Women Entrepreneurs and Inspirational Stories

With the desire for economic independence, many women have successfully started their businesses and their stories have inspired many young generations to follow.

Proven position of women entrepreneurs

At the Workshop on “Empowering female entrepreneurs to start a business” held organized by RMIT University, Dr. Justin Xavier - Senior Manager of International Cooperation & Projects at the Faculty of Business, RMIT Vietnam University, emphasized that women entrepreneurs are increasingly leading social impact, environmental sustainability and ethical leadership. Importantly, businesswomen are making a positive difference in their surrounding communities and beyond.

Sharing the same opinion, Dr. Jung Woo Han, senior manager for the Human Recourse Program and Entrepreneurship at RMIT, also affirmed: “It is no longer the time when women entrepreneurs only worked with minor business. Female founders in today's discussion are living proof that startups founded by women have been achieving breakthroughs in innovation as well as the daring launch of international brands".

However, today’s outstanding achievements require women entrepreneurs to persist with continuous innovation and go through a difficult journey of challenges with all their spirit, energy, perseverance and endurance. “Innovation does not happen immediately but it is a long journey and starts with the smallest steps, repeated every day. Currently, there are only 20 companies with the mycelium technology in the world that Emmay has. This technology is not inherently complicated but requires many years of tireless dedication to be good at it. It took us 1,000 tests to achieve final success,” said entrepreneur Pham Hong Van.

When asked about women’s advantages at starting a business, the founder and CEO of Emmay Joint Stock Company said that it is the inherent considerateness of women along with other qualities such as the ability to listen, understand and care for others. These factors make women different and bring more advantages in business.

According to Ms. Xuan Nguyen, Director of Operations of Fonos Audiobook Company, another advantage of women is that they make up the majority of consumers worldwide. Women entrepreneurs can better understand and meet the needs of female customers, a point that men can hardly grasp. This gives women great potential to establish successful businesses by identifying women's needs and meeting these needs effectively.

Not a journey filled with roses

In reality, more and more women are starting a business and achieving success. However, behind that halo is an arduous journey that is not filled with roses. Female founders at the workshop also noted special challenges faced by many women entrepreneurs on their entrepreneurial journey, especially social biases and gender stereotypes.

Female founders at the workshop emphasized that one of significant barriers for women entrepreneurs is the risk of seeing themselves as victims and struggling with self-doubt. Women entrepreneurs face dual challenges: Not only do they have to convince others of their entrepreneurial abilities, but they also have to convince themselves of their own confidence in their own abilities.

To overcome these obstacles, women leaders affirm the importance of self-recognizing internal barriers and improving confidence through continuous learning, cultivating knowledge and developing comprehensive skills.

By My Chau, Vietnam Business Forum