Improving empowerment of women through entrepreneurship

Improving empowerment of women through entrepreneurship Shinta Widjaja Kamdani  ;   CEO of the Sintesa Group, Founder of the Angel Investment Network (ANGIN)

JAKARTA POST,  23 Desember 2014

                                                                                                                       

Nowadays people’s attention is drawn to news of a weakened world economy, ultimately resulting in weakening the currencies of many countries including Indonesia, the government of which has assured that external pressure on the economy will be tackled. When I visited Ciawi Market in Bogor last week, a young woman shopping for groceries complained about the high price of red chili, which had skyrocketed to Rp 100,000 per kilogram. The vendor gave a simple and believable explanation and said it was due to inflation. “What’s inflation?” the lady asked. “I don’t know,” replied the vendor. “I just heard about it on television.” Housewives, particularly among the poor, feel the worst effects of this economic volatility. They directly experience the increasing prices of daily necessities. Therefore, women‘s empowerment is imperative, specifically for housewives so that they become economically independent. The economic independence of these women can be achieved through entrepreneurship; a channel which provides access to flexible working hours while enabling them to fulfill domestic roles as required and contribute to the family’s welfare. An increased number of entrepreneurs will become a stronger pillar of Indonesia’s economy. At least 2 percent of entrepreneurs of the total population is required to feasibly deduct the number of unemployed and propel a country’s economy forward. We now have less than 2 percent of entrepreneurs, but I am optimistic that the growth will continue, with more entrepreneurs in the creative economy. An exciting update from the Tourism Ministry is that last year, this sector’s growth reached 5.76 percent, slightly above the average growth of our economic growth of 5.75 percent. The ministry also reported that the contribution of the creative economy to gross domestic product (GDP) reached Rp 642 trillion or 7 percent, with the largest contribution to the food and fashion industries, worth Rp 209 trillion (32.5 percent) and Rp 182 trillion (28.3 percent), respectively. As a businesswoman, these fantastic figures truly lift my spirit to encourage entrepreneurship among Indonesian women. As women, we have our advantages to lead double or even multiple roles in life besides being a mother, mother-to-be, or single mother, all with the objective of fulfilling the family’s economic independence. Many say a woman can build an effective team, combining sharp intuition and factual logic in decision-making, recognizing the impact of her actions along the way, and being meticulous in utilizing resources every time to perform her tasks. Business Week and Dow Jones business reports stated that women-owned and women-managed private technology businesses were run more efficiently than those of men. In Indonesia, the number of women entrepreneurs has reached 60 percent of all our entrepreneurs — clearly women are on the right track to build their own economic independence and increase the family’s welfare. What should we do to increase women involvement in business? Common barriers women often face are financial access, networking and capacity building. To address this challenge I invited my female friends and fellow businesswomen to create the Angel Investor Network (ANGIN) in 2012. This program focuses on boosting women’s participation in the economy. A women’s fund was created to inject business start-ups with ideas, implementation, funding, and business evaluation with more experienced businesswomen in ANGIN. The Angels also give mentoring to business start-ups that have run for six months or are still at their initial business stage, but are hardly progressing, mostly due to difficulties in financing — a main factor that often “kills” women’s entrepreneurial spirit. ANGIN has joined efforts to provide funding for local businesswoman and start-ups, especially for funding up to US$50,000, with investment targets of three to five years. Selected businesswomen and start-up owners also gain access to knowledge and experience from the Angels’ business networks, to learn best practices from international colleagues, to have business and financial consultations, to undergo business pitching training and due diligence to evaluate the market and create corporate strategies and to get business coverage. Many businesses have grown from the ANGIN initiative. Investors joining the network have increased significantly and are from various educational backgrounds. What has been accomplished today must not make us complacent. The government and the private sector must work hand in hand to achieve at least the 2 percent target of Indonesian entrepreneurs. Starting with a dream, then involving ourselves in the economic sphere is the real contribution that every Indonesian woman can make to fellow women and the nation. Happy Women’s Day, to Indonesia’s great women. ●