
How female entrepreneurs can boost growth in Georgia
It is critical that female entrepreneurs receive support for the implementation of their ideas, says Mariam Maisuradze.
Entrepreneurship is challenging, but not because it demands a lot of effort, sleepless nights, disappointment, rejection, loss, and grief, but rather because others don’t trust in you when you first start this business.
Entrepreneurs are heroes and business is rife with risk. Particularly admirable heroines are female business owners. I met over 500 Georgian women entrepreneurs while researching my master’s thesis. Comparing their journey to mine was the plan. I was curious to find out if my lack of literacy was the root of the problems already in place or if it was a well-recognised and accepted standard.
The research I carried out for my thesis – in May 2022, looking at how female entrepreneurs access finance and technology and how they can use them to boost economic growth in Georgia – showed that 18.4 per cent of the entrepreneurs surveyed are from the handicrafts industry, while 27.3 per cent are from the service sector (crafts, handmade accessories and others).
Some 14.5 per cent of the entrepreneurs surveyed had been in business for a year or less, 23.6 per cent for one to two years, and 32.7 per cent for two to five years.
In terms of the number of employees, 54.5 per cent of the entrepreneurs surveyed have one to five employees, 14.5 per cent are still operating their businesses alone without any employees, 18.2 per cent believe their staff count is between five and 50, and just 12.7 per cent have 100 or more.
According to 45.5 per cent of the 500 business owners surveyed, starting a business in Georgia is more or less difficult for women. Only 18.2 per cent of respondents agree that conducting business today is not tough for women, while 36.4 per cent feel it is very difficult.

Sources of funding
Personal resources made up the primary source of investment for 72.7 per cent of the entrepreneurs surveyed, followed by bank loans, which were used as the initial funding source by 14.5 per cent of the respondents. Only 25.5 per cent of the initial investment had a value greater than 2000 lari, while 38.2 per cent was between 0 and 500 lari.
As the survey revealed, a sizable number of business owners participate in various funding programmes. In many cases, this participation is successful, as it was in our case (34.5 per cent). However, 30.9 per cent of respondents said they participated in funding programmes but did not receive a grant to launch or expand their businesses. 9.1 per cent of respondents have expressed scepticism about such programmes and do not plan to engage, while 25.5 per cent have not yet participated but plan to in the future.
Only 26.8 per cent of female entrepreneurs have received similar financial resources twice or more, which is a very low percentage. 23.2 per cent of female entrepreneurs have received money from initiatives just once.

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