Introduction

The journey of a women entrepreneur is full of challenges. For a woman in business, it takes a lot of courage and patience to emerge as an empowered woman and to get success in business as there are a lot of problems for a businesswoman.

Thinking about starting your own work and setting it up as a pro is difficult for everyone. But when it comes to women it becomes even more difficult. Having a dream to establish themselves as a businesswoman is a real nut to crack.

Every entrepreneur, be it male or female faces some setup problems in the process of setting up a business. Problems like stiff competition in the market, fear of failure, self-doubt, etc.

But a woman in business faces some other set of challenges on her way, in the process of getting success in business. In today’s blog post I am going to share, problems faced by women entrepreneurs in their journey to get success in business and to establish themselves as an empowered woman as a woman in business.

I am going to share these challenges from my perspective. As a female practicing Architect and Interior Designer, what problems have I faced in my journey & what new challenges are coming on my way!

Keep reading the blog posts to find out more.

1-Prejudices about woman

The capabilities of a woman are always judged. The basic traits associated with a successful business includes-risk-taking abilities, decision-making skills, self-confidence, self-control, resilience, persistence, etc. And they are associated with males in society. Women by default are considered less capable in terms of these qualities by many people.

In my practicing career as an Architect and Interior Designer, I have met certain people who questioned my capabilities of handling site work and dealing with site workers, and guiding them at the time of execution. In fact, at some places, I lost the job because they wanted a male Architect to take up the work because they had the prejudice that I will fail to do the job.

And because of these preconceived notions of people, woman entrepreneurs have to work harder than most men to get success in business.

2-Problem of Safety and Security

Safety is one of the biggest challenges for every woman entrepreneur, who is striving to become something in her professional life. You meet all kinds of people and are unaware of their intentions. Having a strong urge to take their small business to a new level, safety is the biggest problem that a woman faces in her entrepreneurial journey, and that acts as friction in their entrepreneurial growth.

As Architect and Interior Designers we have to visit the site to understand the kind of work that needs to be done and to understand the client’s expectations. And we just cannot avoid this part if we want to take up the work. So my personal safety as a girl was the most important concern that I faced at that time.

You cannot guarantee a character of a person over a single phone call. So meeting them on their sites was an intimidating thing for me in the beginning. I used to take my friend along with me just to avoid any miss happening.

Even after gaining site experience of more than 4 years, I am still not very confident about meeting someone on their site for the first time. I generally ask my husband to accompany me or I go with one of my friends. Or I call them in my office to understand the work that needs to be done and then visit the site.

And I believe, be it me or any other woman in business, she always has to be more alert and vigilant about her safety as compared to a man in the business.

3-Funds issue

Both men and women face fund issues. But for a woman in business, it is more difficult to arrange funds to start a new venture. In general, parents would rather spend the money on your daughter’s marriage than support her business. And it gets more difficult after marriage. Even when it comes to taking a loan from a bank, they don’t find a woman candidate more reliable to offer a loan.

To combat the same, women can take help from various government schemes provided for females. The Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) is especially in a place to ‘fund the unfunded.’ Read here to find out more.

4-Balance between family and work

If a male entrepreneur is trying to set up a business then his first priority will be business and he can be all focused on that and everybody in the family will support him. But if a female entrepreneur is trying to set up a firm then if she is married her first priority will be to take care of the house and then after that if she gets time she can manage her own business.

This reality is really harsh because for a male entrepreneur the more success he gets the freer he gets from the household responsibilities but women always juggle between the personal and professional life because by default settings of the society a woman’s first duty is to manage the household chores.

Even if there are maids in the house it is the complete responsibility of a woman to manage them. And this dual responsibility of a woman many times a time holds her to achieve her goals.

5-Being judged easily

This is another problem faced by women entrepreneur when she is trying to establish as an empowered woman by setting up her own business. Every startup takes a lot of time and persistence to develop. And when you’re about to set up the foundation of your business you have to devote a lot of time and still, you don’t see any result.

If you are making a building then the foundation for the building will take twice or thrice the time as when you are trying to make a floor.

And this case is valid for both male and female entrepreneurs. But there is a great disparity between a male and female entrepreneur here because if a male entrepreneur is taking this much time then very few people will question their capabilities but in the case of a woman, entrepreneur people will judge her and not support her saying she is not capable and should try something different.

6-Male Dominated Society

Everybody knows that a female entrepreneur has to take care of the house and her business at the same time. So people sometimes prefer a male candidate to do their job as they are free from any baggage.

Being a mother of 15 months old son, and a practicing architect, it’s really difficult for me to be there on-site whenever the time demands. I generally visit sites in the morning or late in the evening or during weekends so that my husband can take care of my son and I can go out freely.

And I am not the only woman who is facing this problem. So in this case woman has to be more resilient and competent enough to be chosen amongst men from the same profession.

7-Timings and mobility issues

If a man is working late at night he will be considered as a very hardworking person but if a woman entrepreneur does the same thing then she will be considered as inconsiderate and not responsible wife, daughter, or mother. So timing is another problem faced by women in business.

It’s easier for a man to go on a tour for business purposes. He just has to say and he can easily go without much hassle, but when it comes to a woman, she has to seek permission from her husband and other elderly family members to approve her tour. And because of this, women sometimes hold themselves back even if they get any opportunity somewhere outside the city.

8-Self obligation

A woman in her entire life saw her mother taking care of all the trivial issues of the household. Taking care of her husband, her kids, and other family members. So even after becoming an independent woman she sometimes feels obligated to abide by the footstep of her mother.

I remember when I was working in an office, all the married ladies used to prepare the breakfast and the lunch for herself and her husband before leaving the house and also did the prep for dinner so that after reaching the house there is no such hassle for them. And when I ask them why their husband isn’t part of the chores, they simply said, it is a job of a woman.

In fact, many women feel it is the kindness of her husband or other family members that they are allowing her to go out and work and so she is always obligated to do all the chores so that they don’t face any problem even if she is working and not available.

9-Lack of knowledge and awareness

It’s very rare in a family that the girl of the family is going out and doing the outside work, like going to the bank, doing taxes, etc. Parents are always protective about their kids but for a girl, they are extra protective.

So even after she has grown up it takes a lot of hard work for her to come out of a comfort zone and learn to talk to strangers and deal with the stuff to get the business and has to deal with a lot of basic things which she could have learned easily before starting a business.

So this is another problem faced by women entrepreneurs to set up herself as an empowered woman by standing out as a businesswoman.

10-Dealing with stress

Stress is another problem faced by woman entrepreneurs, as to get success in business you have to devote a good amount of time and energy to it. But a woman in business struggles to give her focused attention, though she is empowered.

Having a dream to achieve something in her life and to stand out as an empowered woman comes with a lot of stress for women. As we all know a working woman is managing both, the household things and her professional life.

And so she is always under a pressure to deliver things on time and give proper time to her family and when she fails to achieve that she gets mental stress.

Being a woman in business, these days I rarely get time to do the work in the daytime because of my son around me all the time. I can only work when he is asleep. So if there are time-bound deliverables, I get stressed up.

11-Always have been taught to compromise

As a daughter, a woman has always been taught to compromise and make adjustments. The majority of our family lies in the middle-class range and in that range a good woman is the one who makes sacrifices for her family, on who keeps her happiness behind and think about the other person’s happiness first and the one who is always available for everyone.

A sacrificing woman is always considered an ideal woman, and our daily soaps and commercials that people regularly watching on TV portray a similar thing.

And because of all these things a woman is always expected to be available all the time and time is a limited resource that everybody has. So many times women compromise with their dreams and make adjustments with their goals to make everybody happy and to prove themselves as an ideal women.

12-My words

As a businesswoman, I just want to convey this message to all the women who want to pursue their dreams and want to set up a business and stand out as a businesswoman, you can’t do everything in life. If you are thinking that you can take care of the house and your business together in a better way like you see in a movie or on TV, then you have to get a reality check.

Your energy is limited and your time is limited so you have to learn to make the best of it. Ask for help from your family members, even if you haven’t seen it in your entire life and there is nothing wrong with that.

Don’t try to be a superwoman who is managing both, household things and the business, because it is not a sustainable idea and you will collapse one day. Your time and energy-matter a lot so learn to delegate the work that you find unproductive for you. Otherwise, you might not reach the point where your potential lies.

Is not going to be an easy thing for you and you might have to fight for your rights from your own people, but don’t give up on that. You might move at a slow pace as compared to men in society but you won’t reach anywhere if you don’t stand up for yourself and pursue your dreams to set up a business of your own.

This journey is going to be intimidating with a lot of pressure and expectations, so be prepared for it. Believe in yourself because you know yourself better and your dreams really matter like other things matter in the world. So don’t give up on that.

Also, I would like to add, be the change you want to see. People teach their daughters to go out, face people and give them proper education so that they can stand on their feet, but they forget to teach their sons how to manage household work. So after marriage, no matter how educated and capable your daughter will be her dreams are going to suffer.

Another most important thing is what is been shown on TV. The main purpose of a woman is just not to be a good wife, a good daughter in law or a sacrificing mother. Her life is beyond that. She can be a good businesswoman, an empowered woman, who clearly knows what she wants and is rigid about her dreams, and is in love with herself.

Apart from showing the regular drama, these TV series should focus on something which uplifts the character of a woman rather than proving her ‘abla nari‘ and also in addition to that, the male character should also show the interest in the household chores.

She taught her daughter to stand on her feet, but didn’t teach her son how to take care of the house.

Today after so many years, her daughter is still fighting to walk.

Naseema Khatoon

Conclusion

Above are the problems faced by a women entrepreneur who wants to get success in the business stands out as an empowered woman as a woman in business. Hope you like today’s blog post. In my upcoming posts, I will be sharing few tips that will help a businesswoman who is starting a new venture as a woman in business.

Write down in the comment section if you have some more points to add and also your opinion about the post. Keeping vising our website for positive and encouraging posts.

Till then stay happy, stay healthy and stay safe…

Bye 🙂