Financial Accessibility: A Moderator for Women Entrepreneurial Readiness

Abstract

Microenterprises are an important source of employment and income for people. Considering the fewer women entrepreneurs compared with men in society, fostering women entrepreneurship is vital for reviving economic growth and raising their standard of living. Government organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and small finance banks support women by providing training programmes and finance at low or no interest rates and without collateral. Therefore, this study brings forth the support provided by the NGO Kairos in Kannur district of Kerala, India, for accessing financial services from banks in fostering women entrepreneurship. The study also finds the moderating role of accessibility of financial services and other success components for initiating entrepreneurial readiness among women. A sample of 150 women beneficiaries was considered for gathering data using a structured questionnaire. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) technique was adopted in multivariate data analysis to evaluate the hypothesis. The findings from the analysis highlighted the services provided by Kairos for obtaining credit from banks to benefit women beneficiaries. The results from the PLS-SEM unveil the entrepreneurial readiness among women even though the accessibility of credit services is low.

Keywords: Women Beneficiaries, Kairos NGO, Microfinance, PLS-SEM, Entrepreneurial Readiness

View PDF