Mulheres empreendedoras: uma abordagem da situação atual e desafios enfrentados por empreendedoras em Belo Horizonte-MG

Abstract

The present study aims at describing the main impressions of female entrepreneurs regarding their businesses, their difficulties and future perspectives on their enterprises. The methodology of this study encompassed a survey that was conducted with a questionnaire containing 19 items and was based on structured questions, with answer options of the five point Likert Scale type. The questions were related to aspects of the moments before the decision to become an entrepreneur was made, the beginning of the enterprise itself, the current situation of the business and, also, to future prospects for it, all within the scope of female entrepreneurs from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The probabilistic sample of this research was based on the criterion of accessibility, not probabilistic for statistical convenience, obtaining a total of 31 valid respondents, that acted as entrepreneurs in various business sectors in the City of Belo Horizonte, MG. After collection, the data were fed into Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. Henceforth, descriptive statistics was applied to present the data on the sample profile being researched. After that, the calculation of the mean, variance and standard deviation was carried out, as well as the tallying of the answer frequency of the questions in the instrument of research. Based on these results, a quantitative analysis (QA) was performed in order to verify the higher and lower values, and then, there was an attempt to describe the results to make deductions that enabled us to answer the question posed in the present research. This study yielded the result that, in general, most women involved in the study sought to establish a business because of their own will and sense of achievement, with the support of their nuclear family (parents, siblings, espouse and children). The minority attempted to make a business plan or have any sort of management training or instruction in order to better prepare to set up a business. Few of them suffered from gender prejudice, but reported some conflict between personal and professional life. Ultimately, they find themselves frequently motivated to manage their businesses, not facing financial difficulties to support their enterprise. They are aware of the need to use Internet resources and address strategic planning. Regarding the future, they believe that their businesses will be expanding and growing in two year's time, acting with the same market focus strategy, tending to the same clientele of today. However, they will have new demands of knowledge that they still do not possess.