Entrepreneurial Success: a Study on the Perceptions of Women Entrepreneurs in Andhra Pradesh

The perception of women entrepreneurs in Andhra Pradesh regarding success in business has been studied by obtaining their opinion on the various aspects related to success in business namely meaning of 'success' as envisaged women entrepreneurs, importance of success factors for success in business, human resource factors necessary for success in business, finance factors necessary for success in business, potential abilities of women on the leadership behaviour of women entrepreneurs, and areas of training required for women entrepreneurs. The women entrepreneurs were asked to respond to a questionnaire consisting of various statements under each aspect on a five point scale on the response categories. The rank or order of priority or order of necessity, as the case may be, was assigned to each statement in each of the aspects pertaining to success in business by evaluating the overall scores. The results are analysed by considering the women entrepreneurs under three categories based on investment (low investment, medium investment and high investment groups), family structure (nuclear family and joint family) and regional background (rural background and urban background). The analysis indicates that the opinions expressed by all categories of women entrepreneurs are by and large similar and the minor differences in the opinions are explained from the point of view of the social, cultural and financial background of the women entrepreneurs of the concerned category.