Impediments and possibilities of developing female entrepreneurship

Poduzetništvo je gospodarska djelatnost privatnih poduzetničkih inicijativa radi ostvarivanja mnoštvo općih, društvenih te osobnih, poduzetnikovih interesa, odnosno gospodarska aktivnost pojedinca ili skupine koji koristeći se nekom idejom, ulažući kapital u njezinu provedbu te preuzimajući rizik, stvaraju proizvod, robu ili uslugu od čije prodaje očekuju dobit. Poduzetništva nema bez poduzetnika, odnosno bez njegove ideje i inicijative, bez kapitala koji ulaže, ali i pravnog oblika u kojem se ideja ostvaruje. Ubrzani razvoj tehnologije i promjena stavova društva vezanih uz rodno izjednačavanje imaju izravni utjecaj na razvoj poslovne kreativnosti, poduzetničkog potencijala žena u pokretanju samostalnih poslovnih pothvata. Hrvatska je povoljna za razvoj ženskog poduzetništva, ali su još uvijek prisutni mnogi problemi i prepreke koje je potrebno ukloniti. Veliku važnost u suvremenom poduzetništvu imaju poticaji razvoja ženskog poduzetništva te izazovi s kojima se žene susreću. Činjenica je da se žene češće odlučuju na poduzetničku aktivnost u okviru neproizvodnih djelatnosti, a još uvijek kao takve nisu strateški interes Europske unije ni Republike Hrvatske te žene u poduzetništvu prati otežani pristup izvorima financiranja. U radu su također objašnjene statistike poduzetničke angažiranosti te pokazatelji položaja žena u Republici Hrvatskoj.Entrepreneurship is the economic practice of private business initiatives aiming to realize a variety of public, social or personal interests of the entrepreneur. It can also be defined as the economic activity of an individual or a group of people who, by using an idea, investing capital in its implementation, and accepting the risk; create products, goods or services, while expecting a profit. There is no entrepreneurship without an entrepreneur, or more precisely, without their idea, initiative or capital, but also without the legal form in which their idea is being realized. Accelerated technological development and a change in society’s views towards gender equality, directly influence the development of business creativity, as well as the entrepreneurial potential in women starting their own business ventures. Croatia is favourable for development of female entrepreneurship, but many obstacles are still present and need to be eliminated. Subsidies and grants aimed toward development of business ventures owned by women as well as the challenges female entrepreneurs encounter are of great importance in the development of modern entrepreneurship in general. It is a fact that women are more likely to attempt entrepreneurship in economic activities outside of the producing sectors, making them of less strategical interest to the European Union as well as the Republic of Croatia, which leads to less accessible sources of financing. This paper also contains statistical explanations of entrepreneurial engagement, as well as the position of women in business in Croatia