Women face challenges and overcome difficulties to undertake in Amazonas

International Women’s Day

Businesswomen and experts point out the biggest obstacles faced by women trying to start a business and how to overcome them

Manaus (AM) — Difficulty reconciling professional and personal life, mentality of unworthiness, lack of a support network that encourages growth. These are some of the main challenges to be overcome by women who seek to undertake.

According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the main survey on entrepreneurship in the world, businesses managed by women are slowly recovering. According to the report, there are only five economies in the world in which the proportion of women starting a new business is equal to or greater than the proportion of men: China, Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand and Lithuania.

For Cássia Souza, businesswoman and ambassador of the Clube da Mulher Brilhante in Amazonas, the big issue is to remain in an increasingly competitive and constantly evolving market, as many women undertake out of necessity and, when faced with business challenges, they get frustrated.

“Among the challenges faced, I can mention the great difficulty in accessing credit to invest in my venture, the lack of direction, planning and also seeking knowledge of what we don’t master very well. These factors determined some moments of crisis throughout these years in entrepreneurship, and the victories were consequences of these problems faced, recognizing that we need help. I went to find professionals who helped me understand all the processes of a business. Entrepreneurship doesn’t have to be lonely”,

guides the businesswoman.

Support

Also according to the GEM report, the support needed for women is not just limited to financing, they require structures such as daycare centers, extracurricular institutions for their dependents, places to care for the elderly, in other words, a support network for the entrepreneur to be able to dedicate yourself to generating value for your business, knowing that your dependents are safe and being taken care of.

“In general, there is an incentive with programs and actions through which entrepreneurs can obtain financing and instructions for opening their businesses, such as Sebrae, banks and other financial institutions with specific lines of credit or government actions such as Afeam’s Crédito Rosa, for example. However, the challenges faced by entrepreneurs continue to be the same as those of other women in the job market: a support network to care for their dependents, and this includes the need for places in daycare centers and elderly care institutions, double working hours, in addition to the challenges management and positioning of your business”,

highlights the economist, President of the Women Economist, Diversity and Sustainability Commission of the Regional Economic Council (Corecon) Karla Martins.

Karla says that at the beginning of her career, she went through situations of salary differences and competition for position with male professionals, even though she had more qualifications and delivered more results, without being successful because she was “a woman and young”.

“At that time, about 15 years ago, discussions about women in the job market and statistics were not as present as they are now, much of the harassment was veiled and considered ‘cultural’ in companies. Today, the challenge is whether or not to become a mother and its impact on professional life, as we know that even with a support network, women suffer when they return to their routine”,

elucidates.

Resilience

President of the Instituto Norte Brasil Social e Cultura, Viviane Reis de Oliveira says that the challenges are constant.

“As president, I am responsible for managing social projects carried out by partnerships, attracting new partners, managing the technical and operational team, developing goal planning and activity schedules. Unfortunately, for some, women’s ability to multitask is only understood as viable for assistance positions, at best, management, but little valued for leadership, management and entrepreneurship positions”,

observe.

“From my own experience I can say that I see situations in which, because I am a woman, my opinion is sometimes minimized, my ability is questioned and I would even say that my voice is silenced by the impetuosity of the opposite gender’s pride, but then, theories of conspiracy or the famous ‘guess’, they fall apart when they realize the results”, analyzes Viviane.

The Coordinator of the Department of Assistance to Medium and Small Industry of the Federation of Industries of the State of Amazonas (Fieam), Erlem Lúcia Montefusco, advises women who wish to undertake, start or even return to the job market, to always rely on knowledge.

“You need to start, ‘roll up your sleeves’, wake up in the morning and know that you are responsible for your life, that your choices are what define your future. Define what you want to do and seek knowledge to be the best professional possible and not give anyone the power to frustrate your achievements.”

*With information from consultancy

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