had extremely low previous workexpe

had extremely low previous work
experience level; however, several had
families with business connections.
The proportion of married women in
this sample is also considerably higher than those found in other countries. For example, several studies in
other countries indicate that women
entrepreneurs are less likely to be
married (Bowen and Hisrich, 1986;
Shim and Eastlick, 1998; Stevenson,
1986) than their male counterparts.
Also, the number of women operating manufacturing firms is higher
than found in most western studies
(e.g., Buttner and Moore, 1997).
Initial and current
problems faced:
The women in this sample faced
problems similar to those faced by
female entrepreneurs in other
nations. Cash flow problems were
the most commonly stated issue
with "inadequate working capital",
"promoting the business", "lack of
managerial experience" and "lack of
time" being mentioned very frequently. (Table 2). Since most of
these women (51%) used their own
funds or funds borrowed from
spouse/family to set up their business, problems associated with inadequate working capital are to be
expected. While 43% had taken
loans from a financial institution,
for a significant proportion (38%),
this was only a part of their original
investment and not the primary
source of funds.
As in the case of women in other
countries, a significant proportion