The motivation and perseverance of women in entrepreneurship

Abstract

This study aimed at assessing the motivation and perseverance of women in entrepreneurship with the focus on Soroti main market in Soroti district in Uganda. The objectives of the study were to find out the motivation and perseverance of women in entrepreneurship, the challenges women entrepreneurs face, and how they are overcoming these challenges. The study was cross sectional and it involved the use of both qualitative and quantitative approaches since it involved both numbers and descriptions. From the population of 100 women entrepreneurs, a sample size of 80 was chosen using Krejcie and Morgan table of determining the sample size of a known population. The data was collected from women entrepreneurs in Soroti market using simple random and purposive sampling techniques. The methods of data collection were interviewing and use of questionnaires. The results show that majority of the women are driven into entrepreneurship because of poverty alleviation, self-reliance, personal factors such as achievement and self fulfillment, mentors and experience, family responsibilities, availability of market stalls for rent, availability of capital from savings. The findings of this study revealed that female entrepreneurs face the same challenges as male entrepreneurs. However, Women entrepreneurs face additional challenges which hinder their progress in business, for example, limited access to finance, lack of business networks, limited government support, balancing business and family life, cultural barriers, high interest rates for borrowed money, bad debtors, and low profits compared to the expenses. Despite all these challenges, women have learnt to persevere by adopting modern technology, working with family members, undergoing entrepreneurship training, getting loans to finance their businesses, joining women entrepreneur group, customer care, innovation, record keeping. From the study it was realized that the government , cultural institutions, the community should embrace the benefits women bring to society and economy at large through entrepreneurship and thus strive to remove these challenges such that female entrepreneurs can exploit their full potential and expand their businesses, provide jobs and contribute to economic development.. In the light of the above findings, the researcher concluded that the hidden entrepreneurial potential of women have gradually been increasing with the growing recognition of the role of women in economic development though much is still needed in terms of training, capital, market opportunities.