ANALYSING BOOTSTRAPPING TRENDS AMONG WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: A CASE STUDIES APPROACH

Bootstrapping, self-funding or using minimal external capital or resources to launch a business, is an increasingly popular strategy among women entrepreneurs who face significant barriers to finance their business operations. This paper explores how women from different cultural and economic contexts use innovative bootstrapping techniques to navigate gender bias, financial exclusion, and operational challenges. It reveals common patterns and unique adaptations in bootstrapping strategies, through a comparative case study analysis of five women-led ventures in Pune, India. The findings of this study demonstrate how perseverance, resilience, resourcefulness, and community networks fuel the early-stage survival and growth for women entrepreneurs. The study also provides insights into how bootstrapping serves as a strategic choice for resource-constrained but ambitious women entrepreneurs. The paper concludes with recommendations for policy makers to better the support for women-led startups which operate without external capital. By analysing different case studies from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, the study identifies motivators, constraints, challenges and trends in self-financing the women-led startups.