Challenges of rural women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh to survive their family entrepreneurship: a narrative inquiry through storytelling

Abstract

PurposeFamily entrepreneurship benefits women because of their economic, family, and social needs. But, as rural women, it is not much easy for them to maintain their family entrepreneurship successfully. Thus, this paper aims to explore the main challenges faced by rural women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh to survive their family entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approachThis study is qualitative in nature, based on narrative inquiry. The purposive sampling technique was used as a part of a non-probability sampling method to collect the data from rural women entrepreneurs from three districts (Khulna, Shatkhira, and Sylhet) in Bangladesh engaged in family entrepreneurship. No new information was found after collecting the data from seven (07) respondents; thus, they were chosen as the final sample size.FindingsThe findings show that rural women entrepreneurs faced primarily social and cultural, financial, and skill-related challenges, though they face other challenges to survive their family entrepreneurship. The attitude and perception of society toward women and their roles are at the root of social and cultural barriers. Researchers also found that financial challenges have a colossal impact on rural women and the other problem.Practical implicationsAlthough entrepreneurial activities are essential for socio-economic development in these developing countries, this research adds to the existing information by highlighting the main challenges that rural women face when they want to be business owners and entrepreneurs.Originality/valueResearch on rural women entrepreneurship in Bangladesh is limited and new. This study can provide an overview of the challenges faced by the rural women entrepreneurs and provide them with a blueprint for the development of women entrepreneurs in developing countries.