View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Ashesi Institutional Repository ASHESI UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CHALLENGES FACED BY FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS WITHIN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SCALE ENTREPRISES (SMEs): A STUDY OF THE SALOON BUSINESS IN GHANA (THESIS) ISATOU CHAM 2011 ASHESI UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CHALLENGES FACED BY FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS WITHIN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SCALE ENTREPRISES (SMEs): A STUDY OF THE SALOON BUSINESS IN GHANA By ISATOU CHAM Dissertation submitted to the Department of Business Administration Ashesi University College In partial fulfilment of Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration APRIL 2011 ii DECLARATION I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own original work and that no part of it has been presented for another degree in this university or elsewhere. Candidate’s Signature: ………………………………………………………………………. Candidate’s Name: ……………………………………………………………………………… Date: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. I hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of the thesis were supervised in accordance with the guidelines on supervision of thesis laid down by Ashesi University College. Supervisor’s Signature: ……………………………………………………………………….. Supervisor’s Name: ………………………………………………………………………………. Date: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I thank GOD ALMIGHTY for giving me the strength, knowledge and guidance to complete this dissertation. To Mrs. Kajsa Hallberg Adu, I keenly appreciate your interest, encouragement and critical evaluation of this dissertation. I would also like to acknowledge contributions from Dr. Stephen Emmanuel Armah and Ms. Anna Reimmer. I am also appreciative to my family especially my grandmother Aji Awa Njie and uncle; Dr. Mohammadou Kabir Cham for their constant support and advise. I am also grateful for the effort and contribution of my cousin Dr. Momodou Cham. To my friends for their support, advise and encouragement. Finally, my gratitude goes to Ashesi University for offering me the opportunity to have a good education. ii ABSTRACT This study is to find out the challenges faced by female entrepreneurs within Accra, Ghana. Females have been identified as individuals that encounter more obstacles in starting and growing their businesses as compared to their male counterparts especially within informal small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) where they are pre-dominantly employed. Thus, female entrepreneurs in Danquah Circle were participants of the study in that women who owned and managed businesses in the saloon industry were interviewed to further find out the constraints they encounter in starting and growing their business. Data was gathered for this research using secondary and primary data. Secondary data involved the works of scholars and practitioners on the subject under study. Resources such as the Internet, journals and newspaper articles were sources used to collect data. On the other hand, secondary data was used to collate the data from the outlined semi-structured interview questions. Due the primary data, the above findings were gathered to evaluate and analyze the situation of the entrepreneurs in the hair and beauty industry. Recommendations and conclusion were made based on the findings. Recommendations included banks to have a specific loan portfolio for women entrepreneurs in SMEs. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF STUDY ...................................1 1.0 INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................1 1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY ...........................................................................2 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM .................................................................7 1.3 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY...............................................................................8 1.4 DESCRIPTION OF STUDY............................................................................8 1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY ..........................................................................9 1.6 ORGANISATION OF STUDY...........................................................................9 CHAPTER 2..............................................................................................................11 LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................................11 2.0 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................11 2.1 OPERATIONALISATION..............................................................................11 2.2 DEFINING AN ENTREPRENEUR and ENTREPRENEURSHIP.............13 2.3 ROLE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.....15 2.4 LITERATURE ON FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS .......................................16 2.5 CHALLENGES FACED BY FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS ........................19 2.5.1 Social-cultural constraints ................................................................20 2.5.2 Lack access to credit ............................Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.5.3 Lack of education and information.................................................23 2.5.4 Other constraints.................................................................................25 CHAPTER 3..............................................................................................................27 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY............................................................................27 3.0 RESEARCH METHODS ................................................................................27 3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN ....................................................................................27 3.2 POPULATION.................................................................................................28 3.3 SAMPLING METHOD ...................................................................................29 3.4 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS .......................................................................29 3.5 DATA COLLECTION .....................................................................................30 3.6 DATA ANALYSIS...........................................................................................30 3.7 LIMITATIONS..................................................Error! Bookmark not defined. iv CHAPTER 4..............................................................................................................33 DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION.....................................................33 4.0 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................33 4.1 REASONS FOR STARTING THE BUSINESS (SALOONS) ..................34 4.1.1 Personal Motivations...........................................................................35 4.1.2 Financial Motivations ..........................................................................36 4.2 PROBLEMS FACED DURING START-UP.................................................38 4.2.1 Access to Credit ..................................................................................38 4.3 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN THE GROWTH FACE ........................39 4.3.1 Access to Land......................................................................................41 4.3.2 Rent, Prices and Tariffs on goods and services .........................42 4.3.3 Network Affiliations and Government Programs .......................43 CHAPTER 5..............................................................................................................44 RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION ..................................................44 5.1 CONCLUSION................................................................................................44 5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................45 5.2.1 Microcredit facilities ............................................................................45 5.2.2 Banks.......................................................................................................45 5.2.3 Network Affiliation and Government .............................................46 5.2.4 Hiring and training of staffs .............................................................46 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................47 APPENDIX A: Interview Guide for female entrepreneurs who own saloons within Danquah Circle...........................................................................52 APPENDIX B: List of Interviewees who own saloons ..............................54 v CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF STUDY 1.0 INTRODUCTION There have been profound structural changes taking place in the world within the social, economical and political spectrum. These changes are still continuing especially within the education system; the education system is encountering change in that parents are advised to enrol their children particularly the girls to school. Traditionally, girls were not enrolled as parents regarded it as a waste of resources because when married, girls will transfer the acquired knowledge to her husband’s home as compared to the boys who will maintain their knowledge within the family (Amu, 2004). However, governments such as Ghana are now promoting girl or female education by providing scholarships as well as