Who can be an entrepreneur?

By Rachana Khatri

The holistic definition of entrepreneurship might look like this: “The act of building an enterprise with independence, motivation, and diligence, that involves taking the initiative to start a business with creativity and innovation.” To rephrase, the process of entrepreneurship too involves multiple functions in domains of production, investment, enterprise organization, capital raising, resource management – human and raw materials, technique innovation and application, and more importantly the combination of all these factors? (Kunwar, 2018). But, is our society designed in such a way that it enables anyone to ‘become’ and ‘succeed’ as an entrepreneur? Are our systemic structures, support mechanisms and ecosystem inclusive and what does entrepreneurship look like for people with disabilities? What are the challenges for people from different walks of life? Starting with this question, Impact Hub Network: Impact Hub Global, Impact Hub Kathmandu, Impact Hub Dhaka and Impact Hub Phnom Penh partnered with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) to understand the context and ensure that entrepreneurship support in Asia is accessible and inclusive for women with disabilities. The partnership aims to bring together different relevant stakeholders from Bangladesh, Cambodia and Nepal, including disability-focused associations, to co-develop a methodology for disability-inclusive entrepreneurship. Rather than discussing why women with disabilities can become entrepreneurs, this research will try to understand what are the barriers and challenges and what is limiting them!

At Impact Hub network, inclusivity and opening doors towards innovation is our core motto! Aligning to this vision, Impact Hub Network is trying to dig deeper into what entrepreneurship support and sphere looks like for women with disabilities in the Asia Pacific region. Our focus lies on addressing the financing disparity and the underlying infrastructure that contributes to existing inequalities and challenges to access to finance and entrepreneurial support. What are the underlying and structural barriers for people with disabilities in entrepreneurship avenues and specifically for women with disabilities? Guess what? Our women-led team at Impact Hub Kathmandu: Padmakshi Rana, Rachana Khatri, Rashi Maharjan and Bisheshta Shrestha are driving this with passion and excitement and we’re excited to see what ‘best practice module’ unleashes after this initiative from the network!

The overall objective of the partnership between Impact Hub and ESCAP is to ensure that entrepreneurship support in Asia is accessible and inclusive for women with disabilities, with a specific focus on addressing the financing disparity and the underlying infrastructure that contributes to existing inequalities and barriers to access. The concept of inclusion advocates for the acceptance of people regardless of their differences by accepting that each person has a contribution to make in society irrespective of medical need, disability, race or gender.

What does it look like in Nepal?

The startup ecosystem in Nepal has been gaining momentum, with an increasing number of entrepreneurs venturing into diverse sectors such as technology, agriculture, tourism, and renewable energy. There is also a rise in high potential and aspirational Nepali women entrepreneurs seeking extensive business and investment support in Kathmandu. This might seem optimistic because the entrepreneurial sector here is increasing with the surge of new ventures, but if we start to add layers of reality, this optimism will gradually fade. While there is growth, entrepreneurs in Nepal face challenges such as access to finance, bureaucratic hurdles, and infrastructure limitations.

To start the conversation about the different layers of reality, let’s bring more than half the population of Nepal: Women. A study on Women's Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Nepal: A Study Based on Kathmandu Valley says that despite constituting 52.05 percent of the total population in 2022, female participation in the economy remains relatively low (Acharya & Pandey, 2018.). This disparity is evident in women's entrepreneurship in Nepal, which struggles to gain momentum. According to the National Economic Census by the Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal, women own only 29 percent of the 922,356 establishments in the country, indicating progress but highlighting persistent obstacles. Additionally, it is difficult to conclude that these registered businesses are led and operated by women; many women registered as entrepreneurs do not actively operate their ventures, with their businesses often run by husbands or other male family members. Nepal's adherence to cultural norms and beliefs, rooted in feudalism, hampers women's entrepreneurial pursuits. These embedded structural and socio-cultural constraints pose significant challenges to the growth and stability of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. A recent study on Financial Inclusion in Nepal in 2023 UNCDF states that as of mid-June 2022, Financial Service Providers (FSPs) had distributed NPR 72.38 billion in loans intended for women entrepreneurs, benefiting 83,669 women. Nevertheless, this figure may not accurately reflect the situation, as numerous businesses are illegitimately registered under women's names to gain access to government subsidies. According to a survey conducted in 2021, an expanding number of women turned to informal borrowing to fulfil their daily requirements, with approximately 42% of women having sought loans from informal lenders. Only 26% of women have access to property rights, which severely limits their independent risk-taking abilities. Without the support of their family, many women would thus be unable to borrow from formal institutions. As per a baseline study on financial literacy in Nepal, gender-wise, financial knowledge is very low in females with a score of 38.6 percent compared to males with a score of 56.5 percent in Nepal (Nepal Rastra Bank, 2022).

Just adding the first layer of reality and data paints a grim picture of the entrepreneurial sector of Nepal. Our common learnings from preliminary study over the past month from three Impact Hubs i.e. Nepal, Bangladesh and Cambodia showed almost similar findings. There are significant skills and training gaps and a high need for investment in women entrepreneurs with disabilities.

We at Impact Hub Kathmandu, with Impact Hub Dhaka and Impact Hub Phnom Penh, are trying to dig deeper into this issue in the Asia Pacific region through support from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). Our focus lies on addressing the financing disparity and the underlying infrastructure that contributes to existing inequalities and challenges to access to finance and entrepreneurial support. What are the underlying and structural barriers for people with disabilities in entrepreneurship avenues and specifically for women with disabilities? There is a need to understand and go beyond our perception of the conventional challenges that women entrepreneurs and women entrepreneurs with disabilities might have. We are dedicated and driven to learn what entrepreneurship looks like for women with disabilities in the regions in Asia Pacific measures to overcome these challenges and design a best practice collection as a valuable tool for the future.