Entrepreneurship is the driver and major factor of economic development, especially in developing countries. It explores the full potential of the country’s available resources and addresses several issues, such as unemployment and shortage of livelihood opportunities. Entrepreneurs must have defined entrepreneurial skills to successfully sustain the endeavors, such skills are the following but not limited to: innovation, risk-taking, vision, and organizational skills. However, in the evolving entrepreneurial realm, there is a need to give emphasis on women’s entrepreneurship and the problems, obstacles, and challenges encountered by women entrepreneurs and how we and the Cooperative will be able to inspire and shape them to become Entrepreneurial Leaders.

Women entrepreneurship is defined as entrepreneurs owned and managed by women. In most countries, most of the entrepreneurs are ruled by men; however, several studies show significant numbers of women becoming interested and owners of small business enterprises. With this development, there are concerns that are continually an issue for women entrepreneurs. For one, there is a gender gap in entrepreneurship in a male dominating society. The gender gap is commonly defined as the difference between men and women in terms of numbers engaged in entrepreneurial activity, motives to start or run a business, industry choice, and business performance and growth. These gaps greatly affect confidence among women and are a potential barrier to entrepreneurial growth among women entrepreneurs.

Second, there is a social-cultural issue among women, especially in developing countries.  The society of most developing countries takes importance to a male child compared to a female child, especially in running businesses. This kind of mindset results in a lack of learning and education opportunities among women. Thus, resulting to slow progress of women in the entrepreneurial world. This paradigm created an idea that women are secondary to men in businesses being or are less significant. Third, a notion that a woman has to perform multiple roles both in the family and society. The woman’s family and personal obligations and priorities are sometimes a barrier to succeeding in a business career. This shows that only a few women can manage family obligations and business. Women have to balance being a wife and a mother, among other roles performed in the family.  They also likely give more emphasis on family ties and relationships than focusing solely on businesses. Simultaneously in the social setting, she has to play the different roles in the community. In this case, some reports show that several financial institutions discourage women entrepreneurs because they can undo their business at any time and prioritize their familial roles. Moreover, this obstacle creates limited mobility for women entrepreneurs, which creates implications for business.

With these problems, obstacles, and challenges, the question is how can we inspire and shape women to be entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial leaders?

The main issue to address is for women to be able to get a balance between entrepreneurship and familial and personal obligations.  With this, entrepreneurship shall be done at a community level. Building this nurturing community that will help assist women’s needs through collective action for development. The empowerment of women through communities and groups will lead to benefits not only to the individual woman and women groups but also the families and community as a whole. Governments may be able to assist this need by establishing childcare facilities so women entrepreneurs may be able to pursue businesses while their children are being taken care of. This will also provide women with more flexible time.

Also, there is a need to strengthen on the conduct of entrepreneurial training programs for women so they may be able to start a business of their own and boost levels of entrepreneurship. Financial institutions such as banks and cooperatives should provide special programs for women entrepreneurs. There is also a need to reinforce the design and implementation of policies that encourage equal opportunities, access, and services for women.

In Tagum Cooperative, we take part in building a community for inspiring and shaping women to be leaders in the entrepreneurial world. Several programs and activities are conducted which aim to provide women entrepreneurs with knowledge and skills to be on edge. The programs include but are not limited to Skills Training for Solo Parents, Family-Enrichment Programs, Financial Literacy Training, and Mental Wellness and Business Development.

A woman’s physical appearance seems fragile but should not be underestimated by the merit and significance she could give to the community. Their greatest worth is what is inside them. A woman is goal-oriented and a result-seeker, and never afraid to speak up and stand on her own. A woman is self-driven and motivated and never gives up. She rises from a fall with renewed strength. She continually fights for the things she believes in. A woman’s value is her ability to be self-sufficient, but with her nurturing nature is able to give all she has.

While women take and play many roles in the family and community, she has the unquestioned ability to take care of herself while taking care of everyone else if given the right avenue and opportunity. With all these morals, women have the potential to become great Entrepreneurial Leaders if we can empower, inspire and shape them to become one. Empowered women make a huge significance in the community. They build societies and keep them together. They could do so much; they are indeed transformational. Together, let us inspire and shape women to be Entrepreneurial Leaders!