VARIOUS characteristics needed for success of a person doing business are initiative, motivation, and one’s capability to take timely and accurate decisions. These attributes stem from instinct of creativity. Women are creative by nature. In their quest to contribute to family income, they take initiative to explore possibilities of doing business. In other words, they decide whether to go into manufacturing or trading or take up service sector business. On finding opportunity and environment matching their skills, financial resources both existing and potential, they decide the line of business to be undertaken and formulate business plan accordingly.

In a developing country like Pakistan, where peculiar culture and traditions prevent women going into business, women- owned businesses remained confined to tailoring, boutiques and beauty parlours etc until mid – eighties. Thereafter on finding opportunities and necessary infrastructure they entered non-traditional businesses like textile industry, printing and publishing, catering, construction, filmmaking and consultancy etc in urban sector and dairy farming and cattle breeding and fish pond cultivation in rural sector, which until recently have been the close preserve of men.

Due to fast growth of women entrepreneurs and particularly women exporters, a net working has developed among business women both at national and international level. At international level, Women World Banking, USA, and its affiliated bodies in all parts of the world, women entrepreneur associations in India and Bangladesh and business and professional associations all over the globe have proved useful linkages in exploring and identifying export markets for products and services of women related businesses.

The creation of women wings in all chambers of commerce and industry and women exporters’ participation in international trade fairs and exhibitions under the aegis of Export Promotion Bureau has further enhanced success potentials of women- owned businesses.

In order to retain and enhance not only the volume of textile exports, the country needs to introduce new value- added products for substantial increase in export volume. Women entrepreneurs with their flair for creativity and aesthetic sense can introduce designer products relating to garments, shoes, ladies hand bags, perfumes and other accessories used by women.

Influx of new technologies and growing sophistication in the demand of consumers relating to all products and services warrants updating the management and business skills of not only entrepreneur herself, but also technical skill of workers in the businesses on a continuous basis. The Export Promotion Bureau, various textile designing institutes and skill development institutes run under the aegis of Pakistan Employers Federation and ILO, provide both short and long term training facilities in various lines of business. Hence, women can avail these facilities to ensure sustainable growth of their business.

To seek institutional credit for a viable business is no longer a problem. There are specialized financial institutions like micro finance banks, First Women Bank, leasing companies and SME Bank to finance micro, small and medium size industries. They offer finance on the basis of viability of project reflected from funds and cash flow projections of the business rather than relying on collaterals offered.

Finally, the question whether businesswomen are able to maintain a balance between the family and business life? The answer is in affirmative. The stages when a woman starts with a home-based business till the business becomes a multifaceted enterprise, family welfare remains her priority. It is an acknowledged fact that children of working mothers are always full of confidence and take initiative in all matters, as such grow up as a citizen vitally needed for nation building programmes.

Even in rural areas women involved in micro businesses have been found having concern for education and good health of their children and other family members. Various studies conducted for impact assessment of micro – credit schemes floated by various financial institutions, particularly in rural areas reveal that almost 70 per cent of women running micro businesses spend at least 20 per cent of their total earnings on education and healthcare of their family.

The creative nature of a woman entrepreneur motivates her to widen the vision of her business through linkages with various trade bodies operating at national and international level, which facilitate identifying new markets for her products / services, new technologies to be incorporated in the business and strategies to develop human resources for her project. Accordingly, she organizes and manages the business.

The global experience and also writer’s personal observations relating to businesswomen in Pakistan testify the fact that businesses owned by women continue to grow in total harmony at work place. Women generally enter business with sole aim of enhancing socio-economic status of the family by adding to the family income.

Generally, businesses undertaken by women are not harmful to the society. Not a single woman in Pakistan, in formal sector, has gone into manufacturing business of tobacco or related or other harmful items. Even the women doing business on a small scale take care of the fact that environmental hazards are not created at their work place and its surroundings.

A women doing business competes in the market on merit and never uses unethical and deceitful tactics. Because of her creative nature and better aesthetic sense, she strives for continuous improvement of the products / services she deals with.

With the innovative approach and hard work she succeeds facing even most aggressive competition in the business. She focuses on highly motivated work force and continuous infusion of new ideas for enhancing the frequency of offering new quality products / services for sustainable growth in their market share.

They are generally possessed of a number of characteristics, which promote their creativity and enable them to generate new ideas and strategies to do business. Women’s highly motivated entry into business enables them to communicate effectively with all stakeholders in the business including clients, thus achieve long term or everlasting relationships and networks. The consistency in business relations is also the result of caring and non-aggressive behaviour of women in business.

A businesswoman is a centripetal force, who co-joins family and community as a whole with the business. Her persistent concern for social values earn her a devoted support from her workforce and the clients. Due to considerate nature, management style of a businesswoman is generally found participatory and consultative. She delegates power to her managerial staff as well as workers and always involves them in decision making. Hence new ideas flow both vertically and horizontally in the organization.

However, some of the studies conducted globally relating to women entrepreneur reveal that highly motivated and ambitious women dealing in designer products were generally found having unilateral hold on the business and vital decisions relating to business were given personal and subjective approach. Obviously it is due to the nature of business which requires perennial inflow of creativity and new ideas.