The Challenges of Growing Small Businesses - International Labour ...

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they run their business. Moreover, the majority are operating their enterprise from dedicated business accommodation, rather than from home, and many claim to be paying high rents in order to do this. 4.3.4 Developing skills for start-up and know-how through training Many of the women entrepreneurs had engaged in some form of training before and/or during the period of establishing their business. The primary motivating factor for this was to improve their skills, know-how and general competencies, both in areas technically related to their type of business and for business management skills more generally. The women sourced this training from a range of agencies, especially NGOs. Most appeared to feel that the training was relevant for their business and had helped them in start-up. In Tanzania, “for the women involved in food processing, the most critical support factors in starting their businesses were the technical training and access to packaging materials and quality labels from a UNIDO-supported programme” (ILO, 2003b, p. 23). In Zambia, 73 (62 per cent) of the women said they had received training before starting their business, with 53 per cent of this group finding the training very useful for running their business (ILO, 2003c, p. 18). In Ethiopia over one third (36.5 per cent) of the women entrepreneurs said that training was an important means of acquiring knowledge to develop their business – this was particularly noted by the small (56 per cent) entrepreneurs rather than the micro entrepreneurs (20 per cent). 4.3.5 Family support at start-up As noted earlier, a substantial number of women noted that the support of their family had been a factor in facilitating the start-up of the business. The families had provided and/or helped to access additional human assets (such as skills, expertise and labour); financial assets (e.g. money and collateral); physical assets (e.g. premises and equipment), and social assets (such as contacts, moral support and ideas). In Ethiopia over one third (39 per cent) of the women entrepreneurs said that financial and material support from relatives and friends had been their primary source of help for start-up. Indeed when the women entrepreneurs were specifically asked about the nature of any help given, some women (4 per cent) said that they were assisted with a range of chores in the house and with the children. In Zambia, 34 per cent of the women said that family support had been a significant factor in facilitating start-up, with a further 13 per cent saying the same about assistance from friends and workmates. When asked about the attitudes of their families to them starting a business, 75 per cent of those married stated that spouses had been very supportive, and 80 per cent said other family members had also been supportive. In Tanzania, both support from the family (as quoted by 16 per cent of the women) and in particular support from the spouse (a further 15 per cent) were given as significant factors in facilitating the start of the business. This support was seen in terms of moral support, encouragement and confidence boosting, as well as financial and material support. 4.4 Formalizing the business A primary objective for all three research teams in the WED Study was to develop some greater understanding of the business formalization process as experienced by the women entrepreneurs. As noted earlier, informality has long been a characteristic associated with African women entrepreneurs (UDEC, 2002; Zewde and Associates, 2002; 42
and JUDAI, 2002). The WED Study findings show that formalization is a complex process which varies according to type of business, place of business, and the legislative system under which the business operates. The Study revealed that formalization is concerned with and leads to greater status and recognition for women in business. It is about legitimacy and being counted (and taxed), about protection from harassment, and about accessing a range of support mechanisms. Although not covered in the WED surveys, it would have been interesting to determine if there exist any differences in the formalization of enterprises between women and men. 4.4.1 What is formalization? In each country the characteristics of business formalization differed slightly. In Tanzania formalization was perceived and measured in terms of a recognized legal status, licence acquisition and having a bank account. Indirectly, acquisition of premises was also seen as an indication of formalization as the licensing process often required businesses to have separate premises which comply with standards within specific sectors. Table 10: Formalization of business in Tanzania: Start-up and current status Aspect of formalization When started Currently Frequency % Frequency % Legal Status Sole proprietorship 113 88.3 113 88.3 Partnership 12 9.3 12 9.3 Limited liability company 2 1.6 2 1.6 Non-response 1 0.8 1 0.8 Total 128 100.0 128 100.0 Licensing No licence 38 29.6 29 22.7 Minor licence 56 43.8 49 38.2 Principal licence 34 26.6 50 39.1 Total 128 100.0 128 100.0 Type of Bank Account Savings 66 51.6 83 64.8 Current 15 11.7 32 25.0 None 47 36.7 13 10.2 Total 128 100.0 128 100.0 Source: ILO, 2003 b. 43
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SEED Working Paper No. 47 Series on
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Foreword The ILO’s Programme on B
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Table of contents Foreword ........
Page 7 and 8: 5.2.2 Abilities, skills, and experi
Page 9 and 10: Executive summary This report provi
Page 11 and 12: Acronyms AEMFI BDS CSA CSO COMESA E
Page 13 and 14: WED WED Study WEDAZ WEPC WEDGE ZCSM
Page 15 and 16: The Gender lexicon Gender was taken
Page 17 and 18: 1. Introduction and background 1.1
Page 19 and 20: 1.2 Aims and objectives In associat
Page 21 and 22: Phase Two (July-Oct 2002) Workshop
Page 23 and 24: • The Enterprise Level, as relate
Page 25 and 26: • The Enabling Environment for En
Page 27 and 28: (ii) Degree of Formality Another ch
Page 29 and 30: 1.4 The Structure of the report Thi
Page 31 and 32: The lack of up-to-date and comprehe
Page 33 and 34: employees, marketing and resources,
Page 35 and 36: eluctant to make legal agreements w
Page 37 and 38: Most of the existing research would
Page 39 and 40: promotional activities, may be ques
Page 41 and 42: Tanzania, the Women and Gender Deve
Page 43 and 44: Throughout the preliminary reports,
Page 45 and 46: 3. Jobs, gender and enterprise in A
Page 47 and 48: • In Tanzania, there was a greate
Page 49 and 50: 4. Profiles of women entrepreneurs
Page 51 and 52: networking skills for business. Ind
Page 53 and 54: Table 6: The primary reasons given
Page 55 and 56: Table 7: Type of business by sector
Page 57: This reliance on personal sources o
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Page 65 and 66: employment practices, signs of impr
Page 67 and 68: Table 16: Number of employees at st
Page 69 and 70: premises, and this factor constrain
Page 71 and 72: cent of women able to name credit a
Page 73 and 74: oth. Those who were members were po
Page 75 and 76: their time is already constrained b
Page 77: In Tanzania the research acknowledg
Page 80 and 81: Figure 12: Ingredients for a succes
Page 82 and 83: men business owners surrounding the
Page 84 and 85: and also help to diversify risks; a
Page 86 and 87: (iii) Attitudes to collateral One m
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Page 90 and 91: 6. Key recommendations from the Nat
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Page 94 and 95: appropriate services that are desig
Page 96 and 97: - Are sometimes regarded as “mino
Page 98 and 99: addressed effectively with positive
Page 100 and 101: Abdulahi, Hayat (1997): “Constrai
Page 102 and 103: Economic Commission for Africa (ECA
Page 104 and 105: Hulme, D. and Mosley P. (1998): Mic
Page 106 and 107: Maliyamkono, T. L. and Bagachwa, M.
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Oyhus, A. O. (1999): “The importa
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Temu, S. S. (1997): Financing and I
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Wangwe, S.M. (1993): “Small and m
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Identify ways in which Governments,
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Elements impacting on successful mi
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1.3 The research approach The WED S
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Market access and developing BDS (a
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III. IV. Special efforts should be
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II. III. IV. Women entrepreneurs an
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110 V. As women experience particul
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Access to resources and finance (a)
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114
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22. “Ajuste Local à Globalizaç
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59. “Facilitating Youth Entrepren
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