Page 75 - DMGT310_ENTREPRENEURSHIP_AND_SMALL_BUSINESS_MANAGEMENT

Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management

Notes economic development and empowerment of women. While women entrepreneurship in India
is encouraged by various Government policies, the Self Help Groups (SHGs) help even
economically poor and socially backward women to come together and succeed by their collective
efforts. The policies and programmes of the government motivate, assist and guide
entrepreneurial development of women. The response of women to the programmes is large
and widespread in Tamil Nadu. The success of those women entrepreneurs will significantly
speed up the progress of economic development and removal of poverty in the state. As
empowerment of women basically depends on gaining financial, social and cultural strength,
their performance as entrepreneurs in their business becomes crucial to reach this goal.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
13. Developing entrepreneurship among women will be right approach for women
…………………..
14. Educational attainment and economic ………………… are the key constituents in ensuring
empowerment of women.

15. A nation can only be developed if its women are given ample …………………..

Case Study Women's Woe

ishal and Angeera had started their dream project, “Pragati Medical Store” a retail
outlet for pharmaceutical products. Vishal started his job as a cadet in Indian
VArmy 15 years back and had risen to the post of Colonel. Unfortunately, he lost
his left arm during Kargil War. This was a critical time for both Vishal and Angeera for
they had to take a decision about what to do next? Vishal was no fit to work in army; the
pension given by government was not enough to support the family of five. And since he
had joined army at an early age immediately after his 10+ 2 he had no other formal
training to look for an alternative career. But Angeera, his wife had done her graduation
in pharmacy. She suggested that they could open a pharmaceutical retail outlets, she was
qualified enough to get a license to open the drug store and was willing to venture into
something that both of them could together start. So they opened ‘Pragati Medical Store’.
Angeera did the entire ground job, got the license, visited the doctors in the nearby area,
persuaded the doctors to recommend her store to their patients, stocked the store with all
the medicines prescribed by the doctors. Vishal and Angeera were a perfect duo for the
store, Vishal looked after the accounts and Angeera looked after the PR with doctors, the
marketing and sales and maintenance of the stock.
The store started of well and made good gains in the first two quarters, Angeera was
putting in lot of hard work as she was taking care of all the marketing, sales, purchase and
PR. What came to her as a surprise was the behaviour of the dealers (who were supplying
medicines). Medical representatives and customers was very cold towards her. They found
dealing with her very distasteful, as it was the men’s field, without exception all the stores
in town except for Pragati were managed by men. In fact, most of them requested and a
couple of them demanded that they wanted to deal with her husband. She was so shocked
by their behaviour, technically she was the qualified one and it was for her efforts that
doctors were recommending Pragati Store to buy medicines but the customers, Medical
Representatives and suppliers of medicine would equivocally say ‘Vishal Bhai Sahab
Contd...

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