Constraints on Women Entrepreneurship Development in Kerala: An ...

The enterprises of all the caste groups showed the three different levels of performance,
successful, average, and unsuccessful (Table 3.7).
Table 3.7 Distribution of Women Enterprises by Caste Groups According to
Performance
Total Sample
Caste Successful Average Unsuccessful Total
Forward 26 (45.61) 14 (24.56) 17 (29.82) 57 (100)
Backward 47 (37.90) 33 (26.61) 44 (35.48) 124 (100)
Scheduled 6 (31.57) 4 (21.05) 9 (47.36) 19 (100)
Total 79 (39.5) 51 (25.5) 70 (35.0) 200 (100)
Enterprise profile
The enterprise profile in general showed concentration of manufacturing units (55%);
the next large category was service units (39.5 percent) followed by sales units (5.5
percent).
The enterprises in the sample were divided into large, medium, and small depending upon the
amount of investment and number of labourers.
Table 3.8 Distribution of Enterprises by Type According to Size
Group Large Medium Small Total
WMU 20 (22) 24 (26.4) 47 (51.6) 91(100)
JMU 22 (38.6) 19 (33.3) 16 (28.1) 57(100)
MMU 20 (38.5) 22 (42.3) 10 (19.2) 52(100)
The bulk of WMU enterprises were small (51.6 percent) while more than 70 percent of
JMUs and 80 percent of MMUs were of the large or medium size. The reason for this
variation is the difference in risk-taking. It is quite clear that women entrepreneurs of the
WMU type are in general do not take risks. If they had the strength to take calculated risks
in business they could have graduated into at least the medium scale, which itself is quite
below the SSI (Small Scale Industry) standards.
WMU and MMU had more (39.3 percent and 53.8 percent) successful respondents
among the medium units compared to JMU which had a significant proportion of
successful cases in the large sector. Distribution of unsuccessful respondents, on
other hand, did not show any regular pattern. Individually taken the WMU had a high
percentage of unsuccessful units in the small sector (53.3), the JMUs had such
cases in the medium sector (56.0) and MMUs, in the large sector (46.7). It appears
that the most conducive sector for a WMU and a MMU, to succeed was the ‘medium’
sector; the large sector was suited more to JMUs.
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