According to Women SMB digitalization Index survey by Visa, women-led firms in Pakistan face financial, digitalization, and advice problems.
To address these difficulties, Visa, a global pioneer in digital payments, is introducing its global She’s Next award program in Pakistan for the first time. They are in collaborating with HBL, Pakistan’s largest private bank, which serves over 36 million clients globally.
She’s Next is a global advocacy organization that provides cash, training, and mentorship to women-owned small companies. Starting today, Pakistani women entrepreneurs from a variety of businesses and sectors can submit applications on the She’s Next website for the opportunity to be one of five recipients of a US$10,000 grant each.
Winners will also receive a specialized training program, She’s Next Club resources such as a workshop library. They will also have access to a community of entrepreneurs. Applications will be accepted until December 2, 2023.
“We are excited to launch our successful global ‘She’s Next’ initiative to Pakistan in collaboration with HBL. Women entrepreneurs make up a small proportion of Pakistan’s SME sector. Moreover, they face specific problems such as limited access to finance, a lack of mentorship. Also face challenges coping with gender stereotyping concerns. Such as being perceived as less capable of handling high-pressure circumstances.” said Umar S. Khan, Visa’s Country Manager for Pakistan.
He further continued by saying, “”A solid technological foundation is needed now for them to scale their enterprises. She’s Next highlights this critical transition, recognizes the potential of female entrepreneurs, and helps them succeed in new ways.”
Visa conducted the Women SMB Digitization Index survey to better understand the desires and obstacles that female entrepreneurs in Pakistan experience. The survey showed crucial parts of the process of entrepreneurship and recognized patterns that would drive empowerment:
Theme 1: A Difficult Business Environment
Women in Pakistan are enthusiastic about entrepreneurship, citing financial freedom (48%) and leadership (41%). Funding their business is a significant difficulty for 86% of women, who use personal resources, while 63% rely on friends and family.
Theme 2: Entrepreneurial advice from other entrepreneurs
Women entrepreneurs in Pakistan are ready to learn from their peers, with many needing specialized help overcoming challenges (61%), increasing online sales (54%), and building a team of employees (43%).
Almost all (98%) women want to learn about money. Women (33%) seek advise on the forms of payments accepted from consumers and are interested in courses on crisis stress management (46%), utilizing social media for promotion (40%), and launching an online store (32%).
Theme 3: Digitization
Seven in ten female entrepreneurs claim to be digitally savvy, with 99% planning to digitize their business with a focus on digital marketing, business leadership. Furthermore, they also focus on artificial intelligence and automation, software implementation. Also focus on analytics resources to generate information and tools for customer engagement and retention.
The majority of female entrepreneurs (69%) accept both cash and cashless payments, with digital payments outweighing cash in both online and offline selling platforms.
Since 2020, Visa has funded around $3 million in over 250 grants and mentoring for women SMB owners around the world through the She’s Next grant program. These countries include the United States, Canada, India, Ireland, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Morocco.
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