Women-led micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are the powerful engines of financial growth, income generation, and economic resilience in Bangladesh. Women retailers contribute a lot to their families. Most of them spend it on food expenses and the education of their kids. Women retail shop owners usually face social, economic, and mental challenges while running the business, mostly in urban areas. They face multiple challenges—at the higher rates in urban areas. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a negative impact on women retailers. It pointed out some loopholes and weaknesses present in the socio-economic and policy landscape of the women MSMEs.
The banking sector is not yet friendly for women entrepreneurs:
For women entrepreneurs, getting financial support from the banking sector remains a big challenge. Many face biases that make it hard to secure loans and credit. Traditional banks often require collateral, something women may not have. The process is also complicated and time-consuming. Additionally, there aren’t enough financial products designed specifically for women-led businesses, making it difficult for them to grow. This barrier limits the potential of individual women entrepreneurs and affects overall economic growth. Ensuring fair financial access is crucial for creating a more inclusive and dynamic business environment.
The majority of the women MSMEs faced both economic and social challenges during the pandemic:
Women retailers often feel insecure while doing their day-to-day business mostly working in lower social, financial and mental protection thus they are more prone to crisis shock. Moreover, the pandemic has severely threatened the recurrent pace of economic empowerment of women in Bangladesh. The majority of the women MSMEs are still facing the after impact of the pandemic in both their economic and social arenas.
Lack of Business Skills and Training for Women MSMEs
MSMEs lack access to adequate retail business education, training and mentorship opportunities. Nonetheless, women retailers start retail shops on situation demands. So obviously the starting phase is way too difficult for them. They start to crumble while acquiring supplies and deal with all the things by competing with the males as well. All these hurdles prevent them from developing the necessary skills to manage and scale their businesses effectively. Without proper guidance on financial management, marketing, or digital tools, they face difficulties competing in a rapidly evolving market. This knowledge barrier perpetuates inequality and limits their contribution to the economy.
Limited Access to Market Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs
Women-led MSMEs struggle to access larger markets due to restricted networks, inadequate digital know-how, and social constraints. Traditional gender roles and societal expectations also limit their mobility, making it harder for them to attend markets, connect with brands, or establish a formal business relationship. This restricted market access reduces their business potential, resulting in slower growth and lower revenue compared to their male counterparts.
Such indications can be transformed into opportunities. Since then, the country has been trying to reach the next level of economic empowerment for women by taking them up in the value chain and integrating them into the global value chain.
In the backdrop, PriyoShop, the leading B2B, is providing paramount importance to these women-led mom-and-pop shops so that the economic growth model takes a gender-sensitive approach and keeps gender inclusivity a priority. PriyoShop is offering innovative solutions for women-led MSMEs and offers ideas on how to underpin these solutions to change their lives.
Providing an Innovative Financial Platform for Uncollateralized Loan Products
To mitigate these early-stage women microenterprises that lack credit history and collateral face challenges in accessing traditional forms of finance. PriyoShop provides credit access to them so that they can avail of supplies even without investing capital. Alongside, in response to financial challenges, PriyoShop worked with Lanka Bangla Finance PLC and MasterCard to launch the first-ever CMSME credit card, a peer-to-peer credit card facility or lending platform that provides uncollateralized purchasing power to underserved women retailers to provide financial ease. Priyoshop, through its innovative platform, utilizes a fully automated credit scoring system, enabling quick investment decisions while still ensuring due diligence is conducted. It has continued to propel women MSMEs growth, including by helping it launch this credit card that is solely designed to enhance microenterprise resilience. With PriyoShop’s fintech solutions, women-led small shops can expand their inventory, open new shops, and strengthen their engagement with the local diaspora.
Reducing the Hurdles of Supplies through Smooth Logistic Support
PriyoShop is making a real difference for women-owned MSMEs by providing smooth and efficient logistic support tailored to their unique needs. Through the power of technology and a strong delivery network, PriyoShop ensures that supplies are procured and distributed on time, cutting out the usual hassles like delays and high transportation costs.
With features like real-time tracking, bulk order management, and doorstep delivery, women entrepreneurs can focus on what they do best: growing their businesses. They no longer have to worry about supply chain issues.
PriyoShop’s dedication to supporting women MSMEs with seamless logistics is helping them succeed and creating a more inclusive economy.
Connecting Brands with Women MSMEs
By linking brands with women MSMEs, PriyoShop creates a bridge between opportunity and innovation. Brands can tap into new markets, gain fresh perspectives, and work with resilient entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, women-led businesses benefit from resources, connectivity, and access to a larger consumer base.This collaboration not only boosts brand visibility and reputation but also helps women entrepreneurs thrive. It contributes to sustainable development and a more equitable economy. Together, brands and women MSMEs can shape a future of collaboration and empowerment.
It is of no debate that women have been affected disproportionately by the socio-economic distress of the COVID-19 pandemic but the mechanisms and measures for their recovery are getting additional attention from PriyoShop. While many of the interventions taken by the government or other organizations yielded effective results for males in various sectors, the same might not be true for the women involved in CMSMEs. The pandemic has pointed out the number of loopholes and weaknesses in several areas, which are being minimized by using the knowledge and learnings generated through PriyoShop’s global learning through several events. We are expecting a brighter future ahead for women-led MSMEs.