Awareness of women as entrepreneurs.
Dr. Aleya Perveen
I'm Monira Begum, and at 50, I consider myself a successful entrepreneur. Despite my education, I have not been able to assert that my opinion is valued in society. My acquaintances, particularly my in- laws, were continuously pointing fingers at me or telling me that I was unqualified to work or earn. My only qualification is that I have raised children and served everyone in my family. After graduating from University with a master's degree in the Bengali department, I used to believe that my primary responsibility was to nurture my family and look after everyone. In the process of keeping the family harmonious, I lost track of who I was. But COVID-19 drastically altered my perspective and helped me become independent. COVID-19 has also taught me that one can make oneself competent by having good qualities or qualifications.
I remember from childhood that I loved to cook new dishes. When my mother was cooking, I would sit beside her and watch her cook and help her. The thought of making and selling homemade frozen food comes to mind to make new food for everyone in the family during COVID. I use my thoughts. Gradually, the food items increased, and the sales volume increased. Later, I owned a small food stall with the financial support of a women's organization. In this way, due to constant hard work, my small food stall began to earn a fair amount of income. As a result, I gradually became financially empowered, and I started to know myself anew. Now I have learned to prioritize my opinion.
Many people now cannot ignore my opinion. Almost everyone is forced to respect my work. Everyone is praising my entrepreneurial life. My entrepreneurial life is short,but full of challenges at every moment. This challenge is not only with oneself but also with society. I believe that if a work is done with one's best, then success will come, and everyone is bound to respect that work.
Although many people tell me why I became an entrepreneur in middle age, I think age is not really a barrier. Age is just a number for me when it comes to self-identity or self-expression. Commitment is important to me. But to be a successful entrepreneur, the things that need to be emphasized are: hard work, enjoying work, believing in yourself, persistence in achieving goals, and showing honesty and integrity. But it is not so easy to become a successful entrepreneur if you have all these qualities. Actually, being an entrepreneur requires a lot of hard work, patience, knowledge, and skills. A good plan and business risk-taking, as well as being strategic and accepting any challenge, are very important in this regard. Apart from this, accepting innovation between oneself and the business, treating customers well, being prepared for failure, keeping proper accounts of the business, etc. are some of the characteristics of a good entrepreneur.
I think the role of entrepreneurship in women's empowerment is immense. Currently, the government of Bangladesh is working relentlessly in the field of creating entrepreneurs. Several ministries, including the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs of Bangladesh, are playing an important role in creating women entrepreneurs. All these ministries are making women skilled through various trainings. For example, the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs has trained 5490 women in various subjects in 64 district towns and three upazilas in Bangladesh to increase the business skills of women entrepreneurs. These trainings include computer training, tourist guide training, fashion designing training, salesman training, vermi compost training, beautification, block batik training, tailoring training, pastry and bakery training, kitchen and cafe management training, food and beverage service and production training, mushroom cultivation training, apiculture training, car driving training, daycare and caregiver training, etc. Various NGOs and some individuals are also providing training on various subjects.
So I think if women want to create self-employment and self-identity or establish themselves as entrepreneurs in society, then my advice would be to make yourself skilled through training and increase your income through skills. Be self-reliant; make your family and society self-reliant, no matter what age you are as a woman.