Exploring the role of social capital in creation and growth of women-owned enterprises

Purpose The study aims to explore the role of social capital in creation and growth of women-owned enterprises in a patriarchal context. In particular, the study seeks to examine what kind of bonding and bridging social capital are used by women-owned enterprises across the various stages of creation and growth of the enterprise and with what resources these social capitals help women-owned enterprises at each stage. Design/methodology/approach The study uses the frameworks of Kleinhempel et al. (2020) and Churchill and Lewis life cycle model (1983) to identify the various stages of enterprise creation and growth. A mixed method approach (Concurrent parallel design) is used to explore the role of social capital in creation and growth of women-owned enterprises located in Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh state of India. The study combines surveys (n = 152) and interviews (n = 53) and uses a thematic approach that considers women’s narratives as the primary source of knowledge construction. Findings The findings from questionnaires and in-depth interviews reveal that in the initial stage of business creation, bonding social capital, especially, the spouse plays vital role by providing ideas, emotional support and financial resources to the women entrepreneurs. However, bridging social capital plays a relatively more important role in the growth of enterprise. Customers play a pivotal role in marketing and product innovation in survival, success and take off stages of the growth process and assists in providing business links, marketing and innovation. Moreover, the young venture is considered as the most difficult phase during the creation and growth of firm, though support from social capital plays crucial in curtailing this issue. The findings further suggest that owing to the patriarchal social values women have limited reach to other forms of bridging capital such as government institutions, peer entrepreneurs and mentors. Originality/value The role of social capital at every stage of women-owned enterprise’s creation and growth is yet to be understood comprehensively in the developing economies with patriarchal social values. This study not only conducts this investigation in an under researched patriarchal context of India but also improves on the methodological rigor of the existing literature by combining a quantitative and qualitative approach.