The Position of Female Entrepreneurs in Slovenia

The twenty-first century is undoubtedly marked by the changing role of women and the global increase in the number of female-owned businesses, which are becoming a source of change and innovation in the business world, solving the problem of unemployment and contributing to the development of society. Promoting the presence of female entrepreneurs strengthens the economy and is a source of political, economic and social innovation. A survey on the position of female entrepreneurs was carried out in the Podravje region. They came to the conclusion that the surveyed female entrepreneurs are married and the majority have one child. They have completed secondary school and established their own business between the ages of 31 and 36.

Problem

The twenty-first century is undoubtedly marked by the changing role of women and the global increase in the number of female-owned businesses, which are becoming a source of change and innovation in the business world, solving the problem of unemployment and contributing to the development of society. Promoting the presence of female entrepreneurs strengthens the economy and is a source of political, economic and social innovation. Nevertheless, female entrepreneurs face far greater obstacles and problems when establishing and running a business than male entrepreneurs.

Women establish their own business with the aim of becoming their own boss, having family support, being capable of running a business and being prepared to deal with the demands of management. By having their own business, they are guaranteed greater freedom and flexibility, which helps them combine family and work responsibilities. The majority of female entrepreneurs prefer to use their own savings and loans from family and friends for start-up capital rather than bank loans.

Female entrepreneurs face problems such as conflicts between professional and family obligations, lack of appropriate entrepreneurial experience and financial barriers. Despite this, many of them are successful and mostly attribute their success to personal qualities such as self-discipline, perseverance and hard work. A successful female entrepreneur will be one who knows how to realise her idea in her own way.

Entrepreneurship is a process of creating wealth that increases. Wealth is created by individuals who take great risks. With Slovenia's entry into the EU, new opportunities are opening up for Slovenian entrepreneurship.

The trend of women's involvement in entrepreneurship is also growing, but the share of female entrepreneurs is still lower than the share of male entrepreneurs, despite the fact that women account for a higher proportion of the population and represent almost half of the active population. Women are less present in public life than men due to their natural role as mothers and wives, stereotypical perceptions of the female gender and prejudices about their work. For the same work they are paid less than men, and their percentage in senior positions is negligible.

The influence of women on the development of entrepreneurship is considerable, as they are becoming a source of change and innovation, solving the problem of unemployment and contributing to the development of society. Research has shown that women are most often led to establish their own business by the desire to be their own master. Having their own business offers them flexibility and the opportunity to reconcile raising children and the need to work.

When a woman decides to enter entrepreneurship, it is very important that her family supports her, as her decision changes the way of life of the entire family. A woman will not succeed if she does not have enough strength, authority and support in the family. It has been found that female entrepreneurs encounter problems on their new path that they have at the very beginning or during operation.

The biggest problem is financial barriers. Obtaining capital is a perpetual problem faced by female entrepreneurs due to the nature and size of their businesses. Lack of appropriate education and experience also presents a problem, although some research has shown that female entrepreneurs are better educated than their male colleagues.

Many female entrepreneurs face conflicts in their roles as wives, mothers and business owners, as most women still do all the household chores and raise children because this is considered their obligation. Female entrepreneurs do not in any way renounce their responsibility to the family whilst running a business. The climate towards female entrepreneurs is by no means negative, although not particularly encouraging either, because women are simply expected to play a greater role in the family and household. If a woman wants to perform the most responsible function at work, maintain a home as expected by the family and perform other functions as well, general perfection is impossible.

Therefore, combining obligations is only possible with the full support of the family and the availability of social services. Nevertheless, it is a very positive assessment that in Slovenia establishing a business is a socially acceptable career for women. Therefore, a positive attitude towards women in entrepreneurship needs to be supplemented with a series of measures in the mentioned areas so that women can participate in entrepreneurship on an equal footing.

Although the characteristics of male and female entrepreneurs are generally quite similar, female entrepreneurs differ from male entrepreneurs. They are more rational and weigh up risks more carefully, start thinking about entrepreneurship later than men, are very responsible and do things thoughtfully, support means a great deal to them and they find satisfaction in the very fact that things work for them. Women can themselves influence the improvement of their position.

Therefore, it is important that they are aware that they cannot do everything themselves and they are the very ones who can influence being less burdened and above all they must not forget about themselves. They must also take time for themselves and engage in things that interest them. For the share of female entrepreneurs among us to increase, women's awareness of self-employment must be strengthened.

Women must also be encouraged to opt for their own business by strengthening the image of successful female entrepreneurs in public. Information on financing methods must also be improved and mechanisms that are supposed to encourage women towards entrepreneurship must be improved so that they would be more effective. Money is one of the conditions that enable entrepreneurs, both male and female, to realise their entrepreneurial vision and projects. As the business grows, the entrepreneur gets more and more new business ideas and needs more and more money to realise them.

Entrepreneurs, both male and female, soon after establishing a business realise that the financial area is one of the key areas for long-term growth. Financial management is one of the key functions in a business.

Solution and Method

A survey on the position of female entrepreneurs was carried out in the Podravje region.

Results

They came to the conclusion that the surveyed female entrepreneurs are married and the majority have one child. They have completed secondary school and established their own business between the ages of 31 and 36. They found that the main reason for establishing a business was the desire for independence.

Service activities predominate among the surveyed female entrepreneurs. The female entrepreneurs saw the biggest problem in establishing a business as obtaining a loan. They received the greatest support from their husbands.

They are of the opinion that there are enough support mechanisms available in Slovenia, such as nurseries, afternoon care and similar, which enable a woman to continue working even after she starts a family. Her partner helps her to a lesser extent in the household and in raising children; they receive more help from their parents. And as a female entrepreneur with her experience, she advises other women to have courage, perseverance, diligence and a firm will.

They found that women like and want to work, as caring for the family is not enough for them. They want to be useful, contribute to the family budget and be in contact with people. They know that they are working for themselves and for their family and for that very reason they do it with greater pleasure.

Every person has the potential of an entrepreneur within them. Her success, in addition to her abilities, business luck and motivation, is largely dependent on the environment. An entrepreneur will be all the more successful the more motivated she is to achieve her goal, the more developed her abilities are and the greater knowledge she has.

A successful female entrepreneur will be one who knows how to realise her idea in her own way.