage the business activates almost same as that of the women coming from business background. Traditionally the business acumen in people coming form business family backgrounds should be way better than the people coming from non-business family background. However this is contradictory in women as the prominence regarding the business is always given to the male members.
We found that there is a significant difference between the manufacturing and service oriented enterprises. The earnings in the manufacturing is directly proportional to the decision making skills of the women entrepreneurs in the field of investment, raw material procurement, handling of waste, marketing to name a few. However in the service industries the earnings are predefined and based on the talent of the person the earnings may vary.
Managerial skills acquired through the training
Conceptual skill is the ability to visualize (see) the organization as a whole. It includes Analytical, Creative and Initiative skills. It helps the manager to identify the causes of the problems and not the symptoms. It helps her to solve the problems for the benefit of the entire organization. It helps the manager to fix goals for the whole organization and to plan for every situation. Conceptual skills are mostly required by the top-level management because they spend more time in planning, organizing and problem solving.
Human relations skills are also called Interpersonal skills. It is an ability to work with people. It helps the managers to understand,communicate and work with others. It also helps the managers to lead, motivate and develop team spirit. Human relations skills are required by all managers at all levels of management. This is so, since all managers have to interact and work with people.
A technical skill is the ability to perform the given job. Technical skills help the managers to use different machines and tools. It also helps them to use various procedures and techniques. The low-level managers require more technical skills. This is because they are in-charge of the actual operations.
Communication skills are required equally at all three levels of management. A manager must be able to communicate the plans and policies to the workers. Similarly, she must listen and solve the problems of the workers. She must encourage a free-flow of communication in the organization.
Administrative skills are required at the top-level management. The top-level managers should know how to make plans and policies. They should also know how to get the work done. They should be able to co-ordinate different activities of the organization. They should also be able to control the full organization.
Leadership skill is the ability to influence human behavior. A manager requires leadership skills to motivate the workers. These skills help the Manager to get the work done through the workers.
Problem skills are also called as Design skills. A manager should know how to identify a problem. She should also possess an ability to find a best solution for solving any specific problem. This requires intelligence, experience and up-to-date knowledge of the latest developments.
Decision-making skills are required at all levels of management. However, it is required more at the top-level of management. A manager must be able to take quick and correct decisions. She must also be able to implement her decision wisely. The success or failure of a manager depends upon the correctness of his decisions.
Managerial traits
Through our extensive hands on training we help build the following 10 traits that will help them become better entrepreneurs:
The ability to communicate in any language – verbal or not – is one of women’s most dynamic talents. Women are natural communicators – it’s not just their ability to talk; they are also aware of what others are thinking. In fact, this innate gift applies to all of women’s senses; touch, smell, taste, vision and hearing. According to Helen E. Fisher*, these traits along with other observations that women instinctively notice, such as body language, facial expression, and tone of voice, collectively represent their ability to be perceptive communicators.
Women run their companies like a loosely defined “family unit”. They interact with every person in their organization and their suppliers and customers as well. By treating every employee as a unique person, women are able to create a positive working atmosphere almost immediately. When people come first the morale and productivity of the company improves materially.
Women have the ability to think 360 degrees, not just “outside the box”. They are not held back by conventional rules and management theories which give them an advantage when it involves serious problems. Women are able to weigh more factors and float lots of “what ifs” around in their hands and explore many possibilities before they conclude that a solution is “impossible”.
Women improvise all the time, and business is no exception. By using unconventional methods and thinking up original ideas, they often are able to surprise the competition.
Women build their business relationship in a much broader context than men. Their business circle includes customers, consultants and sales persons who represent products that are relevant for their company, clients, buyers and local authorities with whom they do business. Through these “transactional” relationship, and in many cases friendships, they are able to expand their business, product, customers and financial sources.
Risk means uncertainty. It is the condition of not knowing the outcome of an activity. A women entrepreneurs takes calculated risk. She faces uncertainty confidently and assume risk. She has to tie up capital and wait for good returns. A woman entrepreneur likes to take realistic risks because she wants to be a successful entrepreneur.
The most critical skill required for industrial development is the ability of building a sound organization. A woman entrepreneur assembles, co-ordinates, organizes and manages the other factors namely land, labor and capital. She obtains factors of production from the society and supplies them finished product.
It is essential to be a self-confident for a woman entrepreneur. She should have faith in herself and in her abilities. She should have the confidence to implement the change and overcome any resistance to change. A women entrepreneur should have courage to own the mistakes and correct them.
The main function of a women entrepreneur is to make decision. She takes various decisions regarding the activities of her enterprise. She decides about the type of business to be done and the way of doing it. A woman entrepreneur must be clear and creative in decision making process.
A woman entrepreneur is one who incubates new ideas. starts her enterprise with these ideas and provides added value to society based on their independent initiative.
A distinguishing feature of a woman entrepreneur is the willingness to work hard. She has to follow the principle, “Hard work is the key to success”.
A woman entrepreneur is an achievement oriented lady, not money hungry. She works for challenge, accomplishment and service to others. Achievement orientation is a drive to overcome challenges, to advance and to grow.
A woman entrepreneur must be optimistic. She should approach her venture with a hope of success and attitude for success rather than with a fear of failure. The positive thinking of woman entrepreneur can turn the situation favorable to her.
The success of an enterprise largely depends upon the ability of woman entrepreneur to cope with latest technology. Technical competency refers to the ability to devise and use the better ways of producing and marketing goods and services.
Women entrepreneurs face the adversities boldly and bravely. She has faith in herself and attempts to solve the problems even under great pressure.
A women entrepreneur is energetic, single-minded, having a mission and a clear vision. She should be a lady of creative thinking and analytical thinking. She must be intelligent. adaptable and problem solver.
Leadership quality is one of the most important characteristics of a woman entrepreneur. It is the process of influencing and supporting others to work enthusiastically towards achieving objectives.
Conclusion
WEAN has been working on WED for more than a decade, and has recently sought to take stock of the evidence on the effectiveness of WED interventions from rigorous assessments to help guide its future interventions in the field. Until recently, there has been little robust evidence on the impact of WED interventions. However, in the past several years, a number of rigorous evaluations have investigated the impact of WED interventions on business outcomes, almost exclusively among micro-entrepreneurs. These evaluations have either examined interventions explicitly targeting women, or have reported on sex-dis-aggregated results and have included gender analysis. The purpose of this brief is to provide an overview of the recent evidence on what is known about the impact of WED interventions on women entrepreneurs, and where gaps remain.