Deborah Ho
Chief Executive Officer
DBS Asset Management Ltd

SINGAPORE started out as a nation of entrepreneurs. In order to sustain a vibrant and innovative Singapore, entrepreneurship is key. Women, however, have remained a minority among entrepreneurs for a variety of reasons. Most notably, these are access to finance, competing demands on time and a woman's perception of available opportunities. In a developed country like Singapore, it is important to encourage entrepreneurship in women not just because of our ageing population but, as a nation, we need to innovate in order to survive. We should encourage more mentoring and support networks across industries to provide women with entrepreneurial role models and also promote entrepreneurial education in schools. This is to ensure that women will have an understanding of how to commercialise their ideas.

Dhirendra Shantilal
Senior Vice-President - Asia-Pacific
Kelly Services

ENTREPRENEURS, regardless of gender or age, are motivated by key factors such as influence, independence, profit, recognition, and personal factors including creativity, innovation, philanthropy and passion which will drive them towards their vision of success.

The Singapore government has done much in recent years by offering incentives for women in terms of providing more options for childcare facilities, tax rebates and subsidies for childcare fees and a range of schemes offering assistance with household matters. In addition, access to regional and global markets and having the right networking opportunities, as well as offering recognition to support their entrepreneurial visions, are critical in helping women entrepreneurs attain their goals.

In today's competitive world, it is not enough to have entrepreneurial passion alone. It is also vital for women entrepreneurs to be adequately trained and equipped with the right skills. As such, introducing more incentives and programmes to educate and train women entrepreneurs will be useful.

At the same time, mentoring schemes and building appropriate networks for women to sharpen their business skills and knowledge, as well as strengthening their support systems for easier access to capital and markets, will go a long way to help spur women entrepreneurs ahead.

Laura Deal
Executive Director
The American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore

ENTREPRENEURSHIP is an integral part of American life and, for decades, women in America have been encouraged to start their own businesses. The Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988 marked the change for women-owned business in the United States by giving women entrepreneurs resources and by eradicating discriminatory lending practices that favoured men. According to the US National Foundation for Women Business Owners, nearly half of all privately held firms are now majority-owned by women, and that figure had grown almost 20 per cent in seven years. This movement has been beneficial for all citizens regardless of their gender; the Office of Advocacy of the US Small Business Administration states that small businesses pay nearly 45 per cent of total US private payroll.

Many American businesswomen have chosen to become entrepreneurs following frustration with some of the career challenges faced in large companies, such as the glass ceiling, inflexible work schedules, and lack of control over work/life balance.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore was recently challenged by a number of women members to increase support for professional women across the spectrum of entrepreneurs to executives at MNCs. In response, we have launched a Women's Network as a way to help professional women at various stages of their careers to network, gain insights, advance in their careers, and become more involved in the business community.

For example, our next event is a women-only golf training session, to introduce women to the 'golf networking' common in male professional circles.

Lim Soon Hock
Managing Director
PLAN-B ICAG Pte Ltd

WHEN more women pursue entrepreneurship, it will enlarge our indigenous pool of entrepreneurs, and provide a welcome boost to our second engine of economic growth. It may be the wild card we need to enhance the current rate of success of entrepreneurship, given that there are apparent differences in psyche between men and women in how businesses ought to be started, nurtured and managed. Our women represent a valuable source of human capital that has yet to be fully exploited. For all the aforesaid reasons, we have a compelling case to increase the number of women entrepreneurs to inject more vibrancy and colour to our business landscape.

The high failure rate of entrepreneurships may be a deterrent to more women taking up such a challenge. In this regard, for many women, when a choice has to be made between family and business, the choice is obvious. Policies and incentives are therefore needed to raise the participation and profile of women as entrepreneurs, but they must address the fundamental need of women to balance the demands of both family and business.

Any policy or incentive to promote entrepreneurship should be gender-neutral. Apart from the critical need to have more funding being made available, there ought to be increased support and greater willingness from local companies, especially the large ones, and our government to bet on start-ups. That said, special attention needs to be paid to pro-family policies to encourage more women to become entrepreneurs.

For a start, it makes sense for women to pursue entrepreneurship in a small way, operating from home and leveraging on technology, especially the Internet. If more women can jump onto the bandwagon in large numbers, collectively they can make a positive impact on the entrepreneurship landscape.

Arthur Tan
Director
Dashmesh Singapore Pte Ltd

THE typical family-related issues impeding women from being entrepreneurs are hard, if not impossible, to change. We should, instead, put more efforts in facilitating women who show that they are eager to be entrepreneurs. I note that such women are typically very dedicated to their businesses and in many ways are either superior to men or complement some of the well-known weaknesses of men. Government-sponsored agencies which encourage entrepreneurship must pay special attention to this group of budding women entrepreneurs.

Derek Goh
Executive Chairman/Group CEO
Serial System Ltd

WOMEN entrepreneurship is not new in Asia. Many successful women were traditionally engaged in small businesses in the agrarian societies. The post-war years saw women seeking education and entering the labour market. Thus, there was a decline in the participation rate of women in business during the baby-boom years.

In the 1990s, we witnessed a resurgence of women competing with men in the business world. Many rose to head MNCs in the world. During my tenure as president of Asme, I launched the Asme Women Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1998 to recognise and motivate outstanding women leaders in entrepreneurship and corporate leadership. These leaders go on to inspire many others to excel in business.

Women chapters should be formed in various trade associations and professional bodies to facilitate the participation and contribution of promising women entrepreneurs in the community, society and nation. The Apec Women Leaders Forum is a good platform for networking and exchanges amongst women leaders from Apec countries.

Teng Yeow Heng Michael
Managing Director
Corporate Turnaround Centre Pte Ltd

WOMEN do make good entrepreneurs. They are generally great multi-taskers. In many advanced economies such as the US, Japan and Europe, many female executives have left corporations to start their own businesses because they feel that there is a glass ceiling for their progression in corporations. With the advent of the Internet and modern-day communication technologies, it is much easier for women to start businesses and operate from home so that they can look after their children.

The growth of home businesses is going to be the growth trend going forward as corporate retrenchment gathers momentum during this global recession. Home businesses can include Internet marketing, training, consultancy, advisory services, multi-layer marketing, advertising, public relations etc. The government should also consider giving incentives and promote home business as this is a global phenomenon with great opportunity for our entrepreneurs. Women should learn new skills in this area of home businesses such as the use of Internet, selling, marketing and communication skills, networking capability etc.

Liu Chunlin
CEO
K&C Protective Technologies Pte Ltd

TOP entrepreneurs possess a synergistic melding of vision, innovativeness, sacrifice and determination against the odds. These qualities are personal and not gender-determined. However, society can place glass ceilings or set imaginary bounds by their prejudices on women. It is here that policies should stay away from gender bias and perhaps a simple intentional process of vetting for this can be done.

Women can consider going into areas where they already have a natural advantage, like childcare education, fashion, accounting and finance.

In areas where women are limited because of fundamental issues (for example, fewer women go into engineering and technology, though this is changing), there can be greater encouragement or incentives for women to take up such courses, as many businesses are technology-based.

Certainly women do not expect special treatment, as that detracts from the success they will finally earn, but neither should extra obstacles be placed in their paths. Successful women entrepreneurs who have juggled it all should continue to be publicised as role models.

Irene Ang
Founder
Fly Entertainment Pte Ltd

WOMEN should be given more chances to break into the market as they also form the major consumer group in Singapore. We can sell what we want better!

We should conduct more training and educate more women to come out and take risks. Women should themselves believe that in today's context, we are equal and what men can do we can do as well, if not better.

We must first get the notions of 'we are women', 'we are on the losing end', 'we are weaker' etc out of our mind!

David Ang
Executive Director
Singapore Human Resources Institute

THE growing number of women entrepreneurs around the world and in Singapore speaks volume of the tenacity and empowerment that they have in them. Today, the business circle is seeing more lady bosses running business ranging from small set-ups to multi-million-dollar ones. The education systems that we grow in have developed the women of today to be business leaders, holding key roles in economic growth and social development. The government has also put in place some sound policies and good initiatives, especially in financial areas, to help women strive as entrepreneurs. However, much more can be done to help women better manage their domestic issues especially if they are in a business environment which is highly competitive and demanding in terms of resources, time and money.

Broadly speaking, childcare management can be enhanced for the self-employed. Higher childcare subsidy for having a maid can be given to women who are self-employed. Currently, the system only provides maximum subsidy to women with a seven-year-old child and below. The age range can be extended till the child is aged 17, to help a self-employed woman ensure that the child is monitored and properly managed when she has to travel overseas or work long hours over the weekend to keep the business going.

Alternatively, the government can consider extending childcare services and provide childcare facilities on weekends. This would help the self-employed to put their child in a childcare over the weekend if they have to work, meet clients or run events. For women in the business arena, flexible childcare facilities and maid subsidy would be a great way to help them manage their irregular hours.

Gary Harvey
CEO
ipac wealth management Asia

IN any entrepreneurial economy, women as entrepreneurs play a significant role - creating jobs not only for themselves but for others as well. However, that's not to say that female entrepreneurship does not have its fair share of issues like family versus business responsibilities, the gendering of entrepreneurship and access to finance which have to be overcome so that they enjoy the same opportunities as men and thrive just as well. Policymakers can address these issues and provide women entrepreneurs with access to enhanced financial education, business opportunities and highlight successful role models so that the economic capabilities of women can be fully appreciated.

At ipac, we have been running a campaign to empower women through financial awareness and literacy by a series of activities, networking opportunities and associations with relevant agencies. This campaign also acts as a platform that encourages and enables the participants themselves to both support and collaborate with each other in other areas as well, such as the sharing of business acumen. Ultimately, the increased participation of women in the workforce will advance the status of women entrepreneurs in the economy.