Finance Management
Women in Nepal, seeking to establish their own venture finds it difficult to secure finance since they are unable to furnish collateral and at the same time due to their low level of education exposes them to poor financial management. Though women in Nepal have the right to own, acquire and dispose financial assets, only a small minority has the access to these assets The entrepreneurial world in Nepal is still male dominated. The number of entrepreneurial Initiatives among women is still not that active. Women in Nepal prefer smaller projects with an investment of not more than Rs. 10 Lakh.
Entrepreneurship is a difficult task for women in Nepal but if carried successfully can inculcate confidence among them and making them more conscious about their rights. Development of women entrepreneurship is very low in Nepal in comparison to developed countries.
There are number of obstacles faced by women entrepreneurs during start-up stage and running up of their enterprise. These obstacles need to be addressed so that women can make a significant contribution in sustained economic development and social progress of our country.
Though women in Nepal have the right to own, acquire and dispose financial assets, only a small minority has the access to these assets.
Our findings
Women in Nepal still face barriers such as resistance and opposition from the society and their very own families, balancing their business with their house hold responsibilities, lack of self confidence. Accompanied with lack of formal education, no prior work experiences, not exposed to training on trading, low business skills and lack of formal financial knowledge due to low education standards. They also face difficulties in lack of financial support and obtaining loan facilities. Added to this women entrepreneurs also experiences issues related to lack of information about how to proceed with business, where to apply for loans or obtain training, whom to approach for help (Lack of Information/ Access to Network Barriers). They also experience delay in the payment from the buyers, difficulty in interacting with buyers and suppliers (Gender Related Barriers)
Despite of the various barriers experienced by women entrepreneurs, more and more women are showing interest to enter into the field of entrepreneurship and to note their contribution to the economic growth is well established. However great deals still remains to be achieved with connection to economic empowerment for women. Since women entrepreneurs are facing uphill challenges, it demands for a range of initiatives to strengthen women entrepreneurs and help them in moving forward. These includes timely training on business related skills and knowledge in financial matters, credit and loan facilities and other assistance in strengthening theirs marketing opportunities.
Training will teach
- The importance of financial planning.
- The most important decisions relating to legal and tax areas.
- Financial reporting and analysis.
- Reasons of business success and failure.
- Financially healthy development of business.
- Cost control to provide business efficiency.
Intervention
Entrepreneurship amongst women in Nepal is relatively a recent phenomenon. We conduct various programmes to improve the status of women, their access to financial resources and so on. But peripheral interest has been shown in developing a realistic and well-designed plan and programme for promoting women entrepreneurs. Despite the shared characteristics, gender-based differences have been found to influence both business start-up and performance. Finance is life blood of business. So, it becomes necessary for women entrepreneurs to approach to financial institutions when need arises. We have made efforts to know the behavior of financial institutions in granting financial assistance to women entrepreneurs. Despite evidence that woman’s loan repayment rates are higher than men’s, women still face more difficulties in obtaining credit,” often due to discriminatory attitudes of banks and informal lending groups.
Outcome
The training indicated that the more efficient the financial management practices of women entrepreneurs, the better their performances. The training results concluded that women entrepreneurship development depends largely on good financial management practices. It is therefore recommended that women entrepreneurs should take cognizance of these practices in order to enhance their performances.