Self Help Group - Development of the Entrepreneurship Character

According to a report on “Entrepreneurship Qualities of Members of Self Help Groups in
Dharwad District of Karnataka State” by Suma Hasalkar, Suhasini Rao and Chhaya Badiger, the women self help group play an important role in the entrepreneurship development especially in the rural areas. The study focuses on the various enterprises taken up by the self-help groups in the selected area and the identification of entrepreneurial qualities of women members of these groups organized in the rural areas of Dharwad District. The study revealed that out of the 15 self-help groups, three were registered and all groups had the bank account with joint signatories and conducted regular meetings. As high as 85.97 percent members participated in the wholesale purchase and sale of consumer goods with marginal profit to the society or self-help group. The traditional enterprises of leaf plate production and marketing was taken up by maximum percentage of women (31.7%). About 40.2 percent members were identified to have the quality ‘cooperation’ followed by the qualities ‘contribution of new ideas in meeting’ (17.95%) and ‘purchasing abilities’ (17.56%).

It has been generally accepted that a woman’s income in the family is very essential and important in relation to the nutritional, economic and educational upliftment of her family. Women contribution to the basic family maintenance stands out to be more than her male counterpart and so an increase in women’s income leads directly to better child health and nutrition. Thus the Formation of women self help groups help in development of entrepreneurship qualities, increase in employment opportunities, her social participation and horizons of her knowledge. Though most of the women in India have the capacity and talent to work, they are not able to get ready made jobs due to the under and unemployment problems. Household enterprise constitutes the single biggest source of employment for women after agriculture. SHGs have become the best way to help a women recognize her own talents and capabilities and engaging herself in income generating activities. An entrepreneur as defined by Schumpeter (1961) is a dynamic agent of change or the catalyst who transforms increasingly physical, natural and human resources into corresponding production possibilities (Vinze,1987). The SHGs have emerged as a potent means of economic and social empowerment for the poor and especially the women.

Micro Marketing - Marketing people at the bottom of the pyramid

The bottom of the (economic) pyramid consists of the 4 billion people living on less than $2 per day. Mr. C.K. Prahlad in his famous book “the Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid” emphasizes that these people can turn as resilient and creative entrepreneurs and value conscious consumers and would lead to a new world of opportunity.

Marketing of Microcredit to the people in the bottom of the pyramid has helped in building up new entrepreneurs in the society. The banks were able to tap into this large market to extend their reach. They were able to keep their transactions costs low and also ensured a higher repayment rate. The Micro Finance Institution (MFI) was in their turn able to scale up their operations with more financing owing to their access of more credit products. This has turned out to be a win-win situation for both.

Such success of Microcredit business should not be only attributed to the banks and other financial organizations for their willingness to lend these people but to the successful development of Self Help Groups (SHGs) who help in bridging the gap between the financiers and the consumers. The SHGs and their Bank linkage have provided these SHGs, with the capacity to increase their capital base to fund more members and bigger projects. It is estimated that there are at least over 2 million SHGs in India. Some SHGs are networking among themselves into federations to achieve institutional and financial sustainability. According to APMAS, 1.6 million SHGs have been bank-linked with cumulative loans of Rs. 69 billion.

These SHGs have become a back bone in marketing the credit products of the MFIs and Banks in India. The reach of these SHGs could be leveraged to market other products to the people living at this level of the pyramid. Owning to the lesser income of these people certain products would surely need customization to get accepted. Companies engaged in segments like Consumer durables, Automobiles, FMCG, Healthcare and other Financial Services can take advantage of these network to market their products. This could help tap a greater untapped market giving them advantage in revenue and growth terms as well.