In most corners of the world, female entrepreneurs are quite rare. In my home country, Sweden, about 27% of all businesses are owned by women, in India, the percentage is much lower. Businesswomen worldwide frequently bespeak the challenges in starting and running a business. The challenges can be about anything from prejudice and discrimination, to lack of knowledge and education on how to make their dreams a reality. To help further develop the Goan economy, market, and customer attractivity, more women must be able to take part in the local and global commercial world.

So, why is this? In what ways do women entrepreneurs contribute to the economic growth of Goa? Even though demographic statistics vary, let’s say that half of the state’s population are female. Every individual, man or woman, has his or her, own ambition, goal, and idea. If we were to keep out half the population from the entrepreneurial market, this means we’d be keeping out half the ideas; the lower the percentage of female entrepreneurship, the less new ideas are brought into the market. A common misconception is that advocates for female entrepreneurship value the ideas of women more than the ideas of men, this is not true. Opening up doorways for female entrepreneurship is rather a way to secure good ideas than a way to judge which ideas are better than the other; that is something for the market to decide.

The reasons to why women-owned enterprises are so few can be many, one factor is how women in Goa and in India are kept from following their dreams by social programming, and family control. Another is that women in Goa are often housewives and decide not to start a company because they don’t have the time or energy to do so.

How do we conquer these issues? In Sweden we have a government-controlled program for female entrepreneurs within the authority of industry. This program offers education, mentorship, and economic consultation for female entrepreneurs. I think education is by far the most effective way to minimize the inequality within the entrepreneurial market. Not only through government-controlled programs, but also within regular schools. The first step to increasing the rate of female entrepreneurship in Goa is to make sure all women receive a full and compulsory education. Having a strong ground of knowledge makes the way both for competence and confidence later in life, and with these qualities, you are more likely to want (and dare) to start a business. The second step is to start teaching entrepreneurship in schools. In Sweden, it is mandatory to study economics during the last years of our compulsory education; however, the education is mainly focused on personal economy, it would be beneficial to also teach corporate economy within this subject. This can be a good solution for India too. If all students learn the basics of corporate economy, we won’t end up in the situation we see today where men generally have a much greater knowledge on these matters than women.

Another thing vital to the work of encouraging women in the private corporate sector is that the public acts as role models when it comes to female leaders. The public corporations need to engage women in leading positions. In all matters of equality in the private sector, the public have to be in a cutting edge position, not in a position further back in time than the free market. Women entrepreneurs need role models, and the people around them need proof that women also make great leaders. This is a mission for the public sector to fulfill. The government should not interfere with the private sector, they should take responsibility themselves in normalizing businesswoman and easing the burden of inequality for female leaders within the private sector.

Last but certainly not the least, we have to take a look at which industries women prefer establishing themselves in. Common lines of business for female entrepreneurs are healthcare, fashion, and housekeeping. Why they choose these can of course be debated, but as of right now, women choose to establish themselves within, for example, healthcare much more than transportation or IT. To encourage female entrepreneurs we should make it profitable to own businesses within female dominated sectors. This stimulates female entrepreneurship without suffocating men-owned businesses.

Each idea is important. The journey towards equal opportunity in entrepreneurship is not only a journey for women, but a journey for the world in whole!

Karin Mossberg

About Me: Liberal/Conservative politician from the Swedish Moderate Party. Currently located outside Panjim, Goa.

Tags: Goa, india, Powersuit, startups