Pandemic and stress on women entrepreneurs

While all kinds of businesses have been suffering ever since the onset of COVID-19, it has affected women entrepreneurs harder as their businesses are smaller, home-based and at initial/growing stages.

The pandemic has rocked their worlds and disrupted their lives.

Every imaginable aspect of their life — mental health, relationships, financial status, and households, has been affected.

With their worlds narrowed down to the four walls, it makes us wonder how these women have been able to handle the routines of their lives.

In the male dominated society of India, it has never been easy for a woman to run a business entirely on her own, the pandemic has made the situation beyond dire.

The coronavirus outbreak has brought every age group of female entrepreneurs under its umbrella.

From a newly certified adult who wants to establish her business to middle aged women, the society and the COVID lockdown caused by the virus, both have posed a number of hurdles in their ways.

COVID-19 has taken a toll on their lives, as day long workload and facing the digital world constantly, these women are facing stress and pressure more than ever before.

Many women have started creating workspaces at their homes, as certain business operations do not require a proper professional set-up, examples include- home-run bakeries, boutiques, and online service providers.

Although these women are trying to cope up with the existing crises, yet it is usually nerve wracking for them to maintain a good flow of working capital for their businesses, or to look after their children’s health (and eyes!), or to supervise the proper functioning of their households.

Even in the age where everything is accessible online within a fraction of a second there still are people who find it difficult to adapt to the new ways of this digital generation. This issue is majorly being faced by women who are in their late forties and beyond.

This COVID-induced “she-cession” has important implications’ (Hadley Heath Manning, The Hill, 2020)

A survey shows as much as 45% of the permanently closed women-led enterprises may never set up an enterprise again.

This is going to affect not only economic independence of women but also their role in decision-making.

Most of them have dipped into personal savings or business cash reserves to sustain their businesses.

Many of them have reduced their scale of operations or shutting down temporarily to cope with the pandemic.

Research shows that one in three women-led enterprises were either temporarily or permanently closed. Reason being:

1.Women-led enterprises are a secondary source of household income.

2.Sector which majorly fall under women led businesses, have heavy reliance on consumers as customers and are extremely competitive, which makes them among the most vulnerable.

3.In the absence of school, childcare or eldercare services, women entrepreneurs bear most of the burden of family care.

Online marketing, better financial management and planning, and pivoting their business models is needed for moving forward.

Looking on the brighter side, according to a report 90% of the women entrepreneurs were confident that they will bounce back to their same income level.

Women have been quick to shift their business models according to relevance and have started exploring the online platforms for the expansion of their businesses. Though it is a long road to achieve stability again, in their work lives, yet it can be gained with unbeatable ‘Boss Spirit’.