Challenges and Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs in India during Covid-19 Pandemic

Shefali Nandan; Anjali Kushwaha

Shefali Nandan Assistant Professor, University of Allahabad
Anjali Kushwaha Research Scholar, University of Allahabad

Keywords: Women entrepreneurs, Covid-19, Multiple case study, work-life fusion, business model, technology adoption, innovation

Abstract

Covid 19 pandemic has deeply affected people all over the world. Women owned businesses have been hit
harder. The study aims at identifying challenges and opportunities for women entrepreneurs in the wake of
the pandemic. An exploratory, multiple case study based approach has been adopted for the study. Four
cases of women entrepreneurs were selected. It was found that women were undeterred by the challenges
posed by the pandemic. They focused on the opportunities and sought to leverage them to grow their
business. It was found that that the important challenges faced by the women were-declining sales,
operational disruptions, technology adoption and work-life fusion. Opportunities recognized and exploited
by the women included -adopting new business model, cost cutting, innovations in offerings, and expanding
market