So far, women entrepreneurs have been considered as the ‘other’ – there are entrepreneurs and then there are women entrepreneurs.

About one in three women in India are a part of the Indian workforce. When we peel this (first layer of data) a little further we find that while about 35% of rural women are currently in the workforce, this number is much smaller for women in our cities – 20.7%. More interestingly, a significant majority of women in rural (73.5%) and urban areas (42.3%) are self-employed, or as Sridevi discovered in English Vinglish – are entrepreneurs.

We often classify women entrepreneurs as a single homogeneous category, quite similar to the home chef that Sridevi played in the movie. But, then look around – there are more than a few categories or types of women entrepreneurs in India – ranging across women who run a vegetable cart where you get your free kadipatta; the Instagram popular studio – your go-to places for fashion, haircare, or travel inspiration; India’s most popular (and your preferred) self-care brands; or globally recognised healthcare or technology companies.

Women entrepreneurs are not a monolithic segment. Let us look at some data to carve out a few segments and what could be some interventions to unlock their growth and success.

Women farm and dairy micro-entrepreneurs in rural India: According to NRLM, more than 8.6 crore women in rural India pursue livelihood and self-employment as part of Self Help Groups. The PLFS 2023-24 data published a couple of weeks ago tells us that about one in four women in villages are self-employed; most of them predominantly in agriculture and dairy value chains. Most rural entrepreneurs operate at small scales, many are home establishments and may not generate employment. However, they create value in more ways than one.

Women-led agri microprocessing units lead to value addition to farm output, hence expanding its market reach beyond local mandis and increasing the price realization. A case in point is a company which provides women micro-entrepreneurs solar dehydrators and procures the end product to supply to some of the largest food manufacturers. In the dairy value chain, startups are equipping women dairy farmers with know-how and credit to not only increase their herd size but also become an aggregation/milk-pouring point for larger dairies to procure from.

The biggest needs for rural micro-entrepreneurs are access to markets and access to affordable credit for initial and continued investments to set up and grow their enterprises. While microfinance has been a strong enabler of rural livelihoods, RBI has raised concerns about the current lender side thrust and evergreening of loans that may be leading to over-indebtedness and stress on the household. Against this backdrop, peer-to-peer lenders show promise of bridging the affordable credit access gap for rural micro-entrepreneurs.

Urban women-owned SMEs in manufacturing, services and lifestyle products: Let me lay a caveat right up front – this isn’t one homogenous segment but a composite with as many differences as there are similarities. According to the last estimates by the Ministry of MSMEs (based on the 73rd NSS from 2015-16) there are about 300,000 urban SMEs in India; only about 13,000 of these enterprises are owned by women. While this seems like a gross underestimation, this is one composite of women entrepreneurs that we know the least about.

According to the Basic Statistical Returns submitted to RBI by Scheduled Commercial Banks (Jan-Mar 2024), women-owned enterprises in the manufacturing sector held 76% of accounts while only 26% of the amount outstanding. The equivalent numbers in the services and trade sectors are no different (46% and 72% of accounts while 16.5% and 33% of the amount outstanding, in services and trade respectively).

Overall, we can conclude that women borrow smaller ticket-sized loans as compared to their male peers. Ample research and data about women entrepreneurs tell us that women-led businesses tend to do well but they also tend to remain smaller. Many women entrepreneurship platforms in India focus on the coaching and education of entrepreneurs.

While there may be a skill and knowledge gap, we must change the narrative and interventions of entrepreneurship support to equip women to scale their businesses. It may help to check if we are becoming patronizing or falling prey to benevolent sexism when working with/for women entrepreneurs helming SMEs.

Another critical need for women-led SMEs is affordable, on-demand credit. There are some green shoots in this direction with collateral-free, on-demand loans available to women at lower interest rates. There is also an alternate credit score developed by a company which encapsulates metrics that may be more suitable to women borrowers, therefore improving their prospects with lenders.

Women as tech startup founders: According to Startup India, about 40% of startups have women directors (who may or may not be co-founders). The WISER report released early in 2023 affirmed that about 20% of startups in India are founded by women. The ratio remains the same when it comes to fundraising (about 18% of all funding goes into women-led startups).

Research from across the world presents evidence of how there are differences in fundraising experiences and funding outcomes between male and female founders. Fundraising is a significant milestone in the lifecycle of a tech business and raising capital at founder and business centric terms is often critical to the success of a startup.

Thankfully, more women are taking up investing roles. To some extent, this takes care of female founders being able to reach out, engage with and build relationships with investors before formal fundraising. To a large extent, this may also take care of enriching the investors’ thesis about emerging opportunities and how to evaluate them.

So far, women entrepreneurs have been considered as the ‘other’ – there are entrepreneurs and then there are women entrepreneurs. For various, largely socio-cultural reasons, women entrepreneurs are believed to need ‘help’ to do what they do. Both these statements need to be debunked. I make two submissions – let’s move beyond the otherisation and recognise the diversity of women entrepreneur segments, and let’s design and deploy interventions that are apropos to the needs and aspirations of the respective women entrepreneur.

This article was originally published in the Financial Express.