Rural Women Entrepreneurs in the Informal Sector of India

Informal economy has a significant role in entrepreneurship, particularly, women entrepreneurs of rural area. It has great impact on employment and income generation. Normally, the sector, which is not organized, not recorded by public authorities and which has no identity, is considered to be a part of informal sector. The informal sector is defined as those establishments that employ less than 10 persons with or without use of power. The formal sector includes manufacturing, trade and services, while the informal sector includes businesses that have small size of operation and low investment, so entry is easy compared to the formal sector. On the other hand, women-owned businesses have drawn significant attention around the world. It is observed that women start business for several reasons like financial support, earning livelihood for the family, independence, etc. The size of the business owned by women in informal sector is usually small and operated from their own residence. With successful business performance, most of the women want to remain in the business. But women do not receive enough support from their family as well as government authorities. These entrepreneurs must be involved in modern small-scale units. If they are properly trained and provided with the required capital, then rural India and informal sector will emerge as a story of success