Eve as entrepreneur

WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP: K. Sasikumar - Editor; Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., 576, Masjid Road, Jangpura, New Delhi-110014. Rs. 295.

IT HAS been well recognised all over the world that women's empowerment is an excellent strategy for their overall economic and social development. Cultivating the skill for entrepreneurship is an area, which promises encouraging results in this connection. "By motivating, training and assisting women towards forming and running independent business ventures, it may be possible to tackle many of the gender issues."

In 1989, Avon Products did a survey of entrepreneurs in the U.S., to find out what made women entrepreneurs enter into business. What was it about the women themselves, which made it click? Two things: perseverance was the first.

The women surveyed said that they refused to give up their vision; they simply refused. The second indicator of success in the Avon study was their attitude. Optimists succeed; pessimists do not. Optimists believe that there is a way out of every corner.

Special emphasis was given in the National Seminar, to the status of women entrepreneurs in Kerala. Women in this State possess some unique and characteristic qualities propitious to entrepreneurship. Kerala is the only State in which there are more women than men: they constitute 51 per cent of the total population. Of this, 87.17 per cent are literate, which is the highest for the country.

In the 20 years between 1978 and 1998, the number of women entrepreneurs in the State has increased incredibly, from a mere 73 to 10,115.

The emergence of women entrepreneurs in such astronomical rate is due in no small measure to the encouragement they receive from men in their families, and also, due to the incentives and support extended by the Government and other NGOs in the State.

Out of the 22 chapters in the book, 15 are specifically addressed to the status of women entrepreneurship in Kerala. This is a very useful book for women who are on the threshold of entering into entrepreneurship.

R. DEVARAJAN

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