Between home and enterprise: the Swakruta dilemma of scaling women entrepreneurs

Learning outcomes After completing the case study, the learners will be able to: Case overview/synopsis This case explored the challenges faced by Manik Patwardhan, founder of Swakruta Charitable Trust, which supported over 200 small and marginal women entrepreneurs in Bengaluru. Despite training and opportunities provided, many women were hesitated to accept large, profitable orders due to socio-cultural norms and financial constraints. Using social identity theory, loss aversion and nudging, the case highlighted how strong family responsibilities and societal expectations influenced their cautious approach in scaling up their businesses. The women need to balance family responsibilities with business growth, which restricted their willingness to take risks. Their concerns ranged from balancing family duties and managing time, to addressing uncertainty by hiring staff other than family members, trust issues and difficulties in arranging upfront funds. Upon reviewing their response, Manik realised that these entrepreneurs were hesitant to accept a lucrative order. At this critical point, she had to decide whether to let the order go or encourage and nudge the women to seize a career-transforming opportunity, despite the risks involved. Accepting the order could boost earnings and reputation, but failure could harm the NGO’s credibility, and declining the order could jeopardise future prospects. What should she do? Complexity academic level This case is designed for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship and related business disciplines such as behavioural economics. It focuses on the challenges and barriers faced by women entrepreneurs that limit their growth and ability to scale their businesses. Subject code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.