Research Journal of Management Sciences _____________________________________________ISSN 2319–1171 Vol. 3(6), 14-18, June (2014) Res. J. Management Sci. International Science Congress Association 14 Status of Women Entrepreneurs in Kadapa District, India G.Vijaya Bharathi and S.Masthani Yogi Vemana University, Department of Commerce, Kadapa, INDIAAvailable online at: www.isca.in, www.isca.me Received 21th April 2014, revised 4th June 2014, accepted 6th June 2014 Abstract Women entrepreneurship growing concept in this days giving a new definition to the world women are showing their talent in all fields competing equally with the men. The days have been changed from where women restricted only to the four walls of the house to the women change the world through her knowledge. Present paper focus on the status women entrepreneurs in the Kadapa District. The paper shows clear picture of the women entrepreneurs residing in Kadapa. The objectives of the paper are to evaluate the reasons for women becoming as entrepreneurs, understand problems encountered by women entrepreneurs and to suggest suitable measures for strengthening them. Keywords: Status, women, entrepreneurs, Kadapa. Introduction Evolution of the concept of entrepreneur: The word ‘entrepreneur’ has been taken from the French language where it cradled and originally meant as an organizer of musical or other entertainments. Oxford English Dictionary (in1897) also defined an entrepreneur in similar way as “the director or a manager of a public musical institution, one who ‘gets-up’ entertainment, especially musical performance”. In the early 16th century, it was applied to those who were engaged in military expeditions. It was extended to cover civil engineering activities such as construction and fortification in the 17th century. It was only in the beginning of the 18thcentury that the word was used to refer to economic aspects. In this way, the evolution of the concept of entrepreneur is considered over more than four centuries. Since then, the term ‘entrepreneur’ is used in various ways and various views. Introduction of women entrepreneurship: The days have changed women from which they have arrested by four walls of the kitchen and to look after the members of the family to the days where women are showing their talent in all fields. Women entrepreneurship is not a new concept now-a-days to the people living in urban areas but, in the rural areas where tradition play a key role in doing every activity. Women entrepreneurship will be a new concept to them women coming out of their house for their economic independence, most of them will not support to this concept in past decades. Slowly the mindset of the people has changed they recognized the importance of the women that the women should not to be restricted to 3P,s (Powders, Pickles and Papads) they have extend their knowledge to 3E,s (Electronics ,Engineering and Energy). This has given birth to the concept of Women entrepreneurship. This means a business which is headed by women where there more scope for the development of women.Definition: Women Entrepreneurs may be defined as the women or a group of women who initiate, organize and operate a business enterprise.The Government of India has defined women entrepreneurs as an enterprise owned and controlled by women having a minimum financial interest of 51 per cent of the capital and giving at least 51 per cent of the employment generated in the enterprise to women. “You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women” Jawaharlal Nehru. Research Methodology Review of Literatures: The study was an attempt to find out the sociological factors that contribute to the development of small entrepreneurs .The study showed that community and family background contributed to the success of prospective entrepreneurs, formal education has not been a positive factor in entrepreneurship development, providing infrastructure facilities alone will not promote entrepreneurship development and the Association of Small Scale Industries played important role in identification and development of entrepreneurs, a strong policy to support the entrepreneurs is called upon ,as the economy demands the growth of women entrepreneurs., the education and other factors like the background for entrepreneurship is not a criteria for entrepreneurial growth ,risking bearing attitude and innovation prove to be more encouraging towards growth. Margaret Meaning and Anne Jardim2 conducted the study of women at managerial position by analyzing the life and career history of twenty-five women at the top management position in business and industry. The study reveals that women can build extremely successful management careers even without legal pressures to aid them. The study further reveals the price they paid -their personal lives were mortgaged to pay for their careers. Research Journal of Management Sciences _________________________________________________________ISSN 2319–1171Vol. 3(6), 14-18, June (2014) Res. J. Management Sci.International Science Congress Association 15 Maintaining work life balance is one of the most important traits for women entrepreneurs as they also have a family to run, kids to be looked after. The concept of entrepreneurs is a part of entrepreneurship as they go hand in hand. Intrapreneurs are the people who do not own the business but run the business for someone with same zest and sincerity. Need for the Study: Entrepreneurship Development is a very crucial factor for the acceleration of economic development. The average Indian rural woman plays many roles in life and contributes to the well-being of her family. She tends her service to the family, but in the context of her life she also has her own importance. Present women are grooming in every sector still, there are some women who even don’t know about the government schemes and policies which are designed for their for. Thus, there is a great need to study about the Women Entrepreneurship which not only makes betterment in their economic level but also for a well being society.Objectives of the Study: i. The study was planned with the following objectives. ii. To evaluate the factors responsible for encouraging women to become entrepreneurs. iii. To understand the problems encountered by women entrepreneurs. iv. To suggest suitable measures for strengthening women entrepreneurs Scope and Limitations of the Study: The present study is limited to selected women entrepreneurs in a small Mandals of Kadapa district. Because it is easy for collecting the data. i. The data is collected from only 100 women entrepreneurs from both mandals. ii. Some women entrepreneurs were busy and showed disinterest to give response to the questionsMethodology Database: The research is based on primary and secondary data. The primary data is collected through direct interview of women entrepreneurs in small mandals of kadapa district. The secondary data is collected from review of past researches, journals, articles and other reports. Sampling: A sample as the name implies is a smaller representation of a large whole, instead of studying every case, which might logically be included in an investigation. Only a small portion is selected. The sample size took for this study is 100. Nandalur and Pendllimari mandals of Kadapa District were selected for the study Tools used: Simple tools are used for this study because as the majority of women entrepreneurs are illiterate .The tool are Tables and PercentagesReasons for Women Becoming Entrepreneurs: Women Entrepreneur’s a person who accepts challenging role to meet her personal needs and become economically independent. Various reasons can be concluded why women are showing to become as entrepreneurs. Educated women are not restricting themselves to the house hold activities; they are trying to spent their time for doing business or any activities which give benefit to them and to their family in this path way they have chosen entrepreneurship as their main income generating activity. The challenges and opportunities provided to the women of digital era are growing rapidly that the job seekers are turning into job creators. They are flourishing as designers; inter decorators, exporters, publishers, garment manufacturers and still exploring new avenues of economic participation. The following are the reasons for women becoming entrepreneurs. i. Innovative thinking, ii. Education and qualification, iii. Self identity and social status, iv. Employment to others, v. Role model to others, vi. Government programmes and policies, vii. Support of family members, viii. Need for additional income, ix. Family occupation, x. Economically independent.Table-1 Age group of women entrepreneurs in Nandalur and Pendllimari Age(in Years) Respondents Percentage Respondents Percentage 21-30 22 22 35 35 31- 40 48 48 15 15 41- 50 20 20 20 20 Above 50 10 10 30 30 Total 100 100 100 100 Table-2 Educational qualificationsof women entrepreneurs in Nandalur and Pendllimari Educational qualification Respondents Percentage Respondents Percentage Illiterate 39 39 41 41 School level 24 24 22 22 Graduate 19 19 20 20 Post graduate18 18 17 17 Total 100 100 100 100 Research Journal of Management Sciences _________________________________________________________ISSN 2319–1171Vol. 3(6), 14-18, June (2014) Res. J. Management Sci.International Science Congress Association 16 Table-3 Marital status of women entrepreneurs in Nandalur and Pendllimari Marital status Respondents Percentage Respondents Percentage Unmarried 10 10 25 25 Married 20 20 40 40 Separated/Divorced 45 45 20 20 Widowed 25 25 15 15 Total 100 100 100 100 Table-4 Annual income of women entrepreneurs in Nandalur and Pendllimari Annual income Respondents Percentage Respondents Percentage Less than 20000 15 15 52 52 20000-25000 53 53 20 20 25000-50000 24 24 15 15 50000-100000 08 08 13 13 Total 100 100 100 100 Table-5 Family structure of women entrepreneurs in Nandalur and Pendllimari Family structure Respondents Percentage Respondents Percentage Joint 15 15 20 20 Nuclear 85 85 80 80 Total 100 100 100 100 Table-6 Reasons to start Entrepreneurship by the Female in Nandalur and Pendllimari Reasons Respondents Percentage Respondents Percentage Death of Husband 15 15 20 20 Family Responsibility 40 40 30 30 Hereditary 11 11 12 12 For leisure time 10 10 18 18 Additional income141420 20 Total 100 100 100 100 Table-7 Motivators in Starting the business in Nandalur and Pendllimari Guidance Respondents Percentage Respondents Percentage Family members 26 26 26 26 Relatives/Friends 64 64 56 56 By yourself10 1018 18 Total 100 100 100 100 Research Journal of Management Sciences _________________________________________________________ISSN 2319–1171Vol. 3(6), 14-18, June (2014) Res. J. Management Sci.International Science Congress Association 17 Table-8 Problems faced by women entrepreneurs in Nandalur and Pendllimari Marketing problems Respondents Percentage Respondents Percentage Competitive price 10 10 09 09 Lack of advertisement 11 11 10 10 Sudden change in prices 05 05 09 09 Problem of finance 19 19 20 20 Mobility 10 10 08 08 Family ties 07 07 10 10 Male ego 15 15 12 12 Low risk bearing capacity 26 26 15 15 Resource problem 22 22 17 17 Total 100 100 100 100 Findings of the study: i.Majority of the women belong to the age group of 31-40 years in Nandalur .In pendllimari majority of the women belong to the age group of 21-30 years, ii. Most of women entrepreneurs were illiterate in both mandals. Because the education system is not well during their childhood, iii. Majority of women entrepreneurs were widowed and separated/divorced in nandalur mandal as in nandalur child marriages are more in that town. Where as in pendllimari majority of the women entrepreneurs are married because their parents are uneducated so after their marriage they have started businesses, iv. A vast percentage of the women entrepreneurs were found to live under nuclear family system, in both mandals which they considered as convenient. As their husbands are staying away from the houses. v. The Annual income is in the range of Rs.20000-25000 in Nandalur because the business activities are modernized and the level of income earned by the people is high where as in pendllimari it is below 20000 because the main occupation of the people is agriculture. vi. Majority of women entrepreneurs have started business with the support of friends as they have motivated by their friends in both mandals. vii. A large number of women entrepreneurs started the business because of family responsibility because they earning capacity is low. viii. Most of women entrepreneurs are facing the problems regarding lack of advertisement, sudden changes of price of raw material. Non-cooperation among staff, scarcity of labors, lack of skill, and illiteracy in both mandals as lack of awareness.Suggestions for the Growth of Women Entrepreneurs: The following are the suggestions found from my study for the betterment of women entrepreneurs in the both mandals There should be change in the minds of parents as to educate their daughters, because economic development of nation can be achieved only through proper education. Women should upgrade her knowledge in all aspects so that she can make decisions on own. Proper steps should be taken by government to check whether the schemes are reaching to actual beneficiaries or not. Rural people are still depending on agriculture as their income source, they should recognize that there is great need to develop their skills towards entrepreneurship. Family support should be more for women entrepreneurs so that they can gain success from their entrepreneurial activities. Women entrepreneurs should improve their marketing skills in order to develop their business. Conclusion Entrepreneurship is not a bed of roses to women. Women participation in many kinds of economic activities to complement to their family income, their participation in no way reduces their family duties. The task of women has become more tedious and full of challenges. Let us all make efforts to help women rediscover her.By taking aforementioned steps into consideration we can conclude that Nandalur mandal is in better position compared to Pendllimari mandal as the standard of living in Nandalur is better and the income is coming from out of the country as many of the people are working in abroad. The education system is also well developed in Nandalur compared to Pendllimari References 1.P Babu, A study on sociological characteristics of small scale industrialist (1978)2.Margaret Meaning and Anne Jardin, The Managerial Women – Pan Books London Sidney, 14-15 (1979) Research Journal of Management Sciences _________________________________________________________ISSN 2319–1171Vol. 3(6), 14-18, June (2014) Res. J. Management Sci.International Science Congress Association 18 3.Gordon E. and Natarajan K., Entrepreneurship Development –Himalaya Publication House, Second Revised edition (2007) 4.S.S. Khanka, ‘Entrepreneurial Development’, S.Chand and Company Limited, New Delhi, (2001)5.meenu goyal and jai parkash , women entrepreneurship in india-problems and prospects, International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 1(5), (2011)6.Vasant Desai, Dynamics of Entrepreneurship management and development,http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8080 /jspui/bitstream/10603/4240/9/09_chapter%201.pdf (2014)7.www.google.com (2014)