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Insights-driven Future of Women Entrepreneurship

Empowerment
Through
Evidence

LEAD’s Udyogini initiative aims to create a curated platform to share lessons and findings from our work on women entrepreneurship, with the intent of building evidence to inform policies and accelerate growth.

MSME Sector at a glance: India’s growth story

0 million

(2015-16)

Total Enterprises

$ 0 million

(2019)

GDP contribution of MSMEs

$ 0 million

(2019)

Export contribution of MSMEs

0 million

(2015-16)

Jobs created by MSMEs

The sector’s contribution to GDP and global export market is borne by a small portion of registered (30%) and large-scale enterprises but this contribution has remained unchanged over time.

Moreover, out of the total 63 million enterprises, over 98% are run by solopreneurs and ~70% of the enterprises remain informal and unregistered.

Source: 73rd National Sample Survey (2015-16), 6th Economic Census (2013-14), MOSPI, ADB and IFC estimates (2021)

MSME Sector at a glance: India’s growth story

MSME’s Export and GDP Contribution (%)

MSME GDP Contribution

MSME Exports

The sector’s contribution to GDP and global export market is borne by a small portion of registered (30%) and large-scale enterprises but this contribution has remained unchanged over time.

Moreover, out of the total 63 million enterprises, over 98% are run by solopreneurs and ~70% of the enterprises remain informal and unregistered.

Source: 73rd National Sample Survey (2015-16), 6th Economic Census (2013-14)

An uneven playing field

The disparity is starker for women in business

Just

1 in 5

entrepreneurs are women.

and 65.3% of them are ‘homepreneurs’ – running businesses out of their own homes, further invisibilising their contribution and voice in India’s entrepreneurship narrative.

Source: MSME Ministry's Annual Report 2020-21, 73rd National Sample Survey (2015-16)

These businesses are concentrated in gendered, traditional sectors across rural and urban geographies.

Female

40.3%

20.7%

7.1%

5.6%

5.4%

5.3%

2.9%

2.2%

1.6%

1.0%

8.0%

Apparel
Retail
Personal Services*
Education
Restaurant
Tobacco
Food
Human Health 
Other Manufacturing^
Wood
Others

7.5%

26.2%

4.8%

2.8%

8.8%

0.3%

5.6%

3.1%

1.4%

1.7%

38.0%

Male

Top 10 industries in India for female entrepreneurs

Source: 73rd National Sample Survey (2015-16), In-house analysis

2015

Footnote: .

*Includes Salon, Laundry, Housekeeping Services etc.

^Includes jewellery and imitation jewellery manufacturing, musical instruments, sports goods, toys etc.

Source: 73rd National Sample Survey (2015-16), In-house analysis, Mehrotra (2019)

Moreover, their representation remains highest in small-scale and low-revenue businesses, unlike their male counterparts, constraining their growth, and pushing them to stay small.

Investing In Women: A Compelling Economic Case

01

More women-led businesses = higher economic growth
Women-led businesses currently contribute to only 3% of the total industrial output and are an untapped economic opportunity. Increasing their presence in productive sectors can lead to exponential economic gains (IFC 2017).

02

Investing in women-led businesses is investing in the ecosystem
Currently women-led businesses provide employment to 27 million workers. An uptick in women entrepreneurship is well-positioned to drive significant improvement in job creation.

Source: IFC (2017)

Women-led businesses are reliable, resilient and adaptable
  • Regardless of market disruptions and economic shocks women-led businesses remain resilient, showcasing ingenuity and adaptability in running their businesses (Narasimhan et al, 2021)
  • Higher credit consciousness, better credit scores
    and lower delinquency rates vs. male peers (TransUnion CIBIL and CRIF HighMark,
    2022)

03

What is holding them back?

YET, from ideation to scale-up the barriers to graduation are immense

Literature highlights various factors that drive this phenomenon

New Project (1)

Inability to access information and markets due to norms and mobility constraints

New Project (1)

Limited education, limiting their business acumen and skillsets

New Project (1)

Limited networking opportunities hindering growth

Exploring research ideas for households and small businesses- Conceptualising Database-Micro and Small Business

New Project (1)

Inability to always reinvest business revenue back in business

1. Testing and Scaling approaches and interventions to support gender transformative work with NRLM

2. The harm Covid is causing women entrepreneurs

New Project (1)

Restrictive and complex regulatory procedures curtailing formalisation and growth

From Barriers To Breakthroughs

Insights-driven Future of Women Entrepreneurship

Empowerment
Through
Evidence

LEAD’s Udyogini initiative aims to create a curated platform to share lessons and findings from our work on women entrepreneurship, with the intent of building evidence to inform policies and accelerate growth.

MSME Sector at a glance: India’s growth story

The sector’s contribution to GDP and global export market is borne by a small portion of registered (30%) and large-scale enterprises but this contribution has remained unchanged over time.

Moreover, out of the total 63 million enterprises, over 98% are run by solopreneurs and ~70% of the enterprises remain informal and unregistered.

Source: 73rd National Sample Survey (2015-16), 6th Economic Census (2013-14), MOSPI, ADB and IFC estimates (2021)

An uneven playing field

The disparity is starker for women in business

Just

1 in 5

entrepreneurs are women.

and 65.3% of them are ‘homepreneurs’ – running businesses out of their own homes, further invisibilising their contribution and voice in India’s entrepreneurship narrative.

Source: MSME Ministry's Annual Report 2020-21, 73rd National Sample Survey (2015-16)

These businesses are concentrated in gendered, traditional sectors across rural and urban geographies.

40.2%

20.7%

7.9%

7.1%

5.5%

5.4%

5.2%

5.2%

2.8%

1.5%

1%

Apparel
Retail
Personal Services*
Education
Restaurant
Tobacco
Food
Human Health 
Other Manufacturing^
Wood
Others

2015

7.5%

26.2%

4.8%

2.8%

8.8%

0.3%

5.6%

3.1%

1.4%

1.7%

38.0%

Female

Male

Top 10 industries in India for female entrepreneurs

Footnote: .

*Includes Salon, Laundry, Housekeeping Services etc.

^Includes jewellery and imitation jewellery manufacturing, musical instruments, sports goods, toys etc.

Source: 73rd National Sample Survey (2015-16), In-house analysis

Moreover, their representation remains highest in small-scale and low-revenue businesses, unlike their male counterparts, constraining their growth, and pushing them to stay small.

Source: 73rd National Sample Survey (2015-16), In-house analysis, Mehrotra (2019)

Source: IFC (2017)

Investing In Women:
A Compelling Economic Case

What is holding them back?

YET, from ideation to scale-up the barriers to graduation are immense

Literature highlights various factors that drive this phenomenon

Barriers to entry

Barriers to growth

LEAD is a part of IFMR Society with strategic oversight from Krea University.