the challenges of rural, women small-business owners in limpopo province: acase of makhado local municipality, south africa

For decades, business has been a male-dominated activity, but recently, a considerable number offemale entrepreneurs have emerged around the world. one of the motivating aspects that drives women tobecome entrepreneurs is the flexibility offered by self-employment, women’s ability to contribute to theeconomy of the country and also to be able to contribute to the household income. however, there arechallenges experienced by women entrepreneurs in growing their businesses. this may be since womenhave a wide range of responsibilities both at work and at home that affect their productivity. multiplefamily tasks and responsibilities for women entrepreneurs may cause work-family conflict, which couldjeopardize their long-term business success. therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate thechallenges that women-owned small enterprises face at the makhado local municipality, limpopoprovince, south africa. the study is qualitative in nature and data was collected through the usage offace-to-face interviews with 40 women entrepreneurs. thirty-six out of 40 women (90%) said that theyhad encountered discrimination in various forms, including being told they ought to remain at home andtake care of the family because they are women, amongst other forms of bias and discrimination fromcommunities, their own husbands and even their close family members. the respondents made thefollowing recommendations: the respondents wanted to be trained in business skills and the trainingshould be needs-based so that the women are offered training tailored according to their needs. they alsoindicated that they wanted financial support for their businesses form government and its agencies.participants recommend that the women should be educated first before starting businesses so that theyare able to understand contracts and negotiate better. infrastructure in the form of favourable workingconditions and technology should be made available to facilitate the expansion of small firms that arewomen-owned in the municipality. the study concluded that women have a role to play in business andthe economy at large and the municipality and the province should address their challenges.