Women Entrepreneurs Analyzing and Overcoming Challenges in Business

Entrepreneurs

Although roughly the same number of male and female entrepreneurs starts the businesses every year, women are 68% more likely to run businesses out of their homes compared to their male counterparts.  This is predominately due to lack of funding women entrepreneurs secure for their business ventures.  Lack of funding leads to a host of complications.  From finding appropriate office space, to hiring employees, and achieving a semblance of work-life balance, lack of funding means many new women owned businesses are bound to fail.  In addition, it is often more challenging for female entrepreneurs to identify and partner with long-term investors and mentors.
In last few years the number of successful women entrepreneurs is significant. Women make up for 1/3rd of female entrepreneur globally although the route to envisaging and establishing business comes with unknown hurdles.
Enter E2E Research founder, President  & CEO, Rupa Raje, who focused less on roadblocks and more on what could be accomplished when she started a global research company in 2010.
Rupa’s story…
Entrepreneurship has always been an important part of my life.  From an early age my father played a major role in passing on traits required for managing and driving a successful business.  These traits (possessing inner strength, self-confidence and marketing skills) were instrumental in achieving success.
Other attributes were acquired along the way identifying vision and mission, recognizing, analyzing, and capturing opportunities, embracing change, and finding the courage for persevering in the face of resistance combined to form a strong entrepreneurial foundation for me.
As a woman business owner, I have embraced the importance of testing assumptions, calculating loss against risk, asking questions (and becoming more creative in the process), and having the courage required for turning possibilities into reality.  For successful entrepreneurs, possessing inner strength, self-confidence, and marketing skills leads to overcoming barriers, and this is particularly true for women business owners.
Although women entrepreneurs face common global challenges, some challenges are specific to what I have observed (and experienced) in India:

  • Socio-cultural barriers in the form of traditions, customs, and stigmas.
  • Male dominated social norms, gender superiority, and inequalities found in social and business interactions.
  • Lack of support in managing and achieving work and home life balance. (Specially working late hours) .
  • Addressing and overcoming gender-associated tasks and responsibilities.
  • Controlling and subverting emotional turmoil.
  • Suspicions encountered during travel, including dining alone and renting hotel accommodations on my own.

One would think these scenarios no longer exist in 2018, but that is not the case in this world.
On a more positive note, I have observed, supported, and celebrated women managing (and excelling at), balancing family and career, overcoming illiteracy, receiving financial assistance, acquiring technical and marketing skills, and achieving new levels of self-confidence…and for these successes I will forever applaud and be proud of fellow women entrepreneurs!
Having been in the Research and data analytics for more than 15 years my experience gave me the confidence to take the leap of faith towards entrepreneurship and co-establish E2E Research along with Yogesh Rana. Change is not constant and so has E2E also evolved as a Research and Analytics firm over the last 7 years.
Technology, Research and data analytics are the core strength and offerings of E2E. The seasoned team at E2E understands that adding value to client experience will keep us in business. E2E takes pride with providing services in technology and analytics offerings to some of the global known names of the industry. The ability to accept change and strategize the business per the demand of the new disruptive world, E2E is thus equipped and shaped to meet the challenges. I am proud to have taken the center stage and address the business in this male dominated and biased world
We as a company are now offering solutions which will help clients make appropriate and faster decisions towards their business and at an extremely fair cost and quick turnaround.
E2E also has an extremely high level of satisfaction among employees where experienced resources are challenged enough and fresh talent gets the opportunity to learn and excel
With this I also urge women to have confidence and take a step forward towards their dreams. There is nothing as failure. Everything is an achievement along with lessons learnt. In this era of superior technology and information availability at its best, women can live their dreams of running their businesses.
I made my dream a reality with sheer honesty and hard work, you too can

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