 |
Here's looking at you - the woman entrepreneur in Singapore
July 23, 2004
In Business Ideas this week, we’ll explore the changing role of women entrepreneurs in Singapore.
Welcome to the program, I’m Melanie Yip.
RR: I think we’ve come a full circle with what a woman entrepreneur does.
That was entrepreneur, Ramesh Ramachandra (RR), explaining how the image of women entrepreneurs has changed over the years. She continues
RR: In the beginning, women became entrepreneurs and went out into the real world, only to get a rude shock when they saw these penguin-clad business suits. And you had a era during the eighties and nineties where women powered themselves up in business suits and looked as much as possible like men. And what was interesting was, towards the late nineties and twentieth century, we saw women maintain their femininity , and then realize that it was okay to be a woman, a CEO or an entrepreneur, that their differences actually contributed to the organization as much as the fact that sometimes, they would be similar to male counterparts.
Besides conducting training for women entrepreneurs, Ramesh is the Honorary Treasurer of the Singapore Council of Women’s Organizations. She points out some of the popular businesses women have ventured into.
RR: In my experience of doing developmental work in the region, as well as conducting entrepreneur training in the region, I find by and large, women tend to gravitate towards the service industry because it has got the lowest barrier to entry, you can start off with low capital outlay, as well as you don’t need specialized skills. So some women start a business in the food and beverage industry, in the retail area, or even spa and well-being. Generally, women have been limited in areas where they need specialized knowledge, for instance, biotech or technology companies. The limitation here is normally their inability to access venture capital, or other resources and support structures to sustain such a business. And I would put I down simply to, we don’t have a critical mass of women in those industries to champion other emerging entrepreneurs.
There are not many women in certain industries, says Ramesh.
 |
|
RR: Some industries, absolutely, and these are industries which are either dominated or excluded women by virtue of the capital outlay, or the networks they must have access to, or the specialized knowledge they need to have. If women are not doing a particular kind of study like biotech research, over time, you will notice that they aren’t that many women in that area.
In an urban and affluent society like Singapore, there are incentives for entrepreneurs. But, it seems not many see entrepreneurship as a career option.
RR: That would depend on the society that we live in. If you look at societies where there is poverty, the most entrepreneurial people have been women because they feel the squeeze at home in sustaining the family’s household income, and so they will start cooking, or doing something else to supplement the household income. Then you come to societies like Singapore, which is largely urban and affluent, and then it becomes a case of opportunities versus costs. For the longest time, most Singaporeans did not look at entrepreneurship as a relevant or suitable option to a career, opposed to working for an MNC or government sector because the opportunity cost was too high. They preferred to work for someone else, and over time, acquired the 5 or 6Cs that you can acquire working for someone else. Most women fell into that trap because that was an identification of success in Singapore. To be successful, you wanted to be working for an MNC, and doing all the things that men do. The last barrier that both men and women face when starting a business is the type of industry they choose.
Women face certain barriers when choosing an industry to go into
RR: If you get into a male dominated industry, like shipping, construction, women generally found it harder than men to break into those industries, only because of the nature of work. It evolves around activities which clash with activities that women have to do. For instance, women would find it hard to entertain in the evenings because their maternal instincts, if she was married and have kids, she wants to go home. She may also not want to climb up a scaffolding to check a building because she may be wearing a skirt of dress in the work place. A lot of it had to do with how work was distributed, arranged and organized. A lot of these are changing because you find that the formal structures of doing business have evolved with telecommuting, and technology. Many of these barriers are not there anymore.
Some women entrepreneurs have been made to believe that they need to put on a tough front to be credible. Ramesh thinks this is not necessary.
 |
|
RR: I don’t think that is necessarily an issue for women, like having to be tough with somebody. At the end of the day, when an entrepreneur confronts the fact that their bottom line is at stake, they will do whatever is necessary to solve that from a business perspective, and be it like a woman or a man, if they are not able to deal with that, then they should not be in business. In my experience, that’s the harsh reality and most entrepreneurs reluctantly take on that role. However, the biggest issue for most women, unfortunately, really is their own mindsets. We may talk about this glass ceiling but in reality, the limits that are imposed by these women is really a limit imposed by themselves.
Ramesh suggests that instead of trying to be a superwoman, women should build the courage to put in their best, no matter the position.
RR: Absolutely, I think part of it is for them to own…whoever said that women have to be superwomen. But unfortunately, we operate in an environment which sort of eludes the fact that we need to be a superwoman. So a woman who is married with a family, has added stress, on top of her business and wanting the business to grow and be successful. But you take a male counterpart, and it’s really easy. A male entrepreneur would not say that he wants to be a superman. He says he would want to focus on his business, and make it successful, and he goes out to accomplish it. Women should have the courage to say that they want to be a housewife, and then go out to be the greatest housewife, or say, I want to be this great entrepreneur, and don’t feel embarrassed. She should not try to juggle too many things because there is a cost to it.
Based on her experiences in entrepreneurship training, Ramesh discusses some of the positive qualities that women possess that help when doing business.
 |
|
RR: If you look at the traditional training that women had, one is to work around power structures because in most societies, women had to work around their husbands, or fathers, even their communities to move things and get resources. And that has given them an ability to think out of the box. Second, women have to take care of family commitments and therefore good at multi-tasking. So chances are, any woman entrepreneur is juggling and managing very well to deliver multiple things to the same task. Men, on the other hand, find it really difficult and annoying when they have to do several things at the same time. The other aspect is women entrepreneur’s concerns for emotional understanding, and wanting to deal with how people feel. Now, it is an asset for organizations that are able to empathize their workers, and when you look at these new policies with world life balances, it comes from an understanding that an employee is still fundamentally a human being, and has needs, you need to deal with that. Men entrepreneurs tend to visualize the final direction and want the job done.
Entrepreneur, Ramesh Ramachandra
You’ve been listening to Business Ideas. Join me at the same time, next week, I’m Melanie Yip for Radio Singapore International.
|
|
edit2.gif)
