India, the start-up capital of the world, sees the emergence of 4 new startups every hour. But the funding is not at the same rate which is the major reason why 90% of Indian startups fail. To avoid this, we must have an insight into entrepreneurship.
What is entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurship is a way to find solutions to existing problems. Now, talking about what it requires to be an entrepreneur is a great idea which will be in the benefit of the customers. Not only this, but an entrepreneur should be ever ready to face challenges and failures and must know how to take the team with him/her. It is a myth that to launch a startup we must have a very unique idea. The idea just has to be appealing enough.
Difference between Business and Start-up
A business involves a steady and linear growth with no huge risks taken whereas a start-up has to potential for rapid growth always. It is based on taking risks.
For example, Flipkart and Amazon still term themselves as start-ups as they have a huge potential for rapid and sudden growth.
Women entrepreneurship in India
In line with the recent statistics, women own 13.76% of start-ups in India which is an increase from the previous decades but there is still a long way to go. Major reasons for lack of women entrepreneurs in our country are lack of support from family, responsibility of raising the children and to look after them, lack of education for female child, lack of investment and most importantly lack of safety and security.
It is the need of hour to cater to these problems if we wish to increase the representation of women in the field.
Investment schemes for women entrepreneurs
Start-up IndiaStart-up India provides various investment and funding schemes for women and wishes to promote women entrepreneurship.
Read more: https://www.startupindia.gov.in/content/sih/en/women_entrepreneurs.html
NITI AayogNITI Aayog by the government of India provides various sche!es for start-ups by women entrepreneurs and provides a platform for women entrepreneurs to come forward.
Read more: http://niti.gov.in/women-entrepreneurship-platform-wep
Angel InvestorsAngel investors can help raise money in a particular niche market.
Read more: https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-raise-money-from-angel-investors-668b78d5fa51
Transfin.InTransfin.in provides you with the best funding schemes for start-ups by women entrepreneurs.
Read more: https://transfin.in/startup-india-best-funding-schemes-for-women-entrepreneurs-in-india
Government of IndiaThe government has various schemes for women entrepreneurs to help promote women employment and empowerment.
Read more: https://yourstory.com/smbstory/msme-business-loans-mudra-yojna-scheme-women-entrepreneurs/
Gender-smart InvestorsSome investors prefer gender-smart investment and therefore invest in women-owned start-ups.
Read more: https://www.fsg.org/blog/investing-in-women
Family/FriendsInitially, even family and friends and friends can find your start-up to give it a kick-start.
Read More:
Small business loansPrivate as well government banks provide loans for start-ups and small businesses at a reasonable interest rate.
LinkedInLinkedIn provides you with a highly professional platform connecting you with people who are interested in the same field. Via LinkedIn, you can connect with people who have clear intentions of doing business, unlike other social media platforms.
Read more: https://yourstory.com/2017/03/approach-vc-funding-linkedin/
It is the need of the hour to increase the representation of women entrepreneurs for the betterment of the society as a whole. Women entrepreneurs have helped the global community and the increase in their numbers will help make the world a better place.
It is very important to understand that the idea we build should be for the society, and not for funding. Investors look to invest in the person, not the idea. The way you present your thought process makes a huge difference. A start-up does not guarantee success but our intellect and or hardwork does. We need to understand that if we wish to be successful then we must face the failures bravely and keep working hard even through the rough times. Entrepreneurship is not an easy journey. It is full of failures and hard days but what makes one an entrepreneur is to endure those failures and keep working towards the success while also using your intellect to provide the best product out there.
