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

oth. Those who were members were positive about the support that they got from these
organizations, mostly seen as help with market contacts and networking in general.
In Tanzania the low participation of women in business associations was largely the
result of a lack of awareness of the exact objectives and functions of the associations.
Many of the women entrepreneurs were aware of some of the business associations, with
the Chambers of Commerce being the best known, by 59 per cent of all the women.
However many (81 per cent) of the women entrepreneurs were not sure what the
associations were actually doing and the benefits they provided for members, and so they
were not motivated to join them. Others had mixed views of the associations as being
expensive, not for their business, and as being rather elitist organizations for only certain
groups of women. The WED Study findings on business associations reflect previous
research reported in the preliminary reports, essentially that most women are unaware of
business associations, both mixed and women’s associations. Those that have heard about
the associations either have neutral views (i.e. they do not know what they do), or rather
“negative” images based on their own perceptions and the experiences related by others.
These findings provide a clear message for associations to present themselves in a more
effective way, and to put more effort into promoting and marketing themselves and their
services.
4.8.4 Summary
In summary the women entrepreneurs across all three countries appear to have
engaged quite extensively with the business support sector at different times in the start-up
and development of their businesses. Whilst many of the women who had received both
financial and non-financial support found it useful, from all three countries there were
consistent messages for improving these services. For MFIs, the message was that they
need to revisit or review their loan portfolio and provide new products using a wider range
of delivery mechanisms for women in small enterprises who wish to get larger loans for
growth. For the BDS providers there is a need to provide more specialized and advanced
forms of training for those women who have moved beyond the start-up stage. For the
business associations, there is a need to further develop their services and better promote
themselves so that women can understand the range of benefits that are on offer to them as
entrepreneurs.
4.9 The enabling environment
The broader regulatory environment in which a business operates is there to enable
the business community as a whole to operate effectively and efficiently within society.
As the WED Study preliminary reports have shown (UDEC, 2002, Zwede & Associates,
2002, and JUDAI, 2002), this is not always the case for micro and small enterprises, who
feel that there is not a “level playing field” for them in this respect and that they experience
additional constraints due to their size. This is particularly true in the three study countries
where much of the legislation and many of the practices relating to and controlling the
MSE sector are still evolving and being adopted.
The field research findings for the WED Study concur with this in some respects, and
also reveal that some women feel that they experience a double disadvantage from a being
women in MSE businesses. In broad terms the issues are related to four areas, some of
which are more gender-related, i.e. issues of ignorance of procedures, onerous procedures,
constrained mobility, and various forms of harassment including sexual harassment.
Figure 10 illustrates how the enabling environment impacts on the MAIR ingredients, as
well as on the women entrepreneurs’ access to the five forms of capital.
57