Women represent 13.76% of the total entrepreneurs in India. Only 5 out of 136 Indian “unicorn” startups are founded by women. Is this the real advancement? The Indian economy has shown a gradual growth in the past few years, and simultaneously there has been a surge in the number of startups and new ventures, most of which are founded by men. One big factor of this growth is the power of the internet which has helped women in all types of businesses to expand their business through digital media platforms, but the ability to promote socio-economic equity through women's entrepreneurship still stands unfulfilled.

Regardless of gender, every entrepreneur faces challenges during the course of their entrepreneurial journey. Due to the deep-rooted socio-economic barriers, women find it difficult to gain access to a stable income to support their families. Male chauvinism is still common in many parts of the country with women being considered as weak in all respects and not being treated equally could be one of the main challenges of their restricted entry in business. The stereotypical mindset of the society according to which- women are expected to play many roles, is also stopping them to some extent. Being the ‘woman of the house', she is expected to keep it all together and excel at every role she plays which makes the work-life balance really difficult. Financial support is usually gender-biased because of which there is no collateral security for women and they face great challenges in raising loans for their businesses. Moreover, available Government help has so much red-tapism that it makes the process cumbersome. Unlike men, women's mobility in India is also limited due to the usual belief of not renting a house to a single woman. 

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Despite all the challenges faced by women, they ensured that neither financial constraints nor the lack of resources can stop them from succeeding in their field. “As a woman business leader, I know that I must put in double the effort than my male counterparts to prove myself. As I interact with other women founders, I realise that their story is similar,” Rashim Mogha, Customer Market Leader for Leadership and Business Solutions at Skillsoft mentioned in an interview with Hindustan Times. We all know how negatively the pandemic impacted us in businesses and economic growth and how it increased the losses. ECONOMIC TIMES (Oct 2020) mentioned that ‘as much as 73% of women-owned businesses in urban India are littered with the pandemic-induced slowdown with almost one-fifth seeing their revenues nearly exhausted, but 90% women entrepreneurs are confident that they'll overcome the crisis. As much as 54% of them have already changed their business model in response to COVID 19, and another 24% plan to make a change by December. Only 6% of respondents said they're not going to be able to shift their business model’

So, the current situation of women entrepreneurs in India is better than in the past but could be much better for the future economic boom. The United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) Human Development Report in 2015 disclosed how gender equality may be immensely beneficial to economic growth. While the progress has been fundamentally made through the government's innovative policies, now it is the time for corporates and civil societies to come into the game and play their part on the front foot to support women entrepreneurs, educate them about the subject, and provide financial help which could change the course of growth. Incubator Centres like NSRCEL and 5ideas are tremendously promoting and supporting women-led startups. It is estimated that in less than 10 years women entrepreneurs could create more than 150 million new jobs. 

To encourage this culture, we need to reconceptualize the duties of a woman for them to shine bright in their professional pursuits. And as we achieve this, it will encourage more and more women to take risks and support their families to make this male-dominated world patriarchy-free. Furthermore, the gender gap in India is 62.5%, mostly because of women’s lesser contribution in politics, leadership roles, and technology. According to the IMF, an increase in women's entrepreneurship and employment can lead to an increase in India’s GDP up to 1.6 points. ‘Women business-owners could potentially create 150 million-170 million jobs in India by 2030’, as per a 2019 report, Powering The Economy With Her: Women Entrepreneurship In India, published jointly by Google and Bain & Company, a Boston-based consulting firm.

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Efforts are being taken at all levels to bring in gender equality in all spheres to ensure the active participation of women in the fields like politics and leadership. It is also important for women to take risks and identify their unexplored talents and train themselves in various fields to increase their productivity. ‘Nari se Kharidari’, a clarion call given by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, urged people to buy from local and small-scale women vendors. If every individual works with the same attitude towards respecting the position of women and supporting them, then very soon we can succeed in gender equality and the day is not far when we can have 50% businesses led by women entrepreneurs.