IS SOCIAL MEDIA A BOON FOR SMALL BUSINESS AND WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS? AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Abstract

Is social media beneficial for small business owners? Is there any difference in such benefits enjoyed by male and female small business owners? Since small business is an important livelihood option for individuals having limited access to capital and social media is an important platform to showcase their products, it is important to find answers to these queries. To this end, the authors conducted surveys on 110 small business owners who operate through different social media platforms. The findings suggest that women are relatively more successful in sales through social media while perception towards social media, trust towards the customers play important roles to improve volume of sales. KEYWORDS: Social media, small business, trust, perception.