Exploring the unique challenges facing women entrepreneurs in Gauteng

Abstract

The purpose of this research and the primary objective was to explore the unique challenges facing women entrepreneurs in Gauteng and to achieve the primary objective, secondary objectives defined. The literature review in Chapter 2 defines the background of the study, and the following are the literature review objectives that Chapter 2 intended to address: - To review the history of women entrepreneurship. - To review the known challenges that women face as entrepreneurs. - To review the roles of women in entrepreneurship. - To review the opportunities available for women as entrepreneurs. - To review the success factors for women in entrepreneurship. - To review available initiatives to improve women involvement in entrepreneurship. The study performed semi-structured interviews to collect data from seven women entrepreneurs involved in various businesses. The researcher interviewed seven women entrepreneurs, via video conferencing on Zoom and Microsoft teams from August 2020 - October 2020. Chapter 3 addresses the empirical study's objective. The objectives are as follows: - To explore the views of women on entrepreneurship. - To determine what motivated women to be self-employed. - To explore the unique challenges faced by women in entrepreneurship. - To explore the success factors of women in entrepreneurship. - To determine the opportunities available for women entrepreneurship. The study concludes with chapter 4, where the researcher makes conclusions and recommendations based on the study. The objectives of this chapter are as follows: - To interpret the study findings and make applicable conclusions. - To make recommendations to women entrepreneurs to manage the unique challenges facing them. Even though there is currently an interest in women entrepreneurship, researchers need to add more to the body of literature for women entrepreneurship in South Africa. Chapter 4 also makes recommendations on future studies to build on the literature.