According to a poll conducted on Monday among 400 independent women by Crisil and DBS Bank India, 21% of respondents who were seeking to finance their businesses preferred bank loans. However, up to 65% of women who work for themselves stated that they rely on their own funds or loans from friends or family to fund their businesses.
Only 4% of respondents said they favoured government subsidies and schemes above alternative funding sources for women-owned businesses, whereas 3% said they chose loans from NBFCs, angel/PE investors, and venture capitalists.
When asked what kind of help they would want to receive from banks in addition to loans, women who work for themselves pointed to two primary areas: business enablement and training. Regarding training, twenty-six per cent of women who work for themselves said they would want to be mentored, eighteen per cent needed help navigating government programs, and fifteen per cent needed help digitising financial procedures.
Significantly, 24% of respondents said they were ignorant of the possibilities available, which is one of the reasons why female entrepreneurs do not take advantage of government incentives. Furthermore, 34% of respondents stated that they had not used any government programs for their companies.
Eighty-three per cent of self-employed women who have used government programs do so mainly through three programs: Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, Stree Shakti, and Mahila Udyam Nidhi Yojana.
According to the report, women entrepreneurs consider interest rates and payback conditions when choosing a bank. When choosing a bank to provide a loan, 39% of respondents cited favourable interest rates and flexible repayment periods as important considerations.
But when it came to qualifying for a loan, the vast majority of self-employed women (64%) listed difficulties including extensive documentation, stringent credit score criteria, complicated forms, and delayed loan approval and disbursal as their top worries.
