Not all businesses are created equal. Nor do all entrepreneurs share a level playing field. In my work, I look at social and digital inequalities and how they impact income generation in less privileged communities. Specifically, I have been working with female entrepreneurs in Pakistan and Ghana to examine how they might improve their situations – and one area that often comes up is digital inequality. While many of the people I spoke to – as well as their customers – have smartphones and use Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms, they do not exploit them for commercial advantage. In the UK, and in many other countries, small businesses can often rely on custom built on a social media presence, here that is not the case. I wanted to know why, and see how we might help these female business owners expand. MAKING NO PROGRESS In Pakistan, I conducted interviews and focus groups with women entrepreneurs from impoverished settings. I wanted to understand how inequalities impact their business activities, and how they might stop them making progress. As one woman said to me, “I’ve been doing this work for 10 years, but I feel I’m standing in the same place in my life where I was ten years ago.” The various inequalities mutually reinforce each other to limit the possibilities of progress. Because of their disadvantage, these women are not receiving support from the government or other authorities. They are on their own, and the disadvantage perpetuates. It was quite disheartening. Their business audience was restricted, neighbourhood-based. Those who would be passing by would be their only customers. Many of our participants were doing stitching or tailoring. They would make dresses, and sell them in a little shop, but only to people who knew them. A DIGITAL PLATFORM In Ghana, we are working with the NGO Girls Education Initiative Ghana (GEIG). They work with impoverished communities, looking at girls, and women’s education and supporting them. There are women who are already doing some business work, but mainly to meet their daily needs. Some were doing stitching, others embroidery, handicrafts, making traditional items, painting, running beauty salons, selling biscuits, juices, cakes, food items. All are vulnerable. Where they are, where they were born, the context in which they are living, mean they do not have any way forward to challenge their current circumstances. If they are able to better succeed in business, they might have that opportunity. We wanted to see how we can make it less vulnerable, less precarious. We believe that challenging the social digital inequalities can help them. It is about helping them understand the disadvantages they are experiencing. Because they have been living in that context, their disadvantage is in the background. They do not think about it. They do not question ‘why are we in this setting? How can we overcome this? What kind of support is available?’ By offering digital literacy programmes, we want to highlight how disadvantages are impacting their income generation, and the practical things they could do to circumvent those challenges and increase their business revenue. What about expanding their customer base? They had not thought about that, nor did they have the skills to do so. They did not know how to use Facebook to reach out to wider audiences, to increase their revenue. Almost all of them have mobile phones, and some have smartphones. But they use them for communication, making calls or sending messages on WhatsApp. They might connect with sellers or suppliers, but not use them to enhance their business activity. Social media platforms will not necessarily dramatically transform their lives, but they might provide additional opportunities. That is worth exploring; that could be valuable. Their potential customers use Instagram and Facebook, and other platforms, in Ghana and in Pakistan, to buy products. It could be their products. WORKING TOGETHER Beyond helping themselves, some of the women we spoke to were quite experienced, and all of them were keen to help others. Governments or NGOs seemed distant, and because of their daily financial troubles, many of the 28 |
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