Harder glass ceiling? Why Indian women aren't starting up as much

Here’s a question for you. India’s startup sector is thriving and its founders make news on a daily basis. How many of these were founded by women? Can you recall any path-breaking, technological startup that was started by a woman? Chances are that you will echo the oft-cited names of women in India Inc and would be hard put to come up with new names.

Dell India’s Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) met up for the first time in Mumbai recently to discuss what prevents more women from becoming their own bosses at the marketplace.

The Gender-Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (Gender-GEDI) released by Dell recently, shows that India ranks a dismal 26 out of 30 countries that were part of the survey.

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The Gender-GEDI is the world’s only diagnostic tool that comprehensively measures high potential female entrepreneurship by analysing entrepreneurial ecosystems, business environments and individual aspirations across 30 developed and developing economies spanning multiple regions, providing a systematic approach that allows cross-country comparison, benchmarking, and identifies data gaps, says Dell.

It’s a struggle

It is not an easy task for a woman to be an entrepreneur. “The entrepreneurial ecosystem is tough in terms of capital and market,” says Paula Mariwala, Executive Director, Seedfund, an early stage venture capital fund. Also, India is not an early adaptor, she points out. The representations of women in the entrepreneurial landscape are small, she adds.

The picture has not changed much with women in the corporate sector too. There are the often-familiar names of bankers and a few entrepreneurs who have occupied this space for a long time, says Mariwala.

It is a struggle for women, but experts say, some of it is made tough by women themselves. “Women rarely ask,” they say. This is a fear that refuses to die down easily, they add.

Agreeing with the perspective, Smriti Dalvi, MD and CEO, Florista, a firm dealing with flowers says, “I think it is a matter of conditioning.” She has created a brand for herself in the business bybuilding an order management system software that has changed the way the business was done.

Dalvi admits that she was hesitant to seek help as she feared being ridiculed, when she decided to switch tracks as a software professional to entrepreneurship. When she realised that her business venture was in the danger of becoming a stillborn, she decided to go out and attend entrepreneurship meetings held by various associations.

“It is best to go out there and attend meetings regularly. One must go to these meetings without any expectation,” she cautions. She says women entrepreneurs and those who dream of becoming one should attend these meetings as they give insights on what is happening in the sector and helps to network with like-minded people and professionals.

Women must learn to dream big and most women entrepreneurs are scared to `dream big’, feels Shoba Purushothaman, CEO and Founder,Venture Trainings Pte Ltd, a Malaysian born entrepreneur who has co-founded three companies.

“Another reason could be that most women in India are not educated,” she says. “I have met many entrepreneurs who haven’t completed their secondary education. This is a big clue as to why they are unable to dream big for themselves and their ventures,” she says.

Her present venture, Training Ventures Pte Ltd, is focused on developing Emerging Managers in global business, management and leadership skills. Purushothaman was formerlythe Chief Executive Officer of The NewsMarket, a digital news video platform which she started with business partner Anthony Hayward in 2000.

Acknowledging that there are a number of challenges of starting a business venture in India, Purushottaman said that one of the painful truths is that the talent pool is also unreliable. This is a big disadvantage and derails a venture from scaling up, she pointed out, adding, that the government can help by setting up a management school for women entrepreneurs and launching educational courses to hone entrepreneurship in women.

Need of the hour

Perhaps, more than men, women need an ecosystem that can help them achieve their goals, say experts. Women in India have to fight on various fronts -family (to be given the freedom to choose and execute a career path), besides society and workplaces against male-domination. Padmaja Alaganandan, People and Change Consulting leader, PwC India, explains that, “where entrepreneurship is concerned, to be successful there is a need to build an ecosystem of customers, suppliers, employees, regulators and others”.

“The canvas is broad and here a woman needs to be able to influence the stakeholders. Support from family, society and these stakeholders are important. Also, there is a need for more governance in terms of councils, boards to help women to come out and take charge,” she says.

The Dell survey came out with interesting facts about woman entrepreneurship in India.

The figures are dismal regarding women entrepreneurship:

• Growth-oriented female startups - 6 percent

• Female startups in the export sector -14 percent

• Women in leadership positions -14 percent

• Women with access to a bank account - 18 percent

• Female secondary education - 27 percent

• Investment in R&D as a percentage of GDP - 0.76 percent

There are some positives too:

• Relatively well developed equity capital markets

• Moderate female entrepreneurship environment in terms of women identifying opportunities to start business - 60 percent

• Women feel they have the skills - 52 percent

• Women who do not fear failure in starting a business - 57 percent

• Moderate female start-up activity ratio: 5.2/10