Women entrepreneurship has been recognized as an important source of economic growth, creating new jobs for themselves and others and providing society with different solutions for management, organization and business problems. They still represent a minority of all entrepreneurs, facing gender-based barriers to starting and growing their businesses, such as discriminatory property, matrimonial and inheritance laws and cultural practices; lack of access to formal finance mechanisms; limited mobility and access to information and networks, etc. Women's entrepreneurship can make a particularly strong contribution to the economic well-being of the family and communities, poverty reduction and women's empowerment. Bangladesh is a developing country, and the women of Bangladesh are deprived and discriminated for many reasons. But it is an optimistic turn of events that they are now in a position to empower themselves.

Through the years, Bangladesh has achieved excellence in its economic order, educational development, social changes and living standards. The dark ages of keeping women behind doors have given away to female empowerment, through educational and income earning opportunities. The greatest advancement is observed as women's increasing participation as entrepreneurs, within Bangladesh and also in the international arena. Women have braved family and social systems to venture into entrepreneurship both in the urban and rural areas. The business activities differ but the performance is commendable against the social and cultural restrictions for women in Bangladesh, including the tremendous odds surrounding the socioeconomic order.

Constraints and challenges

Women entrepreneurs commonly face many obstacles when building a business. Three common obstacles identified as the most challenging are: overcoming bureaucracy, hiring talent and acquiring financing.

Entrepreneurship was once considered a man's domain, but the tide has shifted. Although more women are becoming entrepreneurs, they often face a set of challenges not typically shared by their male counterparts. Some of the key challenges faced are:

1. Defying social expectations 
2. Limited access to funding
3. Owning your accomplishments 
4. Building a support network
5. Balancing business and family life 
6. Coping with a fear of failure

Though various initiatives exist, challenges of inadequate capital, sales promotion, permission for starting a business, gender discrimination, illiteracy, lack of business knowledge among women, non-availability of training programmes and technical support, lack of managerial experience, continue to create problems. Personal qualities such as hard work and perseverance, management skills and marketing skills, and support provided by their spouses or family are the main reasons behind the success of the women entrepreneurs. The level of participation of women in mainstream economic activities remains insufficient and the percentage of women in business is still much below that of their male counterparts, especially in rural settings where women lack assistance in the access to credit, provision of skill training, and market facilities.