The role of women entrepreneurs in the Emirati economy has always been viewed as a sub-conventional topic considering how local enterprises mostly included family business formats, and indigenous businesses were ventures between foreign business entities and nationals as local sponsors or nominal shareholders in the UAE. Therefore, amidst a buzzing market, the fact that was not brought to light was that even though women entrepreneurs are popularly celebrated in the gulf region, they still face various obstacles before business incorporation in the UAE.
Budding and aspiring women entrepreneurs must involve themselves in the business and work solely for the development and growth of the company. A business can never take off when the leader at the helm works at another day job for eight straight hours and then returns home to continue to work on a sideline project. An entrepreneur needs to establish communication and a platform for effective decision-making between inter-department activities to ensure each component of the company functions in a union for the overall success of the business. With a juggernaut load of tasks that an entrepreneur performs daily, we bring to you obstacles that a woman entrepreneur faces in her journey for business setup in the UAE.
Obstacles Entrepreneurial Women Face
1. Social and Family Conflict
Let's be candid here; this issue is not just a primitive concern in the UAE but rather a generic problem on a global scale. Women often face several restrictions when they endeavor to start their own business. These could range from social criticism and demotivation to rejection by family members due to the presence of a social diaspora around the whole concept of “working women” in middle eastern culture.
2. Lack of Recognition and Diversity in the Corporate Sector
The United Arab Emirates has realized the importance of gender diversity in the corporate sector, which is why new public and private ventures have been forged where women have led top managers towards achieving organizational goals. Therefore, the contribution of women in the Arab economy has been crucial in the recent dual decades. But the mentality is still stagnant among many market entities and lower-level departments that women leaders and women entrepreneurs are not at par with male counterpart employees. This notion is slowly depreciating as the private sector encourages organizational diversity and equality, both gender and culture-wise.
3. Conflicting Roles
While men are titled the bread earners for the family since birth, the scenario is very different for women. Even as an entrepreneur, a woman must experience conflicting roles such as being a mother and a homemaker, all while managing her own business as well. At the same time, most women are naturally good managers and cope with the multi-tasking conflict. But some women never get to bring their business into the incorporation phase due to family pressure pushing them towards prioritizing their personal life above their professional goals.
4. Financial Backlash
We’ve all heard of cases emerging around the globe where working women have confessed to not receiving equal pay in the organization for performing well in the same roles to that of male employees. Many institutions have raised concerns about the lack of equal pay for women both in the middle and top managerial roles. Similarly, women entrepreneurs face a financial backlash where companies incorporated by them are not offered the same amount of investment in seed funding and series funding compared to companies run by male entrepreneurs. Call it a socially backward mentality or a blatant excuse for lack of trust; the truth is talent is overlooked and underrated due to gender roles set as barriers by society.
How can Commitbiz Help in Your Entrepreneurial Journey?
Consultants are a go-to entity for all kinds of businesses, especially in a highly competitive Arab economy. Consultants help fill the loopholes in knowledge and expertise when starting a new company or expanding on an existing venture. From the company incorporation to a possible company liquidation, a dedicated consultant will stick throughout the journey with the client every step of the way. A consultant strives to ensure the business kick-offs to perform exponentially in the market, and finally, when business scalability has been saturated, liquifies hassle-free providing a suitable amount of remuneration to the top managers and available severance to the hard-working employees.
We at Commitbiz comprise of a team of specialized industry professionals that have been operating in the business setup sector for more than 15 years. With all the years of experience, we make sure that business owners can set up business in the UAE and various global business locations. We provide a complete array of business setup services ranging from business incorporation, company secretarial services, accounting & bookkeeping services to nominee director services. Contact us to know more about our services.
