In celebration of MSMES: the vital backbone to economies around the world.

In celebration of MSMES: the vital backbone to economies around the world.

Today is the United Nations Day for MSMEs - a dynamic event dedicated to celebrating the crucial role of Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. MSMEs account for 90% of businesses, 60 to 70% of employment and 50% of GDP worldwide.

UN MSME Day is also an important date on the Good Return calendar as many of the groups we work with are owners of, or work in MSMEs. At Good Return, we strive to enable women, the marginalised and their families to access opportunity and build financial security. We do this through access to responsible finance to start or grow businesses, in addition to financial and business training.

On this day, the United Nations urges that MSMEs hold the potential to transform economies, foster job creation, and promote equitable economic growth if given adequate support (United Nations 2023).

At Good Return we couldn't agree more, and to mark the occasion, we have decided to celebrate (and share!) the timely research work our team led on understanding the barriers women face to building SMSEs in our region.

Understanding the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs to growing a business in Cambodia.
In 2022, Good Return and Monkiri led innovative research to understand the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs growing a business in Cambodia. The report fills a vital research gap on women's entrepreneurship in Cambodia. Currently, the majority of research on this topic focuses on the barriers that prevent women from starting a business. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that barriers can differ depending on what stage of the business cycle you are at. Consequently, our report focused on the barriers faced as Cambodian women both start and strive to grow their business.

The research team discovered several key findings:

1) A major barrier facing Cambodian women to starting and growing their business was access to and knowledge of formal financial services;

2) A second barrier was access to and knowledge of information regarding the regulatory environment; and

3) That financial and emotional support from friends and family can have a significant impact on Cambodian women’s confidence to start and grow their business.

Read the full report on our website now.

Business barriers faced by rural women entrepreneurs in Nepal.
2022 was a busy year for Good Return, and the team also researched and published the report ‘Business Barriers Faced by Rural Women Entrepreneurs in Nepal’ with Nepal Women Community Service Center (NWCSC) and Jalpa Samudayik Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd.

Research on women's entrepreneurship in Nepal is long overdue. Nepali women’s ownership of MSMEs is rising quickly and the Government of Nepal itself is increasingly recognising the key role that women play in the country's economic development. However, Nepali women still face multiple barriers in starting and growing their business. Drawing on Good Return’s expertise in women’s economic empowerment, our report explored two fundamental questions:

What are the barriers (i.e financial, socio-cultural, educational, regulatory) faced by women entrepreneurs in starting and growing their businesses? And how can these barriers be overcome?

The research found that the biggest obstacle that women entrepreneurs in Nepal face is a lack of access to finance to both start and grow a business. Only a limited number of MSMEs in Nepal can access start-up capital from banks.

Moreover, regulatory and legal requirements impede women’s access to credit. To get a loan from any financial institution, women entrepreneurs must register their business, submit tax and annual income statements. However, many women living in poverty or rural regions do not have access to secure financial services or have banking history. In practice, this means that few women benefit from the government-initiated financing schemes for MSMEs or special provisions for women entrepreneurs. Consequently, the majority of entrepreneurs access capital from informal sources.

The report further found that a lack of access to business, management and ICT skills also poses significant challenges for women entrepreneurs in Nepal.

Finally, a number of gender specific cultural norms, including the notion that women are the primary care givers and not natural business owners, persist. These gendered norms eventually limit women entrepreneurs’ mobility and participation in the workforce.

The report finishes with a series of key recommendations to overcome these obstacles.

Read the full report now.

We continue to be inspired by all the amazing women we work with as they navigate MSME journeys!

Congratulations to Meldy Pelejo, Melodie Buendia, Benigne du Parc, Mimu Raghubanshi, Mochan Bhattarai, Melanie Weiss, Lillie Lack, Maneth Pol, Phaikdey UK, Gabi Gautschi and Olin Thakur from the Good Return Team who worked on producing this research - in addition to a number of leading local experts and institutions who are named in the report.