PWEA

Building Women in Business:

A Situation Analysis of Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh

Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry

In cooperation with

The Center for International Private Enterprise

PWEA
Building Women in Business:

A Situation Analysis of Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh

Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry

In cooperation with

The Center for International Private Enterprise

Advisor Selima Ahmad

President, BWCCI

Sangita Ahmed
Senior Vice President, BWCCI

Building Women in Business: A Situation Analysis of Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh

Published by Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) Supported by Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) Published in February 2008 Cover design and illustration Foridi Numan BWCCI
Contact address

Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI)

Gulshan Grace, Apt. # 2C, House # 8, Block-CWS (C), South Avenue, Gulshan-1, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Phone # 880-2-9861526, Fax # 880-2-8861296, E-mail: womenchamber.bd@gmail.com, Website : www.bwcci.org

The opinions expressed here do not necessarily express the opinion of CIPE and BWCCI. Research team bears the responsibilities for all information.
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Research Design, Data Analysis and Report Preparation by:

Munir Uddin Shamim

Research Associates Ahmed Omar Faruk Md. Akteruzzaman Sushanta Sarker Md. Nazrul Islam Md. Zahidul Islam Clara Shikha Palma Imran Sattar Muhit Hossain Rezwan Ahamed Dhrubo Ahamed

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Table of Contents
Message Executive Summary Introduction Methodology Findings from the Questionnaire Survey Qualitative Findings from Focus Group Discussions and Seminars Stakeholders Recommendations for Women Entrepreneurship Development Reference 05 06 09 12 15 37 43 47

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Message
It was a golden moment in 2001, when we started our journey with a very small but dynamic team. We were a small group of women. We have had enlightened vision; a vision for a gender-friendly business environment, a vision for womens economic empowerment. We have had a collective dream to ensure a gender justice in economy, especially in private sector of the country. As a manifestation of our collective visions, the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry was born as the first womens chamber in the country. It was a new name, new phenomenon to most of the people. Despite this, we stepped forward with shared responsibilities of building women in business. We started walking across the country. We found a number of women with potentialities and creativities to be entrepreneurs. We started building a relationship, a network, a collective platform. Our team spirits, shared responsibilities, mutual dedication has made us distinguishable. We have gained a unique identity at the local level, national level and at the international level. Throughout our activities, we have been in need of a comprehensive database; need of a study that can tell about the real situation of women entrepreneurs. Lack of filed based data always makes the way difficult to speak about the real need of women entrepreneurs. The issues of women entrepreneurs cannot properly be incorporated in policy measures, development program and economic activities. Considering the situation, BWCCI undertook this initiative under its `Promoting Women Entrepreneurship through Advocacy Project to explore the situation of women entrepreneurs with special focus on rural micro women. Over the last two years, a dynamic team of BWCCI collected information from 11 districts of the country. I am really happy to see the research work completed and findings report is prepared. At this stage, I would like to thank the Center for International Private Enterprise for its continuous support. I would like to offer my special thanks to all women entrepreneurs, who extended their keen support during questionnaire survey. I am very grateful to all representatives including public officials, bankers, journalists, CSOs, NGOs, local government bodies, who attended seminars and FGDs and provided valuable inputs to make this study a comprehensive one. I believe this study has created a space for the people including the policymakers and implementers to know the real situation of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. I also believe that the information obtained from this study would help to create new program for women entrepreneurship development. It will serve as a new source of information and knowledge for development practitioners and development organizations. It will contribute to policy formulation and implementation. To conclude, I would like to offer my wholehearted tanks to the research team who have made this study completed within the scheduled period.

Selima Ahmad President

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1. Executive Summary

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A. Womens economic empowerment is an inevitable part of development discourse. Excluding women from the mainstream development program, institutionalization of a sustainable development process is just unthinkable. Peoples long lasting thrust for a participatory democracy in Bangladesh also requires a sustainable economic growth. Nevertheless, this growth would always be untouchable without active and meaningful participation of the countrys women folks. Keep the issues in mind, the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, since its inception in 2001, has been working for women entrepreneurship development across the country. As part of its unbroken enlightened visions towards a gender friendly environment, especially in private sector, BWCCI has been implementing a project named Promoting Women Entrepreneurship through Advocacy in cooperation with the Center for International Private Enterprise. The main goal of the project is to facilitate increased participation in the economy by women entrepreneurs. It is evident from BWCCIs practical experiences that lack of firsthand information on the situation of women entrepreneurs is continuously hindering proper inclusion of the issues of women entrepreneurs in the policy measures as well as development program. Having proper information is always a power. Lack of this power has made women entrepreneurs unable to claim their rights in a justified and structured way. Realizing this existing reality, BWCCI has conducted this study. B. By nature, it is an explorative study aiming at having an overview of the situation of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. The main thematic issues covered by this study
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are socio-demographic profile of women entrepreneurs, types of women-owned enterprises, regulatory procedures including tax, VAT, company registration, training and capacity buildings and human resources. The study also focused womens access to finance, business management, product and design development, marketing and the issues related to business promotion. The study tried to explore the social perspectives of women entrepreneurs, their conditions and position in family. Overall perception of women entrepreneurs about existing business environment were also tried to discover through this study. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods adopting participatory data collection processes were applied to explore information from 130 women entrepreneurs of 11 districts in Bangladesh. Moreover, this study reached as many as 1494 representatives of various stakeholders through 12 FGDs and 13 seminars organized in six divisional cities and six district cities. A semi-structured questionnaire survey was conducted from May 2007 to October 2007. The qualitative information was collected from March 2006 to February 2008. Data were analyzed using various statistical software including SPSS, MS Word and Excel. C. The respondents of the questionnaire survey were from 11 districts namely Dhaka (18.9%), Khulna (17.9%), Jessoere (15.1%), Rajshahi (15.1%), Comilla (12.3%), Sylhet (9.4%), Gazipur (5.6%) and Barishal (2.8%) respectively. The representation from other three districts namely Jamalpur, Dinajpur and Bogra was less than 1% (.9%). The age structure of the respondents illustrates that most of the women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh are young belong to age group

15-31 years and were students (54%) just before involved in business. Although women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh are not highly educated, about 90% in the sample have at least secondary school certificate (10 years of formal education). Most of the women entrepreneurs are married (53.8%) and live in nuclear families (69%). It is also observed that educated women are gradually becoming interested in involving in business. In this respect, family background was found to be one of the determining factors inspiring women to become entrepreneurs. Existing alternative socialization process including continuous discussions and debate on womens economic empowerment also played vital roles for women to enter into business. About 83% of enterprises in the sample were established between the years 2000-2007 indicating that young women are gradually becoming interested in business and entrepreneurial activities and womens visibility in economic sector is increasing. The mean and median values for the months of business experiences of the respondents were calculated as 59 and 42 months. In terms of ownership, individual ownership is the dominant type. Among 130 enterprises, 73.2% is owned by individual. Most women entrepreurs cater to local market and their trade is related to the local and national market. Only few women are found to be involved in export-import sectors. From the perspective of regulatory provisions, about half of the women entrepreneurs are not aware of trade license, tax and VAT. Most of them lack capacity to maintain accounts, bookkeeping and other necessary documents. As a result, women entrepreneurs, particularly rural women do not enjoy institutional facilities offered by various public and private agencies at the local level. The finding illustrates that women entrepreneurs contribution to employment generation is significant as most of them increased their number of employees. Their contribution to family expenditures and savings were also found to be significant. Access to capital was found to be one of major problems. Most of them have no access to formal banks. Family was the main secures of starter capital. Commercial banks, both public and private banks, did not play significant roles in promotion of women entrepreneurs. It is also observed that 65% of the respondents did not know anything about the circular of Bangladesh Bank on refinancing scheme for women SME. Among 35% of the respondents, who are informed of this circular, 79% of them got information from BWCCI through its various activities like seminar, training etc. Although 35% of the total respondents heard about the circular, 59% of them did not know about all provisions of the circular. Bangladesh bank or any other banks did not take any effective mechanism to disseminate information of this circular to women entrepreneurs or other stakeholders. Even bankers working at the local level were not informed of this circular, which was evident from BWCCIs advocacy activities. Poor information dissemination process contributed to hindering poor implementation of this circular.

Despite existence of diversified barriers, capital growth of women entrepreneurs were also found to very momentous indicating that women are potential to extend their business and contribute to the national economic development. The survey findings also shows that women entrepreneurs, particularly the local women, lack the capacity of business management. They are in need of building capacity in marketing, business promotion, accounting and bookkeeping, product and design development, ICT, e-commerce and regulatory process, etc. The opportunity of training was found to be very limited. The roles of public training providing agencies were not satisfactory. NGOs are providing some training with limited scales. Participation in trade fairs significantly contributed to strengthening capacity of women entrepreneurs as 85% of the respondents, who had the opportunity to participate in trade fairs, mentioned that it had positive impact on their business development. Regarding overall business environment for women entrepreneurs, most of the women entrepreurs were found to be satisfied and they mentioned that, despite traditional negative attitudes, the overall business atmosphere is becoming favorable for women. It is also observed that the involvement of women in business does not emancipate them from the traditional roles in family. As a result, being involvement in business creates double burden and increase working times for women. In terms of marginalization, the local and rural women were found to be more vulnerable as most of them lack access to necessary information. They also do not have access to public and private institutions. Respondents also expressed their dissatisfaction about the roles of the local chamber of commerce, even some respondents mentioned that they did not know anything abut the activities of the chamber of commerce in their localities. D. This report is an output of a descriptive study on the situation of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. The report is divided into six distinguished parts. The first chapter is executive summary. The second chapter describes background, rational and objectives of the study. It also highlights on major thematic areas of the study. The third chapter focuses research methodology, sampling process, data collection tools, data processing and analysis. This chapter also describes about the challenges and limitation of the study. The fourth chapter presents quantitative findings obtained from questionnaire survey. The fifth chapter concentrates on qualitative findings, which were gathered through FGDs and seminars with various stakeholders over last two years. Stakeholders recommendations for women entrepreneurship development are presented in the last chapters.

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2. Introduction
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2. 1 Existing sex ratio in demographic structure of Bangladesh indicates that women comprise almost 50% of the total population1. They are essential part of nations human resources. Due to this demographic structure, the issue of the participation of women in the mainstream economy is imperative. Without a meaningful and active participation of women, half of the total population, in regular economic activities, a dynamic and sustainable economy is impossible. A sustainable economy is a precondition for national growth and prosperity including institutionalization of a democratic system. It is also impossible to achieve the target of a poverty-free society without incorporation of women in the mainstream economy. Considering the issue, a special emphasis has been given by the Government, donor agencies, NGOs, business community and all other relevant stakeholders through different interventions to ensure increased womens participation in formal economic sector, especially in business and industry. Bangladesh is one of the countries, which rectified the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The Constitution of Bangladesh also grants equal rights to women and men in all spheres of public life [Article 28(1), and 28(3)2]. The Constitution also keeps an obligation for the state to ensure womens active and meaningful participation in all spheres of public life (Article-10). In response to the international concern and constitutional commitment, the Government of Bangladesh has initiated some institutional measures for the enhancement of womens economic position and status in society. The major initiatives undertaken by the Government so far included establishment of a separate ministry on womens affairs, formulation of the National Policy for Advancement of Women-2008 and the National Action Plan, which was prepared in response to the Beijing Platform for Action (PFA). The Bangladesh Government has also formed a National Women SME Forum under the SME Foundation of the Ministry of Industry to promote womens participation in formal economic sectors. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), which is now the main document for national development in Bangladesh, also incorporated some noteworthy issues to ensure womens participation in social and economic life. The industrial and SME policies 2005 of Bangladesh Government have emphasized women entrepreneurship development, particularly in SME sector. Despite various initiatives from different corner of the state, the level of participation of women in the mainstream economic activities, especially private sector, remains insufficient and the percentage of women in business and industry is still well below than that of their male counterpart. A recent survey conducted by the PPRC, an independent research organization in
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Bangladesh, on `Local Business Dynamics showed that female constitute only 1% of the sample indicating the very limited presence of women in formal business3. It is inspiring to mention here that a new womens entrepreneurs class is increasingly emerging each year taking on the challenge to work in a male-dominated, competitive and complex economic and business environment. Not only have their entrepreneurship improved their living conditions and earned more respect in the family and the society, but they are also contributing to business and export growth, supplies, employment generation, productivity and skill development of the country4. Even though, women are entering into business sector everyday, they are still vulnerable and marginalized. One of the indications of their marginalization is lack of information and statistics about the situation of women entrepreneurs. Every year, a number of research works have been undertaken by various research organizations including public institutions. Apart from few exceptions, most of the mainstream research works bypass the issue of women entrepreneurs. As a result, proper data, specially field based data is not available, so to say. Most of the financial institutions, public institutions do not maintain gender disaggregated data. Due to the weakness of data, women entrepreneurs were automatically kept excluded from the consideration of various policies. This is also difficult to address the issues of women entrepreneurs without having proper data on the situation of women entrepreneurs, specially rural and micro women, as they are still prime groups among countrys women entrepreneurs. Under these circumstances, the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry undertook this initiative to analyze the situation of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh with special focus on rural and micro women. 2. 2. Over the last two years, the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been implementing a project named Promoting Women Entrepreneurship through Advocacy (PWEA). This project is supported by the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), a US based organization affiliated with the US Chamber of Commerce. This is a second phase of the project. The overall goal of the project of this phase is to facilitate increased participation in the economy by women entrepreneurs. The specific objectives include: l To build the institutional capacity of the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry in order to improve advocacy campaign techniques and strategies

According to the Statistical Pocket Book, published by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics in 2006, the sex ratio is 105 per 100 female. The Constitution of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, published by The British Council, Dhaka Local Business Dynamic: Ground Realities and Policies Challenges, PPRC, Dhaka, 2006, pg. 23. www.adb.org

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To improve the legislative environment in which women entrepreneurs operates in Bangladesh, nationally and locally.

the overall objective, the study selected the following focal issues as thematic areas of this research initiative:
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Socio-demographic profile of women entrepreneurs Profile and types of women-owned enterprises Regulatory procedures including tax, VAT and company registration Training and capacity buildings, human resources Access to finance including the implementation status of the Bangladesh Bank circular Business management including business planning, accounting and bookkeeping, etc Product and design development, marketing and business promotion Social perspective of women entrepreneurs Conditions and position of women entrepreneurs in family life including their economic contribution to the family Overall perception about business environment.

In order to achieve project goal and objectives, a series of activities were undertaken including three tier advocacy group formation, advocacy meetings, policy dialogues, seminars, roundtable meetings, memo development, issue briefs development and policy recommendations. None of these can properly be happened without knowing real situation of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. As a result, conduction of this research was a pre-condition to explore knowledge gaps regarding situation of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. This study was also undertaken to provide baseline information to the project. 2. 3. Research Objective: The overall objective of the study is to have an overview of the existing situation of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh in line with their problems and prospects. The study also aimed at exploring recommendations and suggestions from the respective stakeholders to address existing problems to promote a gender-friendly business environment. Considering

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3. Methodology
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Considering the objectives of the study, geographical areas, time, types of respondents, major thematic areas under the study, both qualitative and quantitative research methods and procedures were applied to explore pertinent information for this study. Major steps and procedures followed in this study were as follows: 3.1. Study Theme Selection Project documents such as project proposal, quarterly qualitative progress report, result framework and other available literature serve as the main guideline for theme selection under each specific objective. The study put its primary focus to have an overview about the situation of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. The major theme covered by this study included: l Socio-demographic profile of women entrepreneurs
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3.2.2. Stakeholders Selection As per the document of project proposal, women entrepreneurs were selected for questionnaire survey. In addition, the qualitative information were collected from various stakeholders, who are directly or indirectly related with women entrepreneurship development. Apart from women entrepreneurs, the qualitative information were collected from the representatives of public institutions, local government, female ward commissioners, business community, NGOs, electronic and print media, financial institutions, civil society organizations, academicians and the members of BWCCI 3.2.3. Sample Size and Respondents Selection As mentioned earlier, the questionnaire survey was conducted among 130 women entrepreneurs from 11 districts of Bangladesh. The qualitative information was collected through 12 FGDs and 13 seminars where as many as 1494 participants attended. Since no comprehensive directory for women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh is available, it was difficult to apply random sampling procedures. Therefore, the respondents for questionnaire survey were purposively selected from BWCCIs members and its training participants. The participants for FGDs and seminars were selected in consultation with the local people, who were knowledgeable of local reality. At every stage of the selection of respondents, priority was given on the objectives of the study. 3.3. Data Collection 3.3.1. Data Collection Methods Considering the nature of variables and types of respondents, both qualitative and quantitative procedures of data collection were applied. Main four data collection methods used in this study are as follows: l Semi-structured questionnaire survey: This method was applied to collect data from women entreprneurs.
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Profile and types of women-owned enterprises Regulatory procedures including tax, VAT and company registration Training and capacity buildings, human resources Access to finance including the implementation status of the Bangladesh Bank circular Business management including business planning, accounting and bookkeeping, etc Product and design development, marketing and business promotion Social perspective of women entrepreneurs Conditions and position of women entrepreneurs in family life including their economic contribution to the family Overall perception about business environment

3.2 Sampling Different types of sampling procedures were followed considering the obligation set by the project proposal, types of stakeholders, geographical areas, time, budget, etc. Major sampling procedures applied in this study are described below: 3.2.1. Study Areas Selection The study areas were selected considering two things; project areas of PWEA Project and the districts where BWCCI had easy access to the people. Considering this, 11 districts were purposively included in the sample. The name of the districts include Dhaka, Comilla, Khulna, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Barishal, Jamalpur, Bogra and Gazipur. In addition, qualitative information was also collected from Patuakhali, Moulovibazar, Coxs Bazar and Chittagong.
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Key Informants Attend (KIA): KIA was applied to collect data from the person who were knowledgeable of women entrepreneurship development in Bangladesh. Focus Group Discussions (FGD): As many as 12 FGDs were organized with different stakeholders including women entrepreneurs, bankers, public officials, local government representatives, mdeia, NGO and CSO representatives. Literature Review: Primarily project documents such as project proposal, quarterly progress reports, result fremework and other available documents were used in order to explore pertinent variables for the study.

3.3.2. Data Collection Tools Different types of data collection tools were applied in this study considering types of the respondents and methods of the study. Major data collection tools applied in this study were as follows: l Semi-Structured Interview Schedule (SSIS): A semistructured interview schedules was used to collect data from women entrepreneurs.
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in computer based worksheets, which were developed using SPSS, MS Word and Excel. Most of the data, both qualitative and quantitative, are analyzed through SPSS and MS Excel. Some worksheet developed using MS Word were also used in order to analyze qualitative data obtained from FGDs and seminers. 3.7. Overall Challenges and Limitation of the study All possible cautions were maintained during the planning of study, selection of methods and techniques, data processing and analysis. In spite of this, the study is not free from limitations. Some limitations related to the study could be cited here as follows: l Considering the volume of the study, the timeline was limited, particularly for questionnaire survey. Therefore, it was a great challenge for the Research team to reach all respondents within the timeframe. To get it happened, Research Associates had to pay extra efforts. Time limitation created some barriers to collect some qualitative data.
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FGD Guideline: A comprehensive FGD guideline was developed. This guideline covered facilitation process of FGD, issues to be addressed, reporting requirements and process, data summary sheet. Each research assistant was provided FGD guideline so that they could take sufficient preparation and facilitate the FGDs with respective groups properly.

3.4. Training for Research Associates The project staff and other personnel, who were involved in data collection, were clearly briefed about data collection process and overall research outline. The pertinent variables used in questionnaire were also explained to them so that they can easily collect data from the field. 3.5. Field study As mentioned before, the qualitative information for this study were collected from March 2006 to February 2008. Quantitative data were collected during May 2007 to October 2007. 3.6. Data Processing and quality control A cross checking mechanism was introduced to ensure the quality of data. Central study team regularly monitored the data collection procedures. Research Associates also review all filled-in interview schedule, focus group findings right after completion of the fieldwork every day. Despite this, some data were excluded from the analysis due to confusion about their reliability. Most of the variables were pre-coded. Some data were coded right after field study. After completion of the field study, four Research Associates were engaged in order to insert the data

To get response from women entrepreneurs for all questions was really a great challenges as women entrepreneurs were found to be very busy. As a result, some important information were missed. Existing Infrastructure of communication is not so good in the study areas. So it was hard to reach some areas. During field study, there were some natural disasters and political conflicts, which sometimes created problems for the Research Associates to maintain the time schedule. The Study could not apply random sampling procedures in all stages of respondents selection due to lack of time and an appropriate sampling frame. Some qualitative findings were related to the perception of respondents. These findings may not be representative to predict the overall situation of womwn entrepreneurs. The women entrepreneurs, involved in the large scale of business, were not included in this study, Therefore, this study dose not tell anything about their situation.

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4. Findings from the Questionnaire Survey

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4. Findings from the Questionnaire Survey

4.1. Socio-Demographic Background 4.1.1. District of the women entrepreneurs It is mentioned earlier that a semi-structured questionnaire survey was conducted among 130 women entrepreneurs in 11 districts. The larger group of women entrepreneurs interviewed under this study was from Dhaka (18.9%) following Khulna (17.9%), Jessoere (15.1%), Rajshahi (15.1%), Comilla (12.3%), Sylhet (9.4%), Gazipur (5.6%) and Barishal (2.8%) respectively. The representation from other three districts namely Jamalpur, Dinajpur and Bogra was less than 1% (.9%). 4.1.2. Age and Education Table-1: Percentage distribution of the respondent by age 15-20 21.7 * N=130 Among women entrepreneurs interviewed, 58.3% respondents belong to the age group of 15-30 years and another 26.7% belong to the age group 31-40 years. Women entrepreneurs belong to middle (41-50 years) and older gage group (50+ years) constitutes only 15% of the total sample. The percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by age indicates that most of the women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh are young. It is also evident from the values of mean and median age, which were found to be 30.60 and 27 years respectively. Median value indicates that 50% of women entrepreneurs in the sample belong to age bracket of 15-27 years. Table-2 : Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by the level of education Level of Education % Post Graduation 10.9 Graduation 16.8 HSC 26.7 SSC 34.7 Class Eight 5.9 Primary (class five) 1.0 No formal education 4.0 Total 100 * N=130 In terms of educational level of women entrepreneurs, 10.9% have post graduation degree, 16.8% are graduates, 26.7% have higher secondary education, 34.7% have secondary school level education and 6.9% have minimum primary education. Only 4% of women entrepreneurs interviewed have no formal education but some of them mentioned that they could read and write. 21-30 36.6 Age 31-40 26.7 41-50 9.0 50+ years 6.0 Total 100

4.1.2. Marital Status Figure-1 : Percentage distribution of respondents by their marital status

1.9% Separated 3.8% Divorced 2.9% Widow

37.5% Unmarried

53.8% Married

From socio-cultural perspectives in Bangladesh, marital status of women is also an important factor that have vital influence on womens socio-economic and political life. Considering this, the survey focused marital status of the respondents. Among the women entrepreneurs interviewed, 62.5% are ever married. 37.5% are unmarried in the sample indicates that young women are gradually becoming interested to be involved in business and entrepreneurial activities. Among the ever married, 53.8% of the total sample is still married, 2.9% are widow, 1.9% are separated and 3.8% are divorced. 4.1.3. Types of Family and Number of Children Figure-2: Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by the types of family

31% Extended/Joint 69% Nuclear/conjugal

Types of Family

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In terms of the types of family, most of the women entrepreneurs (69%) interviewed live in either a nuclear or a conjugal family while only 31% live in extended or joint family5. Among married women entrepreneurs, 30% had no child. The arithmetic mean for the number of children for the rest of 70% married women entrepreneurs was calculated as 1.3 and the median value was found to be 1, which means average number of children for women entrepreneurs are less than 2 and at least 50% of them has only one child. This statistic indicates that womens economic involvement is not only contributing towards economic development but also to countrys social development activities like on going family planning program. It is evident that involvement of women in formal economy inspires them to keep family size smaller. 4.1.2. Educational background of Fathers and Husbands Table-3 : Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by the level of education of their fathers and husbands Level of Education Post Graduation Graduation HSC SSC Class Eight Primary (class five) No formal education Total
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Considering the educational level of their fathers and husbands, the educational status of women entrepreneurs are not satisfactory as 45.6% (table 2) of women entrepreneurs in the sample have below college level education. This situation could be associated with the incidence of early marriage, particularly in rural Bangladesh. This is also associated with the patriarchal attitudes towards womens education and social mobility, under which, higher education for women is not encouraged. 4.1.2. Occupational background of Fathers and Husbands. Table-4: Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by the occupation of their fathers and husbands Types of Occupation Public Service Private service Business Agriculture Unemployed Retired Students Total fathers occupation 15.7 18.0 34.8 12.4 2.2 15.7 1.1 (not student but other) 100 8 husbands occupation 14.5 30.6 43.5 1.6 1.6 4.8 3.2 100 9

fathers education 23.3 18.9 18.9 15.6 18.9 2.2 2.2 100

husbands education 32.8 22.4 28.4 10.4 1.5 3.0 1.5 100

Table-3 shows that 61% of women entrepreneurs fathers have at least college level education and 15.6% have secondary school level education. Out of total sample, fathers of 23.3% women entrepreneurs have post graduation degree and 18.9% have graduation degree. Only fathers of 2.2% women entrepreneurs have no formal education. The same table also shows that husbands of more than 55% women entrepreneurs are at least graduates, out of them, 32.8% have post graduation degree. In total sample, husbands of 83.6% have at least a college level degree, 4.5% have primary level degree. Only 1.5% have no formal education but some of them can read and write.
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It is evident from the table-4 that the occupation of fathers and husbands is one of the determinant factors to inspire or help women to become entrepreneurs. In case of sample under this study, business is the occupation of 34.8% of women entrepreneurs fathers. In case of husband; business as occupation was found for 43.5%. Among the women entrepreneurs interviewed, the occupation of their father is public service for 15.7%, private service for 18%, agriculture for 12.4%. Only 15.7% of women entrepreneurs father were found to be retired. On the other hand, the women entrepreneurs in terms of the occupation of their husband were found in the category of public service, private service, business, agriculture, unemployed, retired and students as 14.5%, 30.6%, 43.5%, 1.6%, 1.6%, 4.8% and 3.2% respectively. Under this study, in case of most women entrepreneurs, either thair fathers or husbands were found to be involved in business. It can be explained that having family background in business encourages women to be involved in entreprenurial activities.

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In case, where a married couple and their unmarried children live together refer to nuclear family. A family where only married couple without any children live together refer to conjugal family. A family in which relatives-such as grandparents, aunts, or uncles-live in the same home as parents and their children in known as an extended family (for detail, see, Schaefer, Richard T. Sociology: A Brief Introduction, Fifth Edition, Macgraw Hill, 2004, Pg-281) N=130 N=67 N=130 N=67

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4.2. Profile of enterprises 4.2.1. Motivating factors to enter into business The respondents were asked to describe factors that encourage them to enter into business and entrepreneurial activities. The opinions they expressed in response to this questions are compiled and given in the following table with relative frequency and ranking. Table-5 Factors that encourage women to enter into business Inspiration from family and family had business To create self-dependency Self inspiration Extra income for the family For economic freedom Self employment Inspiration by friends To upgrade social status Pass leisure time Economic development Inspiration from some organizations No alternative to have a job Inspired by training To establish womens rights Eradicate gender discrimination Creating opportunity for others The above table shows that family members, either parents or husband having business played a vital role in inspiring women (29%) to become entrepreneurs. The same observation was also found in the section 4.1.2. This section shows that the occupation of 34.8% of the father of women entrepreneurs was business. In case of husbands occupation as business, the percentage was found to be 43.5. It is very significant findings that 24% of women entrepreneurs started their business with a view to having self dependency and economic freedom. A great number of women (22%) become involved in business to earn extra money for family. Friends also played vital roles to get some women (9%) involved in business. 3% of the respondents became entrepreneurs because they did not have any alternatives. Only 1% of women entrepreneurs interviewed told that they were inspired by training. 4.2.2. Previous Occupation Figure-3 : Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by their previous occupation
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% 10 29 24 22 22 14 12 9 6 5 5 4 3 1 1 1 1

Ranking 1 2 3 3 4 5 5 6 7 7 8 9 10 10 10 10

1.1% 4.6% Other Unemployed

23.0% House wife

54.0% Students

12.6% Service (employed by others) 4.6% Other business Types of previous occupation of women entrepreneurs

Multiple responses were allowed and responses were not mutually exclusive

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The figure-3 shows that most of the women entrepreneurs were students (54%) before getting involved in business. Among the rest of the respondents, 23% were housewife, 12.6% were employed by others and 4.6% had no job. 4.2.3. Year of establishment of the enterprises Table - 6 : Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by the year of the establishment of their enterprises. Percentage 1977 1982 1990 1992 1993 1994 1997 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Total 1.1 2.1 1.1 3.2 2.1 1.1 5.3 1.1 13.8 2.1 10.6 10.6 7.4 8.5 14.9 14.9 100 Cumulative percentage 1.1 3.2 4.3 7.4 9.6 10.6 16.0 17.0 30.9 33.0 43.6 54.3 61.7 70.2 85.1 100

phenomena as about 53% of women entrepreneurs in the sample have only three years or less than three years experiences in business. Among 130 women entrepreneurs, 18% have only one year of experiences and 20% has 2 years of experiences in business. The mean and median months of business experiences were calculated as 59 and 42 months. The calculated value for standard deviation that was 61 indicates that the group, in term of business experience, is not homogeneous. Maximum duration of business experiences in month was found to be 372 (31 years). Four or five high extreme values in the sample influenced on the value of mean. 4.2.5. Secondary Occupation Figure-5: Percentage distribution of the respondents by their secondary occupation.

32.3% Yes 67.7% No

Secondary Occupation of women entrepreneurs

It is evident from the age structure of the respondents (table-1) that most of the women entrepreneurs belong to age group 1530 ages and the previous occupation of 54% was students (figure-3). These two variables are the indication of recent establishment of the most enterprises, which is also evident from the table-6. About 83% of enterprises in the sample were established between the years 2000-2007 indicating that women are gradually becoming interested in business and entrepreneurial activities. It also indicates that womens 50 visibility in economic sector is increasing.
40

Respondents were asked whether they have any other secondary occupation. It is apparent from the figure-5 that 32.3% women entrepreneurs have different types of secondary occupation. Their secondary occupation includes teaching, private tuition, part-time job, etc. The reasons behind involvement in secondary occupation is primarily associated with the aims to earn more and contribute to family. Uncertainty of business is also a motivating factor behind involving in secondary occupation.
Duration of experience in business of women entrepreneurs (Months)

4.2.4. Duration of experience in business Figure-4:Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by their involvement in business and entrepreneurial activities It is also observed that involvement in formal business by women is not very old
19

30

20

18.0%

20.0% 15.0%

10

9.0% 6.0% 6.0%

7.0%

7.0% 2.0% 3.0%

7.0%

12

13-24

25-36

37-48

49-60

61-72

73-84

85-96

97-108 109-120

120+

4.2.6. Nature of Ownership Figure-6 : Percentage distribution of enterprises by the nature of ownership
7.3% Partnership 15.9% Joint family ownership 3.6% Other

Among 130 women entrepreneurs interviewed, about two third of them (62%) were found to be involved in manufacturing sector followed by service (12.8%) and trading sector (12.8%). Among them, 82.8% has no relation with export-import business as only 15.6% were found to be involved in export-oriented business. Retail is the dominant trend among women entrepreneurs in the sample. More than one third of them (43%) were found to be involved in retail business. Only 16.2% enterprises were found to be wholesellers and 40.8% were involved in both retail and wholesell business. 4.2.8. Main sectors

73.2% Sole ownership

Table-8 : sector-wise percentage distribution of the respondents. Name of the sectors Garments/Home textile Printing % enterprises 16.1 1.6 69.4 3.2 4.8 3.2 1.6 100

Nature of Ownership of enterprise

Handicraft Agro based Parlor Food Others Total

Figure-6 shows that individual ownership is dominant type. Among 130 enterprises, 73.2% is owned by individual, 15.9% is jointly owned by family members and only 7.3% business is run in partnership with other members. Partnership is also dominated by the traditional kinship relationships as 38.5% of women entrepreneurs have partnership with mother, 26.9% with sisters, and 3.8% with brother. Only 3.8% of women entrepreneurs interviewed have partnership with husband. In 15.4% cases, partnership is found with friends. Domination of partnership by the kinship relationship can be explained by traditional patriarchal social values and social system, under which, womens social dealing with the people, particularly men, outside of the family is highly restricted. This is also associated with the fear of social insecurity and social stigma. 4.2.7. Types of Business Table-7 : Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by the types of business Type-1 Description Manufacturing and trading Service Trading Other % 61.6 12.8 12.8 12.8 100 Description Only Export Only Import

Among the respondents, majority of women entrepreneurs (69.4%) were found to be involved in handicraft sector followed by garments/ home-textile (16%). The table-8 also shows that women are becoming in non-traditional sectors like printing and media, food business, etc. It is observed that 60% of women entrepreneurs did not know how to conduct feasibility study before selecting a specific product, 26.7% of them were completely found unaware of feasibility study and 6.7% of them did not feel necesity to conduct a feasibility study. Only few women entrepreneurs told that they conducted feasibility through market observation and participation in trade fair. Type-2 % 15.6 0 82.8 1.6 100
20

Type-3 Description Whole sell Retail Both Total % 16.2 43.0 40.8 100

Neither export nor import Both export and import Total

4.3. Experiences in Trade Licensing and Company Registration Figure-7 : Status of enterprises in term of having company registration

Although 50% of women entrepreneurs did not get their company registered from any legal authority, the tendency to have trade license is gradually increasing, as it is evident from figure-8. that 59% of enterprises become registered during 2001-2007. It can be assumed that educated women are entering into business and they have better knowledge of regulatory procedures. 4.3.3. Interval between starting point of business and company registration Table -9 : Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by the time of interval between starting point of business and the time of company registration Time of interval 1 month % of enterprises 27.5 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4 17.2 13.7 4.4 3.4 6.9 6.4 3.4 100

49.7% No

51.3% Yes

Status of company registration

2 months 3 months 6 months 7 months 9 months 1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years 7 years 8 years 9 years Total

The figure shows that almost half of the women entrepreneurs (49.7%) interviewed did not get their enterprises registered with any legal authorities. Among women entrepreneurs, who have trade license, most of them run their business in the city corporation like Dhaka, Rajshahi and Sylhet. About 90% of the women entrepreneurs from Dhaka have trade license. Most of the women entrepreneurs, who do not have trade license, are from the district town or local area like Jessore (85.7% have no trade license), Comilla (57% have no trade license). It could be assumed that having trade license is associated with the access to information. Since the women living in the city corporation areas have greater access to information and public institutions, most of them were able to get their company registered. It is also evident from the result of cross tabulation that education and training has a great influence to inspire women to get their company registered. About 70% of women entrepreneurs having trade license completed at least secondary level of education and have some training experiences on various issues. 4.3.2. Year of company registration Figure-8 : Percentage distribution of enterprises by the year of getting trade license
70

56

Year of company registration

42

28

17.6%
14

11.7%

11.7%

It is evident from the previous section that 50% of the women entrepreneurs do not have any trade license. The rest of 50%, who got their company registered, also did not got their company registered timely. The table-9 shows that only 27.5% of women entrepreneurs get trade license within the one month of their business. Arithmetic mean for the interval between the time of 59.0% company registration and starting point of business was calculated as 6 years and median value for it was found to be 1 year. There are some entrepreneurs who got their company registered after seven to nine years (6.9% after seven years, 6.4% after 8 years and 3.4% after 9 years).
2001-2007

up to 1990

1991-1995

1996-2000

21

4.3.4. Trade license-providing agencies Figure-9: Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by the trade-licensing authorities
70

4.3.5. Reasons behind not having trade license The women entrepreneurs, who did not have trade license, were asked to describe the reasons. The opinions they expressed as reasons for not having trade license were as follows: Table-11 Opinion Unaware of the necessity of having trade license % 37 41

67.9% Trade license-providing agencies of enterprises

56

42

28

17.9%
14

Aware but not familiar with the process

10.7% 3.6% Union Parishad Other

Applied for trade license and the process is going on 3.7 Others 18.3 100

City Corporation

Municipality

Among 50% of the respondents having trade license, majority of them (67.9%) got trade license from the City Corporation, 17.9% from Municipality, 3.6% from Union Parishad. It is also evident from the findings that 40% were unable to complete trade licensing procedures on their own resulting in increased expenditures for company registration. About 45% of them had to expend, on average, extra 2000 taka only to get help in trade license processing. The median value for this purpose was found to be 5000 taka, which means about 50% of the women entrepreneurs, who were unable to accomplish trade licensing process on their own, had to expense, on average, 5000 taka or more than 5000 taka. 4.3.4. Expenditure for getting trade license Table-10 : It is evident from the findings that most of the women entrepreneurs have experiences of informal source of Name of the trade licensing authority Expenditure City corporation Municipality Union parishad Mean Median 2400 2250 1200 1200 Not available Not available

Total

4.3.6. Problems faced by the women entrepreneurs with different trade licensing authorities Table-12 Types of Problems mentioned by the women entrepreneurs Complex process Time consuming Bureaucratic process Bribery Indecent behavior Sexual harassment, teasing Lack of cooperation City Corporation X X X X X X X Union MunicipParisalities had X X X X X X X X X Tax department X X X X X X X

X indicates presence of problems 4.3.7. Problems faced by the women entrepreneurs due to not having trade license Table - 13 Major Problems Could not participate in trade fair Missed profitable orders and buyers Could not enter into export-import oriented sectors %11 75 45 35

expenditures like bribery in the process of getting trade license. The women entrepreneurs interviewed mentioned that they had to informally pay from 50 to 1200 taka to get trade license from the city corporation. Regarding informal expenditure, they had better experiences with municipalities. Average expenditure including formal and informal for getting trade license from the City Corporation was found to be BDT 2400 and median was calculated for this category as BDT 2250. In case of Municipality, both mean and median were found to be 1200. It means getting trade license from municipalities is less expensive. It is also mentioned by the respondents that getting trade license from Municipality was less bureaucratic and complication free compare to the services from the city corporation.
11

Could not get access to bank loan and financial institutions 80 Could not get membership with the chamber of commerce 60

It is observed from the table-13 that women entrepreneurs faced various problems due to not having trade license. As per

N=36, multiple responses were allowed and data were not mutually exclusive

22

responses by women entrepreneurs, for the lack of trade license, 80% of them were refused by banks or financial institutions to give a loan to them, 75% of them could not participate in trade fair. Since, it is mandatory to have trade license for getting membership with the chamber of commerce, 60% of them failed to apply for membership. Another 35% told that they could not enter into export-import business. 4.3.8. Opinion of the women regarding company registration The women entrepreneurs in the sample were asked to express their recommendations about existing company registration process. The major issues they raised were as follows: Table-14 : Opinion Make registration process easier Make information available to women entrepreneurs Create awareness regarding registration process Establish a gender cell or at least a booth with women employee to facilitate women to get trade license Make the people gender sensitive Organize training on regulatory process Reduce company registration fee Reduce complexity Fasten registration process 4.4. Training and Human Resources 4.4.1. Training Table-15 : Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by the status of training Whether received training Received before starting business Received after starting business Received before and after starting business Did not receive any training Total n=130 Training is a vital issue for women entrepreneurship development. It can facilitate women to internalize required
12 13

business skills and attributes. The table-15 shows that among the women entrepreneurs interviewed, almost half of them (48.7%) had received training on various issues before they entered into business. Different NGOs, public institutions like women and children affairs department, youth development department, chamber of commerce, trade bodies provided these training. 42.1% of them started their business without having any training on business development although they received training after they had entered into business. In 9.2% cases, there was no opportunity to receive training and they did not receive any training on business. This group is from the remotest area that means women entrepreneurs live in the rural areas or local areas are more vulnerable than their urban counterpart is. Table-16 : Percentage distribution of the respondents by the name of courses that they received before and after their business initiatives Name of the training courses Sales and marketing Training on sewing Training on block and boutique Training on embroidery Training on cutting Training on tailoring anddesigning Handicraft Computer Financial management Business Management Leadership of women Poultry Mini garments Screen print Cooking Beauty and Herbal care Secretarial science Industrial development Accounting and bookkeeping English language Confectionary Mushroom Cultivation Interior Decoration EntrepreneurshipDevelopment Beauty parlor % of the respondents Before starting12 After starting business13 business 44 69 44 6 40 28 19 0 11 0 26 9 41 19 4 22 11 9 7 16 4 0 15 3 4 0 4 3 4 3 4 0 4 3 0 13 0 3 0 19 0 3 0 3 0 3 0 16 0 3

% 75 70 60 85

65 58 70 55 45

% of the respondents 35.5 42.1 13.2 9.2 100

The above table shows training courses which were organized for women entrepreneurs before or after their entry into business. It is expected that those training courses were helpful to build

N=27, N=32, for both cases, multiple responses were allowed and data were not mutually exclusive.

23

capacity of women entrepreneurs at entry level but in terms of the degree of effectiveness, there is a scope to raise questions. The respondents were asked to express their satisfaction level about the effectiveness of training in their profession. 75% of women entrepreneurs expressed their dissatisfaction regarding relevance of contents, training methodology and process. They also mentioned that training contents were not selected in prior consultation with them or based on training need assessment. As a result, most of the training courses failed to address the real needs of women entrepreneurs. The women entrepreneurs who did not receive any training mentioned that they did not know where to go to receive training. They do not have proper idea about training providing agencies. It is also observed that public training providing agencies do not have proper mechanism to go to women entrepreneurs, particularly to rural women with their services, as said by the respondents. The women entrepreneurs also recommended for some training courses which include; financial management and bookkeeping, building business network, business documentation, regulatory procedures, business planning, marketing planning, business feasibility study, banking procedures, Tax and VAT, design development, product development and product diversification. They also recommended for skill-based training like IT natural dyeing, etc. 4.4.1. Trend in Human Resources and Contribution to Employment Generation Table-17 Status at the starting point of business Male Out side of from family family 0.88 5 1 1

4.4.2. Satisfaction Level about human resources The respondents were asked to express their satisfaction about the availability of skilled human resources and their performance. Among 130 women entrepreneurs, 50% of them expressed that their existing human resources have required skills to run their business effectively. The rest 50% demanded for more skilled and knowledgeable human resources. As per their opinion, lack of skilled human resource is one of the barriers to develop their business. The problems mentioned by the respondents regarding workforces included lack of required skills, lack of proper training, family restriction (in case of female workers), lack of managerial skills, education, dedication and lack of communication skills, etc. 4.5. Sources of Capital and Access to Finance 4.5.1. Starter Capital and Trend in Investment Table-18: status of starter capital and growth in investment Mean Median Mode Minimum Maximum Starter capital (BDT) 207265 20000 100000 500 4000000 Current amount of capital (BDT) 290884 600000 300000 10000 5000000

Out of 130 women entrepreneurs interviewed, 77 women entrepreneurs were able to provide information about the amount of their starter capital. Based on available information provided by them, mean value of starter capital for 77 women Current status Male Out side of from family family 0.84 3 1 1 Female Out side of from family family 2 45 1 25

Mean Median

Female Out side of from family family 3 8 1 2

In terms of human resource or workforces, women-run enterprises are quite small. There are a number of enterprises with one or two workforces. Family or kinship-group members are prime sources of human resources, especially at the initial level of business. It is also evident from the findings that women-run enterprises recruits both male and female workforces but domination of female workforces are seen in case of almost all women-owned enterprises. The above table also shows that women entrepreneurship development has significant contribution to the employment generation. The mean value calculated for the number of female workforces at the starting point of business was 8 and median was 2. At the current level, the value of mean and median for same group were increased to 45 and 25 respectively. This statistic indicates that women entrepreneurs are not only contributing to family income but also to creating employment opportunities.

entrepreneurs were found to be BDT 207265 but the median value was found to be BDT 20,000, which means 50% of 77 women entrepreneurs starter capita was equal to or less than BDT 20,000. The minimum starter capital was found to be only BDT 500. The maximum amount of starter capital was BDT 4000000. This extreme case has positive influence on the value of mean. Compare to the current amount of capital, it is evident that average capital has been increased from the amount of the starting point of business. For 69 women entrepreneurs, mean and median for existing capital were calculated as BDT 290884 and BDT 600000. In case of starter capital, 50% of women entrepreneurs investment was from BDT 500 to 20000 while 50% of women entrepreneurs current investments were found
24

between BDT 10000 to 600000. It can be considered as significant growth in investment for micro women entrepreneurs. 4.5.2. Sources of Starter capital Table-19: Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by the sources of starter capital Sources of starter capital Own savings Parents Husband In-laws Relatives belong to kinship group Friends Public commercial bank Private commercial bank NGO Other government agencies Cooperative society Leasing company Mahajan Others % of the respondents 61 39 18 6 2 3 1 1 5 3 0 0 0 0

Table-20: Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by their first impression at bank Level of Impression Very good Moderate Bad Total %14 of women entrepreneurs 11 67 22 100

Among the respondents, 98 women entrepreneurs out of 130 visited various banks and financial institutions for a loan but only 5 of them managed to get a loan from banks. 98 women entrepreneurs were also asked to express their first impression about bank. Only 11% mentioned that they have very good impression. 67% of them expressed their moderate impression and 22% told they had bad impression while they went for a loan to a bank. 4.5.4. Status of BB Circular on Refinancing Scheme for Women SMEs. Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of the country, developed a circular titled Refinancing Scheme for Women SME and issued it to all scheduled banks and financial institutions on 7 February 2007. This circular adopted several important provisions for women SME including 10% quota of its aggregate SME loan at 5-10% interest rate and collateral free loan for women SME up to 1.5 million BDT15. In order to see the implementation status of this circular, the research tried to explore relevant information. 4.5.4.1. Level of Knowledge about the circular Figure-10 : Are you informed of the circular

Regarding the roles of private and public banks in women entrepreneurship development, a very negative feature was observed. Among 130 women entrepreneurs, only 2% mentioned that they got support from public and private bank at the starting point of their business. The main sources of starter capital was own savings (61%) followed by parents (39%), husband (18%), In-laws (6%) and NGO (5%). Although Bangladesh is very popular for micro credit, NGOs contribution to providing starter capital was not found to be significant. 4.5.3. Access to Institutional Credit Facilities Among women entrepreneurs interviewed, only 19% told that they received loan from formal financial institutions like banks, leasing companies etc. The rest of them (79%) never received credit from any financial institutions. Regarding loan facilities from public and private bank, it is observed that only 5 persons out of 130 women entrepreneurs in the sample managed to receive loan from bank, one from public bank and 4 from private commercial banks. This statistic indicates that having access to banks by the women entrepreneurs is still a tough job.

35% Yes 65% No

Are you informed of the circular

14 15

N=98 Shamim, Munir Uddin, Report on Promoting Women Entrepreneurship through Advocacy, March 206-February 2007, BWCCI, July 2007, pg. 24.

25

It should be mentioned here that it was a landmark initiative undertaken by the central bank in order to facilitate women entrepreneurs to have access to finance but possibility of being benefited by the women entrepreneurs from this circular is also related with proper dissemination of information. The above figure shows that the level of dissemination of information about this circular is very poor, as 65% of the respondents did not know anything about this circular. Among 35% of the respondents, who are informed of this circular, 79% of them got information from BWCCI through its various activities like seminars, trainings etc. Among informed respondents, 11% knew about this circular from the newspaper, 5% from NGO and other community based organizations. Although 35% of the total respondents heard about the circular, 59% of them did not know Do you have written about all provisions of the circular. business plan The information mentioned above Have business plan shows that either Bangladesh Bank or any other banks did not take any No Idea about effective mechanism to disseminate business plan information of this circular to women Have idea but do not entrepreneurs or other stakeholders. practice Even bankers at the local level were Total not informed of this circular, which was evident from BWCCIs advocacy activities. Poor information dissemination process contributed to poor implementation of this circular. 4.5.4.2. Implementation Status of the circular It is observed that implementation level of this circular is very insignificant. Among the women entrepreneurs interviewed, only 11% mentioned that they applied to have a loan under this circular. The rest of 89% did not apply for a loan. Among 130 women entrepreneurs in the sample, only 25 persons mentioned that they went to a bank with a view to applying for a loan but finally they did not apply. The reasons for which they did not apply include: l Bank was not informed of the circular (76%)
l l

It is also observed from the disbursement report of the Bangladesh Bank that six financial institutions including banks have disbursed and refinanced Tk. 3.9 million to women entrepreneurs up to December 2007. If it is compared with the total amount of SME fund which is TK. 6200 million it would appear highly insignificant (only .06%)16. 4.6. Business Management 4.6.1. Business Planning Table-21: Percentage distribution of the respondents by the types of business planning %17 48 35 17 100 Who do your % business plan Me 69 Me and other staff of 19 my company Me and hired person 12 Total 100 Frequency of doing business plan Regular Irregular Total % 76 24 100

Bank was informed of the circular but did not start implementing this circular at that time (%) Other (8%).

The same findings were also observed in FGDs and Seminars, which were organized by BWCCI in six districts. During the seminar, most of the bankers reported that they were informed of the circular but did not start implementing. BWCCIs advocacy team also visited as many as 26 banks. During their visits, most of the bankers were found to be unaware of the circular. No branches started implementing the circular till BWCCI team visited.
16

From the perspective of proper development of business, having business plan is a vital issue. Considering this, the study tried to explore the status of the respondents regarding their business plan. Among 130 women entrepreneurs, only 75 respondents were able to provide information about their business plan. The rest of the respondents do not know anything about business plan. The table- 21 shows that among 75 women entrepreneurs, only 48% have written business plan. 35% of 75 women entrepreneurs have no idea about business plan and 17% mentioned that they have idea about how to develop a business plan but they do not practice it. Among 35% of 75 women entrepreneurs having written business plan mentioned that normally they accomplish their business plan, 19% of them jointly develop their business plan with their staff. Only 12% informed that they had to hire resource person to develop it. Although 35% of 75 women entrepreneurs mentioned that they have written business plan, 76% of them are regular in doing business plan, the rest of 24% are found to be irregular in doing business plan. It is observed from the cross tabulation between two variables namely district of the respondent and having written business plan that area has a significant impact. The women entrepreneurs doing business in the city corporation or in urban area are more aware of having business plan as 79% of the respondents from Dhaka city corporation have written business plan followed by Gazipur (75%), Sylhet (71%) and Rajshahi (60%).

17

Afsar, Dr. Rita, Bringing Women Entrepreneurs in Policy Focus for SME Development in Bangladesh, A keynote paper presented at the Seminar on Strengthening Capacity of Women organized by BWCCI, February 26, 2008 N=75

26

It should be mentioned here that having a written business plan is a vital issue to get access to credit facilitates from formal sources like banks and leasing companies. It could be assumed that inability of women entrepreneurs to develop their business plan and lack of knowledge of it are closely associated with being refused by formal financial institutions while they go for a loan from banks and other financial institutions.

It is observed from the table-23 that only 39% of the women enterprises have bank account for their business firm. 42% of women entrepreneurs do not have account for their business firm but they personally have bank account. About one fifth (19%) of women entrepreneurs in the sample did not have any bank account.

The respondents were also asked to express the reason for not having bank account for their business firm. In response to this question, 29% of them mentioned that they were unable to open 4.6.2 Accounting and Financial Management bank account for their business firm as their business firm has 4.6.2.1 Accounting and bookkeeping no trade license, which is the pre-condition to have an account Table-22: Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by with any bank, they added. Among them, 3% informed that they have trade license, despite this, the respective banks refused the status of maintaining accounting and bookkeeping them to open an account. A great Do you have any number of women entrepreneurs Who supervise and Do you accomplish % accountant to maintain (42%) mentioned that they did not maintain your accounts your account related your accounts and feel necessity to open a bank account and bookkeeping task everyday bookkeeping for their business firms, as it requires Me 86 Yes 30 Regular 62 following a complicated procedure. My Husband Me and my husband Me and other family members Other Total 9 1 1 3 100 No Total 70 Irregular Total 36 2 100 100 I do not do The women entrepreneurs, who have bank account with any bank, 86% of them mentioned that they did not face any problems to open bank account. Only 14% described that as a woman, they had to face extra condition while they went to open a bank account.

Accounting and bookkeeping is very important to see and In terms of having bank account, the situation of women maintain the growth of business. Sustainability of business also entrepreneurs from Dhaka and other City corporation is better requires maintaning them properly. It is also closely associated as 71% of the respondents from Dhaka have bank account for with having access to the facilities of public and private their business firm followed by Rajshai (56%). institutions like bank loan, etc. The table-22 shows that only 62% of women entrepreneurs accomplish Do you have any bank account % their accounts related tasks regularly, 36% of them 36 irregular in keeping accounts and bookkeeping. 2% Only my business firm has bank account of the total respondents mentioned that they did not My business firm has no bank account but I have my bank account 42 regularly maintain their accounts and bookkeeping. 3 Both me and my business firm have bank account Among the women entrepreneurs in the sample, 70% 19 of them do not have any professional accountant to I do not have any bank account keep their accounts and bookkeeping updated. As a 100 Total result, 86% of the women entrepreneurs personally maintain their accounts and bookkeeping. Most of them The reasons for not having bank account % do not have any educational background in accounting 29 or related discipline, even they do not have any training My business firm has no trade license in accounting and bookkeeping. Only 6% of them My business firm has trade license despite this bank refused me 3 mentioned that they take help from relatives like to give a bank account for my business firm husband or other person to maintain accounts. I do not feel to have bank account in the name of my business firm 42 4.6.2.2. Bank Account 26 Other Table-23 : Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by the status of having bank account
27

Total

100

4.6.3. TAX and VAT Figure-11 : Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by their situation related to tax and VAT

15% Totally informed 34% Yes 66% No

10% Other 29% Myself

48% No idea 37% Partially informed 61% By lawyer

Do you have Tax ID number

Are you informed of the process of tax and VAT

How do you assess your income tax

Among the women entrepreneurs interviewed, only 34% have tax identity number, the rest of 66% do not have any tax ID number, although this ID number is very important to have access to various facilities provided by banks and other public institutions. During interview, 48% of the respondents mentioned that they did not have any idea about the process of tax and value added tax (VAT), only 15% of them stated that they are fully informed of the process and another 37% were found to be partially informed of tax and VAT process. Regarding tax assessment and processing, more than two third of the women entrepreneur were found to be unable to assess and process their tax and VAT. Only 29% of them told they get their tax assessment completed on their own. 4.6.4. Marketing and Business Promotion 4.6.4.1. Showroom and Location Table-24: Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by the status of having showroom and location Do you have showroom to sell your product Yes No Total % 67 33 100 Location of show room-1 Dhaka District city Divisional city Upazila Headquarter Rural market Total

From the perspective of business growth, and marketing chain, having show room and the location of show room are very important components. The table-24 shows that 67% of the women entrepreneurs have their show room. Only 33% did not have any showroom to sell their product directly. As a result, they have to be dependent on other entrepreneurs who have their show room. Sometimes, they sell their product from their home. Sometimes, they supplied to big shopping mall. These processes are hindering their growth, they mentioned. The column in the table-24 bearing information about the location of showroom indicates that about 50% of the entrepreneurs are running their business in residential areas; only 51% of the women-owned enterprises are located in commercial areas. The women entrepreneurs having showroom in residential areas were asked to explain reasons. The major causes mentioned by them included lack of capital, high rent in commercial areas, near to home, family restriction, possibility of being harassed, etc. They also mentioned about bad transportation and communication system. % 45 13 32 5 5 100
28

Location of showroom-2 Commercial area Residential area Total

% 51 49 100

4.6.4.2. Ownership of showroom Figure-12 : Percentage distribution of the respondents by the nature of the ownership of showroom

4.6.4.4. Business Promotional Materials and Process Table-25: Percentage distribution of the respondents by business promotional materials Do you have business card Yes No Total %18 42 58 100 %19 28 72 100 %20 59 41 100

47% Rented

53% Owned by entrepreneurs

Do your company have brochure Yes No Total Does your showroom has any signboard

Nature of ownership of showroom

Yes No Total

It is evident that, among women entrepreneurs having showroom, 53% of them owned their showroom. Only 47% run their business at rented showroom. The respondents who owned their showroom, most of them from the local areas, especially from district cities. 4.6.4.3. Monthly Expenditure for Rented Showroom Monthly expenditures for rented showroom primarily depend on the location. Therefore, it varies from place to place, district to district, town to town. The highest amount of monthly rent for the showroom was found in Dhaka while the lowest amount was found in district and upazila town. The mean and median were calculated for monthly rent as BDT 6575 and 2000. Monthly rent for 75% of women entrepreneurs was BDT 5000 or less than 5000. Before the showroom were rented, the respective women entrepreneurs had to pay possession fee. Again, possession fee also varies from place to place, district to district. It is also found to be highest in Dhaka city following other city corporations. The mean and median value for possession fees were found to be BDT 11798 and 3000 respectively. The higher value of standard deviation for both monthly rent and possession fees indicates that there were many extreme values, which means monthly rent and possession fee is not uniform. It varies depending on location, time, and types of business.
18 19 20

The table-25 shows that most of the women entrepreneurs are not aware of using various business promotional materials. Among 68 women entrepreneurs, only 42% have business card, the rest of 58% do not use business card to create linkage with other business people or customers. They were also asked to express reasons for not using business card. The opinions they expressed were as follows: l Do not have idea (9%) Have idea but did not feel necessity of having business card (57%) l Seemed to be expensive (36%) Among 51 women entrepreneurs, only 28% have brochure for their enterprises and 72% of them have no brochure to disseminate information about their company and products. 27% of them do not feel that brochure is important for business promotion, 50% did not print brochure because of expenditures. Only 24% mentioned that they did not have any idea about brochure. In terms of having signboard, the situation seemed to be better as 59% of 44 women entrepreneurs have signboard for their enterprises but the rest of 41% still do not use any signboard to attract target customers. Among the women entrepreneurs, who do not have signboard, 19% of them do not use signboard due to lack of space to hang signboard, 53% mentioned that they did not feel any necessity of having signboard.
l

% calculated on the basis of 68 women entrepreneurs. Information was available for 51 women entrepreneurs Information was available for 44 women entrepreneurs

29

The situation mentioned above indicates that women entrepreneurs are still unaware of various forms of business promotion and marketing. Table-26: Percentage distribution of the respondents by their process to inform customer Major process to inform targeted customer Regular advertisement Irregular advertisement Handbill Banner Website Friends and family Trade organization network NGO No specific strategy % 13.2 10.3 7.4 7.0 2.9 50 2.9 2.0 5.0

communication although they have e-mail account and access to internet. Among 68% of women entrepreneurs, who do not have any email account, 30% of them mentioned that they have no idea about e-mail and internet, another 30% mentioned that they were unable to operate internet although they are aware of email and internet. Only 28% said that they have no access to internet. The women entrepreneurs included in the sample, only 20% were found who have computer to use for business. The remaining 80% have no computer at either premises of their enterprise or home. 64% of 64 women entrepreneurs were found to be incapable to operate computer. Among 20% of 64 women entrepreneurs, who mentioned that they are able to operate computer, were asked to express their satisfaction level on the capability of computer operation. In response to this question, only 10% said they are satisfied with the capability to operate computer. For 66%, the satisfaction level was found to be moderate and 21% of the respondent said that their capacity to operate computer is below satisfactory.

In terms of market promotion, the methodologies and the process followed by women entrepreneurs are still more 4.6.4.6. Target Market and Target Customer traditional. In 50% cases, friend and family are the main agents Table-27: Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by to disseminate information about their product to the customers. their targeted customer or market Only 13% tried to keep customers informed % Which is your main % of their product through regular Do you produce for any targeted customer targeted market advertisement. Trade organization and NGO also played a role in market-promotion Yes 66 Local market 59 of women entrepreneurs but the scale is 34 Regional and district town market 25 very limited. Some women entrepreneurs No promote their product through printed Total 100 National market 7 handbill and banner but this process is International market 8 occasional like, especially eid/puja21 festival Other 2 or other religious or social occasions. Total 4.6.4.5. Access to IT In the era of globalization, access to IT is a very vital question, especially for business development. E-commerce has emerged as prime form of business communication and business promotion. From the perspective of access to IT, the situation of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh seemed to very disappointing. Among 130 women entrepreneurs, only 32% have e-mail address but they did not have regular access to internet facilities. In 68% cases, no one have e-mail account. The women entrepreneurs having e-mail address were asked whether they use e-mail for their business purpose. Only 30% mentioned that they use e-mail and interment for their business promotion. The rest of 69% never use their e-mail for business
21

100

From the concept of modern business, this is very important to have proper idea about targeted customers. Without knowing targeted customers, it is difficult to satisfy them with proper products. Without it, this is also difficult for an entrepreneur to survive in business. In this respect, the study gave special concentration to explore whether the women entrepreneurs consciously produce for specific customers. Among 130 women entrepreneurs, 66% told that they produce for specific customers but 34% do not have clear idea about their customers. It is also evident from the table-27 that most of the women entrepreneurs produce their product for local market. This local

EId is a religious festival of Muslim community and puja is a religious festival of Hindu community.

30

market means the areas around their home. It means most women entrepreneurs have no proper access to formal market. 25% of them told that their main market is district town and other 7% produced for national market. Only 8% of them produce targeting international market. Regarding having proper price of the product, 43% of 130 women entrepreneurs reported that they had to sell their product at lower rate compare to that of their male counterpart. 4.6.4.7. Opportunity of training on Marketing Figure-13: Percentage distribution of the respondents by the opportunity training on marketing of product

4.6.4.8. Factors hindering marketing of the product The women entrepreneurs interviewed were asked to describe their perception about the factors that were hindering proper marketing of their products. The major opinions were as follows22:
l l l l l

Lack of proper training (86%) Lack of raw materials (75%) Lack of capital (90%) Social barriers (95%) Unsecured communication system (81%)

26% Other 50% Yes 50% No

11% Trade bodies

11% Public Institutions

16% No

52% NGO

84% Yes

Training on marketing of product

Training providing agencies

Was the training useful for you

Building capacity of women entrepreneurs in marketing of product is a very important issue. Despite this, the above figure shows that opportunity of training on marketing was very limited. Among 130 women entrepreneurs, 50% of them did not receive any training on marketing. It is also observed that NGO is the main agent for training. Among 50% of women entrepreneurs, who received training on marketing, 52% of them received training from NGOs. Trade bodies provided to only 11% of women entrepreneurs. Public institutions also are not playing important roles regarding this issue as only 11% of the women entrepreneurs received training from public institutions. The women entrepreneurs, who received training on marketing, were asked to comment whether they were satisfied with the quality of the training. In this respect, 84% of them found to be satisfied with training courses. Only 16% expressed their dissatisfaction.
22

l l l l l

Lack of efficient workers (60%) Sexual harassment (65%) Family restriction (45%) Religious beliefs and traditional customs (71%) Lack of linkage with national and international market (40%) Failure to recover cost (25%) Lack of market information (13%)

l l

Multiple responses were allowed and data were not mutually exclusive.

31

4.7. Participation in Trade Fair Table-28 : Percentage distribution of the respondents by the status of their participation in trade fair Did you Opinion on the participate If yes, types % impact of in any participation in % 23 of trade fair trade fair trade fair Yes 38 Local rural 27.5 Participation in trade fair trade fair has positive impact No 62 %

The women entrepreneurs, who attended various trade fair, 40% of them received support from various institutions like BWCCI (61%), NGOs (11%) and other agencies (28%). The support they received include both financial (in 82% cases) and technical (19%). 60% of women entrepreneurs did not receive any support to participate in trade fairs. 4.8. Institutional support for product development Table-30: Opportunity of institutional support for product development Did you go to any public or private institutions to develop your product Yes No Total % If yes, did % you receive any support If you did not go % to for support, describe reasons

85

13.5 Participation in 15 Regional trade fair has no trade fair positive impact (District or divisional cities) 100

Total

13.5 Total 100 National trade fair International 45.5 trade fair Total 100

17 83

Yes No

48 52

Did not feel 40 necessity Did not know 53 about supporting organizations

Participation in trade fair is very important. It helped women to be exposed to diversified product, buyers and market demand. It also contributes to building market linkages. Despite this, the opportunity for women entrepreneurs to participate in trade fair seemed to be very limited. Among 57 women entrepreneurs, only 38% participated in trade fair. The rest of 62% did not have any opportunity to participate in any trade fair. Among 38% of respondents, who participated in trade fairs, 45.5% of them attended international trade fair, followed by local/village trade fair (by 27.5%), regional trade fair (by 13.5%) and the national level trade fair (by 13.5%). Regarding satisfaction level of participation in trade fairs, 85% expressed that trade fairs contributed positively to building their capacity.

100 Total

100 Knew about this 7.0 organization but no easy access Total 100

Table-30 shows that institutional facilities for product development are very limited for women entrepreneurs. Among 130 women entrepreneurs, only 17% told that they went to respective public service providing agencies to receive support for product development. Among them, only 48% received some support. The rest of 52% did not get any support for product and design development. Among 83% of the respondents, who never went to any public service providing agencies, 53% of them told that they were not familiar with such types of institutions, 7% mentioned that they had no access to Table-29 : Percentage distribution of the women entrepreneurs those institutions. Only 40% told that they did not feel any who attended trade fairs by the types of support necessity to go there. Based on above situation Did you receive any % If yes, types of support % Types of organization that % it can be assumed that institutional support that you received provided you support public service agencies for trade fair were unable to create demands for their Yes 40 Financial 82 NGO 11 services; even they did not properly disseminate No 60 Technical and other 19 BWCCI 61 information to women entrepreneurs regarding Other 28 their services. Total 100 Total 100 Total 100 It is also observed that
23

Percentage calculated based on 57 women entrepreneurs.

32

women entrepreneurs, especially local women entrepreneurs were not concern about their product development, even they did not have proper idea about product development. During survey, the respondents were asked to describe major problems hindering their product development. Main issues discussed by them were as follows24:
l l l l l l l l l l l

Lack of capital (60%) Lack of good designers (65%) Lack of skilled workers (61%) High price of materials (45%) Lack of modern machineries (55%) Lack of raw materials (48%) Lack of proper knowledge and training (46%) Lack of information (35%) Lack of family and social restriction to give more time to develop product (39%) Lack of development institutions (55%) High volume of involvement in family

still well below than that of their male counterpart. Among 130 women entrepreneurs, only 58% of women entrepreneurs have membership with formal trade bodies. It can be said that this percentage was found to be higher due to the limitation of sampling process. as mentioned earlier, major respondents were drawn from BWCCI members. Apart from the membership with BWCCI, only 13% told that they have membership with the male dominated local chamber of commerce. Among 42% of the respondents, who did not have any membership with any formal trade body, 32.5% mentioned that they did not know about trade bodies available in the localities. Among them, 15% mentioned that they were aware of trade bodies but the process to get membership seemed to them as complicated. This is why they did not feel interested to be a member of professional trade body.

4.10. Business Environment 4.10.1. Incidence of Illegal tolls and Briberies Figure-14: Percentage distribution of women entrepreneurs by the demand of illegal tolls by miscreants

4.9. Involvement in trade organizations and business network From the perspective of bargaining capacity and business networking, it is very important for women entrepreneurs to be involved with any collective platform so that they can raise their voices. Table31 shows that involvement by women entrepreneurs with formal trade bodies is Table-31: Percentage distribution of the respondents by their involvement with trade organizations Do you have any % membership with any trade organization Yes No Total 58 42 100
55% No 45% Yes 40% No 60% Yes 62% Irregular 38% Regular with specific interval

Did anybody forcefully demand tolls from you

Did you pay tolls to anybody after you had involved in business

If yes, types of toll

If yes, what types of organizations BWCCI Banik Samity Local Chamber of Commerce Other Total 100

If no, what are the reasons

37.025 Dont know about trade body 32.5 17.4 Know about trade body but 15.0 their conditions did not permit to get membership 13.0 Did not feel necessity 32.6 Total 52.5 100

The figure-14 shows that the incidence of toll collection from women entrepreneurs is very common phenomena. Among 130 women entrepreneurs, almost half of them (45%) had face incidence of illegal tolls demanded by miscreants. Among them, 60% mentioned that they had to pay illegal tolls regularly with specific interval (38%) and irregular basis (62%).

24 25

Multiple responses were allowed and data were not mutually exclusive Since the number of BWCCIs member in the sample was higher, the percentage for this category was also found to be higher

33

Table-32: Percentage distribution of the respondents by the demands of bribery by public officials when they went to them for business purpose Among 130 women entrepreneurs, only 37 agreed to speak about bribe demanded by the public officials when they went to any public institutions for their business purposes. Among 37 respondents, 22% mentioned that public official demanded bribe from them. Out of them, 34% had to give bribe to the respective public official to get their purpose accomplished. Moreover, 65% of 130 women entrepreneurs also mentioned that they were facing various social problems as entrepreneurs. %26 Demanded bribe Did not demand Total 22 78 If yes, did you pay them bribe Yes No % 34 66 100

100 Total

4.10.2. Perception about overall business environment Women entrepreneurs were asked to give their opinion about overall business environment for women. In line with the prescribed criterion, they have expressed their perception on five point rating scale from +2 to -2. The summary of the findings is given below: Table-33 Indicators of Business Environment
Overall a positive environment for women to enter into business has been ensured
Partially Completely No opinion disagreed (-1) disagreed (-2) (0)

% of the respondent by their Perception level Completely Partially Total

Agreed (+2 ) agreed (+1)

Result

23% -23 Social and family responsibilities to promote 18.3% women in business has increased -18.3 8.2 Help from the government has gradually increasing -8.2 Quality of the assistance provided by the 12.2 Government is gradually increasing -12.2 24.4 Credit facilities has increased -24.4 Local chamber is coming forward to help 50.0% women SME -50 NGO and women organizations are contributing 4.7 to womens economic development -4.7 26.6 Social barriers are decreased -26.6 18.4 Governments help for women to participate in trade fair increased -18.4 14.3 Training facilities for women increased -14.3 12.2 Access to information increased -12.2 20.5 Women business network extended -20.5 74.7 Women are getting proper price for their product -74.7 Women are getting administrative and legal 67.9 support -67.9 36.7 Women friendly environment has been -36.7 created at the public institutions

5% -10 8.5% -17 0 -0 2.4 -4.8 2.4 -4.8 32.9 -65.8 0 0 1.3 -2.6 1.3 2.6 0 0 2.4 -4.8 1.3 -2.6 12.0 -24 6.2 -12.4 1.3 -2.6

0% 0 0 0 0 0 1.2 0 1.2 0 1.2 0 1.2 0 2.5 0 9.2 0 1.2 0 2.4 0 1.3 0 2.4 0 2.5 0 3.7 0

22% 44 26.8% +53.6 32.9 65.8 32.9 +65.8 25.6 +21.2 1.2 +2.4 34.1 +68.2 10.1 20.2 3.9 +7.8 8.3 +16.6 9.7 +19.4 9.0 +18.0 1.2 +2.4 2.5 +5.0 6.3 +12.6

50% 50 46.3% 46.3 58.8 58.8 51.2 +51.2 46.3 +46.3 14.6 +14.6 60.0 +60 59.5 59.5 67.1 +67.1 76.2 +76.2 73.2 +73.2 67.9 +67.9 9.6 +9.6 21.0 +21 51.9 +51.9

100 + 61 100 +64.6 100 +116 100 +100 100 +38.3 100 -98.8 100 +123.5 100 +16.4 100 +55.3 100 +78.5 100 +75.6 100 +62.8 100 -86.7 100 -54.3 100 +25.2

Moderately Positive Moderately Positive Significantly positive Significantly positive Positive, but insignificant Significantly Negative Significantly positive
Insignificantly positive Insignificantly positive

Positive Positive Positive Significantly Negative

Insignificantly negative Insignificantly positive

34

4.11. Roles, Responsibilities and Status of Women Entrepreneurs in Family 4.11.1. Percentage distribution of women enterpreneurs by the Head of Household Figure-15: Head of the Household In terms of the position in family, traditional gender-based stereotyped relationship was highly manifested as only 10.5% of women entrepreneurs in the sample reported that they were head of the family. It could be assumed that this figure 10.5% 8.6% The respondent (10.5% household is headed by women entrepreneurs) is Mother 3.8% closely associated with the marital status of women Brother entrepreneurs as nearly 10% respondents were found to be either widow, separated or divorced. Excluding this 10%, their male counterpart (46.7% by husband, 30.5% by father, 3.8% by brother) headed all households. Only 8.6% women entrepreneurs told that their head of the 30.5% Father family is mother. The women entrepreneurs, who mentioned father, brother and mother as the head of 46.7% Husband households, are primarily unmarried. From the perspective of power and authority, most of the households are still male dominated, despite womens Head of household of women entrepreneurs involment in formal economic activities. 4.11.2. Roles of family members in business and domestic work Table-34: Percentage distribution of the respondents by their roles in business and family Who does play main roles in your business % Me Husband Husband and me Other Total 82.5 8.5 4.8 3.2 100 Who does play main roles and responsibilities in domestic work Me Husband Other family member Total % 78.6 1.6 19.8 100

It is evident from the table-34 that participation of women in formal economy has not freed them from traditional roles and responsibilities in family life rather it creates double workload for them. Among 130 women entrepreneurs, 82.5% played main roles in their business. At the same time, 78.6% mentioned that they had to take main responsibilities in their family life. Only 1.6% of the respondents mentioned that their husband performed main responsibilities regarding domestic work. 19.8% told that other family members played main responsibilities of domestic works. It is also evident from the time distribution of women entrepreneurs. Out of 24 hours a day, a women entrepreneur had to expend 70% of her time for different tasks including main business (27%), secondary profession (7%), domestic or reproductive roles (25%) and social and community work (10%). They can use only 31% of the time for their leisure and rest. The mean and median value for leisure and rest time for a women entrepreneurs were found to be 5.8 and 7 hours, which means at least 50% of the women entrepreneurs can take rest or sleep for less than 7 hours. Table-35: Time allocation of women entrepreneurs for various task a day
Description of Main Secondary time allocation business profession percentage of 27% time Mean in hour 5 Median in hour Std 6 3.5 7% Not calculated Not calculated Not calculated Domestic Social and y Rest work communit and 25% 5 5 3.8 10% 31% leisure total 100 Not calculated Not calculated Not calculated

Not 5.8 calculated Not 7 calculated Not 3.2 calculated

35

4.11.3. Women Entrepreneurs Monetary Contribution to family Table-36: Contribution of women entrepreneurs to family expenditure and savings Monthly family expenditure in BDT Mean Median Mode Minimum Maximum 21628 15000 15000 10000 150000 Your contribution to monthly family expenditures in BDT 11000 5000 10000 1200 100000 Current family savings in BDT 526829 10000 3000 3000 20000000 Your contribution to family savings 319081 5000 20000 2000 10000000

Table-36 illustrates that women entrepreneurs monetary contribution to family expenditure and savings is significant as 50% of the mean value calculated for family expenditure comes from women entrepreneurs. The average monthly family expenditure was found to be BDT 21628 where women entrepreneurs contributed, on average, BDT 11000.

36

5. Qualitative Findings from Focus Group Discussions and Seminars

37

Over the last two years, BWCCI organized 12 focus group discussions in six divisional cities and six district towns. The focus group discussions were organized with different stakeholders, who are directly or indirectly involved in women entrepreneurship development. Among the participants, 50% of them were women entrepreneurs. BWCCI also organized 13 seminars during this time. Six seminars were organized in six divisional cities including Dhaka during March 2006-February 2007. Another 7 seminars were organized in six districts and one in Dhaka from March 2007 to February 2008. During FGDs and seminars, the participants shared heir experiences regarding problems of women entreprneurship development in Bangladesh. This chapter presents the findings of the 12 FGDs and 13 seminars. 5.1. Trade Licenses and Company Registration Table-37: Problems identified by the participants regarding trade license and company registration Major Opinion of the Participants in FGDs and Seminars Name of Districts27 D G S M B P K J Ch C R Bo

Most of the women do not have proper idea abut trade license and company registration Most of the women entrepreneurs do not have trade license. Women entrepreneurs are unable to get access to various facilities of public and private institutions available at the local level due to lack of trade license Women entrepreneurs are not aware of getting their company registered with legal authorities. Women entrepreneurs are not accustomed with the process of trade license Banks are unable to consider women for credit as most of them do not have trade license Although the representatives of the local government mentioned that getting trade license was easier, women entrepreneurs disagreed with them. Getting trade license is time consuming and it requires extra money in addition to fixed fees for trade license. Bureaucratic process discourage entrepreneurs to go for trade license women

Traditional values and attitudes regarding social mobility of women discourage women to go to the trade license providing agencies
27

D=Dhaka, G=Gazipur, S=Sylhet, M=Moulovibazar, B=Barishal, P=Patuakhali, K=Khulna, J=Jessore, Ch=Chittagong, C=Coxbaxar, R=Rajshahi and Bo= Bogra district where 13 FGDs and 13 Seminars were took place

38

5.2. Access to Finance Table-38: Problems identified by the participants at FGDs and Seminars regarding access to finance Major Opinion of the Participants in FGDs and Seminars Name of Districts27 D G S M B P K J Ch C R Bo

Access of women SMEs to formal financial and credit facilities is very limited. Family and other informal sources are main sources of credit The interest rate/service charges are higher for loan from informal sources NGO-run credit program are the main sources of capital for local women entrepreneurs but it hinders reinvestment process of women SME due to high interest rate of NGO-run credit program Most of the women entrepreneurs are unaware of the circular of Bangladesh Bank on refinancing scheme for women SME, even local bankers are not informed of this circular The local bank did not start implementing the circular of the Bangladesh Bank Banks cannot provide a loan to women SME due to different conditions of the banks Women are not aware of the process to get a loan from banks Women entrepreneurs do not properly maintain necessary documents. As a result, bank cannot consider them for a loan Banks impose various conditions. In most cases, women entrepreneurs are unable to meet up their conditions The conditions imposed by banks discourage women entrepreneurs to go to bank for a loan Most of the banks follow a lengthy, complicated and bureaucratic process Loan application form is complicated and not easy to understand Bank requires collateral. Most of the women entrepreurs are unable to provide this collateral. This process automatically exclude women from loan facilities In most cases, women were kept excluded from credit facilities due to not having trade license
39

Major Opinion of the Participants in FGDs and Seminars

Name of Districts27 D G S M B P K J Ch C R Bo

Women SMEs face various complexities at the commercial banks despite all required procedures are followed and relevant papers are provided The people working at various banks are not sensitized regarding women entrepreneurs Husband is asked to sign as guarantor while wife goes for a loan but in case of husband, wife need not to sign Some commercial banks recently initiated SME loan but their service charge is not affordable for women SME due high interest rate. As a result, this SME loan cannot play positive roles in promotion of women entrepreneurs Current credit policies of the banks are male biased Public and private commercial banks lack appropriate and effective procedures to disseminate relevant information to women SMEs Various public institutions are running micro credit program but their amount of loan is very small, which is unable to contribute to entrepreneurship development NGO-provided micro credit is playing very vital role in reducing income poverty level but this program is still insufficient to develop entrepreneurship Provision of weekly installment of loan and higher service charges are also barrier to the development of women SMEs

5.3. Training and Skill Development Table-39: Problems identified regarding training and capacity building

Major Opinion of the Participants in FGDs and Seminars The opportunity of training and capacity building is very limited for local women entrepreneurs

Name of Districts27 D G S M B P K J Ch C R Bo

40

Major Opinion of the Participants in FGDs and Seminars

Name of Districts27 D G S M B P K J Ch C R Bo

Although some development organizations like NGO and trade bodies are providing training, those are not sufficient to meet the needs of women entrepreneurs Trained women cannot utilize their skills due to the lack of the opportunity to apply their skills Women entrepreneurs are not informed of training providing institutions available at the local level The mainstream chambers are not playing any significant roles regarding promotion of women entrepreneurs Most of the local women entrepreneurs have no idea about the activities of the mainstream chamber Most of the local women do not have proper idea about product and design development, even there is no opportunity at the local level to organize training on product and design development

5.3. Access to Market Table-40: Problems identified by the participants regarding access to market Major Opinion of the Participants in FGDs and Seminars Name of Districts27 D G S M B P K J Ch C R Bo

Women entrepreneurs have no proper idea about the process of formal market Most of the women entrepreneurs, specially local women entrepreneurs, lack access to market A number of women entrepreneurs do not have own showroom or display center to sell their product A very few women are able to sell their product at their own showroom Some women entrepreneurs supply their product to big shopping malls but most cases, it is difficult for them to have payment timely Sometimes, women have sell their product at lower prices only because they are women Women are unable to create proper market due to lack of product diversification and standard design
41

Major Opinion of the Participants in FGDs and Seminars

Name of Districts27 D G S M B P K J Ch C R Bo

There was no training opportunity for product diversification at the local level Due to lack of proper marketing system, some women SME lose their interest to continue their entrepreneurial activities Women SMEs have to sell their product at lower rate due to their lack of access to market information, limited social mobility, and traditional social roles and responsibilities in their families Women are hardly ever allocated shops at the market place constructed or run by the City Corporation, municipalities or other local government bodies

5.4. Other Tabel-41: Problems identified by the participants at FGDs and Seminars Name of Districts27 D G S M B P K J Ch C R Bo

Major Opinion of the Participants in FGDs and Seminars

Women SME are not aware of tax and VAT process Women entrepreneurs lack access to necessary information Social attitudes are not positive towards women entrepreneurs Restricted social mobility is hindering the development of women entrepreneurship Law and order situation is not positive for women entrepreneurs Due to lack of uniform family code, women are being deprived of equal rights to family property

The relevant local institutions could have played more active roles in promoting women business but due to lack of responsiveness, accountability and efficiency, they could not play expected roles There are many policy initiatives but they are not properly implemented There is a lack of coordination between and among different institutions working for women entrepreneurship development

42

6. Stakeholders Recommendations for Women Entrepreneurship Development

43

As mentioned in previous chapter, over last two years, BWCCI conducted 12 FGDs and 13 seminars, 7 at the division level and 6 at the district level. The recommendations presented here the outputs of those events:

Establish a separate bank for the development of women entrepreneurs. Impose an obligation for other banks to maintain a minimum quota for women entrepreneurs in loan disbursement and ensure the implementation of this quota Execute the announcement by the then Prime Minister at first women SME conference to establish a separate bank for Women SME A comprehensive credit policy should be initiated under the supervision of the central bank in order to create access of women entrepreneurs to finance. This policy must keep a provision of collateral free loan, credit without interest or low rate of interest (maximum 8% interest), loan for long time duration, etc for women entrepreneurs A number of institutions including NGOs are running credit program in the country. Women constitute the lion portion of their beneficiaries. But the amount of loan provided by NGOs is too small to develop entrepreneurship. In this respect, they should increase the amount of credit so that women can develop themselves as entrepreneurs Establish gender cell in each private and public bank to facilitate women entrepreneurs to get a loan Maintain gender disaggregated data by the financial institutions and banks to monitor the progress of the loan disbursement to women SMEs A special training and awareness program should be undertaken for the people working with different banks in order to make them gender sensitized Make loan application form user-friendly Bank should provide loan to women SME on the basis of moral guarantee by BWCCI BWCCI should work as bridge between women SMEs and financial institutions and banks As part of corporate social responsibilities, banks should provide loan to women SMEs at the lower rate of interest. The Government can give subsidy to the banks for providing loan to women SMEs. For example, if the interest charge is 10%, the Government can pay 5% to the particular bank. As a result, women SME can have a loan at the rate of 5% intarest. Increase allocation for SME loan at least up to BDT 200,0000000, 20% of them for women entrepreneurs In the name of market economy, bank fixes its interest rate without any consideration for women. In this respect, Bangladesh bank should have a mechanism to monitor it At least one women should be included in the board of commercial banks so that she can oversee the progress of banks services undertaken for women.
44

6.1. Company Registration and Administrative Support

l

Establish a separate cell at the City Corporation and other local government bodies to deal with women entrepreneurs regarding trade license and company registration City corporation, municipalities and Union parishad should ease the regulatory process regarding trade license Empower female ward commissioner to facilitate women entrepreneurs to get trade license Make information available to women entrepreneurs regarding any types of license including company registration Create awareness of the necessity of having trade license and company registration among women entrepreneurs Local administration should have special initiatives to help women entrepreneurs Provide administrative support and services to women entrepreneurs for various information dissemination Create easy access for women entrepreneurs to the local administrative support and public institutions The public institutions, both at the local and the national level, should improve the quality of their services. The central authority should introduce a strong monitoring system in order to ensure quality services for the betterment of women entrepreneurs. Improve law and order situation in order to ensure fear free environment for business community, especially for women entrepreneurs.
l l

l l l

l l

l l l l l

l l l l

6.2. Access to Finance

l

Undertake initiative for proper implementation of the circular on refinancing scheme for women SME issued by the Bangladesh Bank The central bank should fix up a target for each bank to provide loan for women SMEs and form a monitoring team to monitor the implementation of its circular Disseminate information of the circular on refinancing scheme for women SME issued by the Bangladesh Bank to women entrepreneurs

l l

6.3.Training and Capacity Development l Establish women entrepreneurship development academy for the capacity development of the women SMEs l Establish design and product development training institute and undertake research initiatives for product and design development l Special capacity building programs for the women SME on finance, business management, accounting and bookkeeping, marketing, business planning, etc should be developed l Facilitate women to participate in national and international trade fair. Allocate fund for women to participate in national and international trade fair l Introduce a holistic program for capacity building of women. Government, NGO and business associations can provide various training to women SME. l Program should be introduced to upgrade women entrepreneurs from primary stage to graduate stage. This program may include training, credit, etc. l Training on IT should be provided to the women SMEs. Create easy access of women SMEs to IT and promote them in e-commerce, even in the rural areas l Activate public training providing agencies and create easy access of women SME to them l Increase research program on women entrepreneurship development and provide financial support by the government to the institutions that are currently involved in research activities on women entrepreneurship development l Provide counselling services to the women entrepreneurs on a regular basis and extend such types of services to the rural areas l Undertake a comprehensive training program based on a need assessment l In addition to providing credit, banks should introduce training program on financial management l Some experimental program also can be undertaken since women entrepreneurship development is a creative work. l Bank can organize training on women SME development. As result, they will be able to find more credible clients from women l Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management should introduce a training program on entrepreneurship development l Women entrepreneurs should be familiar with the sophisticated and modern technology so that they can develop their product l Establish Knowledge center at the district level to facilitate women to have business idea and information.
45

6.4. Tax and Vat

l

Existing provision of tax holiday is extended up to the year 2008. It should be extended for another five or six years. The sectors related to women entrepreneurs should be included under tax holiday on priority basis Make easier to get tax ID number and other tax related process All types of new women entrepreneurs should be given a provision of tax-exemption for at least five years Organize training for women entrepreneurs by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) in order to raise awareness on tax giving procedures Include a special provision for women entrepreneurs in the policy and procedures of value added tax (VAT) and keep a provision of VAT exemption for new women entrepreneurs for at least the first five years of their business Giving special tariff facilities to women entrepreneurs in the case of capital goods import.

l l l

6.5. Access to market

l l

Organize training on marketing and develop business network Provide market intelligence to the women SMEs through cross visits between and among women entrepreneurs within and out side of the country Provide business incubator for women SMEs Develop data base on potential buyers and make it available to the women owned enterprises Increase budgetary allocation to facilitate women entrepreneurs, specially rural women entrepreneurs to participate in the national and international trade fair From EPB, maintain minimum quota for women SME to send them to various national and international trade fair Organize women SME trade fairs by the respective organizations like SME Foundation, the ministry of commerce, the ministry of women and children affairs, and other organizations like trade bodies and NGOs City corporation and Municipalities should have special quota to reserve space for women entrepreneurs in the market run by them Provide special support to women entrepreneurs who are involved in export-oriented activities for promoting marketing of their products Adopt provision of loan against LC for women SME

l l l

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Establish a separate market for women entrepreneurs by the City Corporation authority or other respective institutions.

Ensure representation of women in different committees of respective ministries and institutions that are engaged in women entrepreneurship development Business associations, both at the national and the local level, should extend their cooperation to women entrepreneurs in view of creating access to finance, capacity building, access to local public institutions, etc Ensure media coverage on successes and failures and the problems and prospects of women entrepreneurs Undertake a five year long women entrepreneurship development plan and ensure proper implementation of this plan BWCCI and other women organizations together with male counterpart have to continue their voices to influence the government to undertake policy measures and implement them properly Government should concentrate on local business development because it is very import for income and employment generation for a highly populous country For womens economic empowerment, political empowerment is also very important. In this respect, representation of women in the National Parliament must be at least one third of the total members. Recent decisions by the Government regarding this issue must be implemented to ensure womens economic and political empowerment Womens equal rights to family property and other economic resources must be ensured. Without uniform family code, it is impossible to ensure womens economic rights. For this, the Government and other political parties should come forward to incorporate uniform family code.

0 6.6. Miscellaneous
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Proper implementation of the National Women Development Policy 2008 People from all walks of life should work together to remove existing social barriers and create an enabling environment for women SME in Bangladesh Extend social network for women SME Family members should provide help women to enter and run business Introduce lesson on entrepreneurship development in educational curriculum Education system should have some mechanism to change social attitudes towards women Establish an information center. This information center must be well-equipped with information of market, design, buyers and sources of finance Ensure harmony and coordination between and among policy institutions Consider differences in profile of women SME while go for policy formulation and keep special provision considering the reality of specific group Media should extend its support to women entrepreneurs. In addition to existing poverty eradication program, the Government should undertake a separate program for women entrepreneurship development Special budgetary block allocation in the national budget and take strategies in order to utilize the block allocation properly Maintain a quota for women entrepreneurs in the project undertaken by respective ministries and make sure that this quota is maintained properly Increase the budgetary allocation for those ministries and institutions, which are working for the development of women entrepreneurship Disseminate all relevant information regarding existing provision or facilities ensured by the existing policy of the government or respective institutions so that women entrepreneurs could claim their rights Increase coordination between and among different ministries and institutions that are involved in women entrepreneurship development activities

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Reference: 1. Afsar, Dr. Rita, Bringing Women Entrepreneurs in Policy Focus for SME Development in Bangladesh, A keynote paper presented at the Seminar on Strengthening Capacity of Women organized by BWCCI, February 26, 2008 2. Black, Thomas R, Doing Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences, SAGA Publications, London, 1999 3. British Council, the Constitution of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, Dhaka, 1996 4. BBS, The Statistical Pocket of Book of Bangladesh, Dhaka, 2006 5. BWCCI, Quarterly Progress Report of Promoting Women Entrepreneurship through Advocacy Project, quarter-1,2, 3, 4 (phase-1), 5, 6, 7 (phase-2). 6. Hussain, Saiyid Musharraf, Assessment of the Implications of Policies and Measures for Women Entrepreneurship Development, MOWCA, Dhaka, December 2002 7. Rahman, Hossain Zillur, Local Bussiness Dynamics: Ground Realities and Policies Challenges, PPRC, Dhaka, 2006 8. Schaefer, Richard, Sociology: A Brief Introduction, Fifth Edition, The McGraw Hills Companies, New York, 2004 9. Shamim, Munir Uddin, Report on Promoting Women Entrepreneurship through Advocacy, BWCCI, Dhaka, July 2007 10. www.adb.org

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