Behind the over 1700 women who own and operate their own businesses in Jamaica, according to a Mona School of Business Study, are a line of women who have desires to become their own boss, chart their own course to independence, follow their passions and dreams. However some of these women also expressed a certain level of apprehension that has stopped them from aggressively following this dream.  Businessuite asked women, young women specifically, about this desire and the reasons they had not fully explored these ambitions.

Interestingly, an overwhelming majority of the women we spoke to said they did in fact have the desire to start their own business or have seriously considered it.

“I would open a day-care or a prep school because my academic background is in the field of education. As a mother of a one-year-old daughter, I take my child to day-care in the mornings. In doing my research and checking out these places, I have realized that we need more trained persons in this field and not just persons who are trained but persons who are passionate about children and education, not just in it for the money or treat it like any other job” says 29-year old Yolanda. Yolanda, who is currently completing a master’s degree in Education, sees this as her ultimate life’s goal.

“It would definitely be in IT” says 26-year-old Michca. “I’d probably include services like data entry, word processing, graphic designing and networking. I’d definitely do something with other people I know that have some of those similar skills to offer, like my former classmates from University.”

“My dream really is to start either a wedding planning business or an interior decorating business. Those are two passions of mine.” Having been recently married and attending more weddings that she can count, Gillian is cognizant of the amount of planning and expenses that goes into nuptials. “I can just remember the headache, the decisions, the running around, the back and forth and I thought how wonderful it would have been if I could have had someone to handle all the details.”

Other popular business ideas included: retail clothing and accessories boutiques; laundry, day-care and home maintenance services; flowers and gift-basket arrangement and delivery; events management and entertainment consulting; animal care, grooming and training.

Some confessed that they saw these business ideas as something that could supplement their current means of sustenance and provide additional revenue streams and not necessarily be their sole means of income, at least not from the outset. This is forward thinking as current personal finance research suggests that everyone should have at least four streams of income, of which one should be a small business.

There were a few reasons given as to why they had not or would be hesitant to actually going forward with their plans. The first was capital. “To start a school or day-care or any business for that matter would require significant investment which would have to be secured through a bank or lending institution. That seems like something that would be difficult to secure right now.” This was a sentiment shared by a number of the women we spoke to as we explored this topic.

One young lady admitted that she was very much afraid of failure. “I know nothing is wrong with failure but I think I just lack the confidence,” she went on to say. Her rationale was also shared by a few of the women we spoke to regarding the matter of women and entrepreneurship. Many expressed concern over the risk of going out on their own, and said that risk aversion was still at the forefront of their minds.

Another popular hindrance or concern that came through was complacency. Many women said they had settled into their current job or career path and were just not willing to make such a drastic change at this point. “I have become comfortable in the daily nine to five and working for somebody else and getting what I consider a steady paycheck. Maybe if I was unemployed and desperately in need of more money I’d be more inclined to do it.”

Others suggested that they had not yet fully explored the feasibility of such an endeavor, were concerned about the market for it, the overall economic climate, and the number of other persons already involved in that particular area.

Interesting enough, all of these responses were aligned with findings in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor -2012 Jamaica Report prepared by the local team comprised on Girjanauth Boodraj, Vanetta Skeete, Mauvalyn Bowen, and Orville Reid.  The report assesses the number of necessity entrepreneurs versus opportunity entrepreneurs, as well as the number of female business owners in comparison with males, among a host of other factors that impact the entrepreneurial landscape in Jamaica.BM

To read the full report and its recommendations visit http://www.gemconsortium.org/docs/download/2281