Abstract

In rural areas female entrepreneurship may contribute to the economic diversification of households and the preservation of their social fabric. In Greece, small private enterprises owned by women and the women’s cooperatives are almost the only forms of women’s enterprises in rural areas. This paper highlights the image of women entrepreneurs and their enterprises and points out positive aspects and difficulties of these two forms of enterprises. In conclusion, the paper identifies areas where Greek policies should be focused on enhancing women’s involvement in entrepreneurship or improving their business efficiency.

The work reveals that solo entrepreneurs are almost the norm in rural areas and are focused on the final consumer. However, their enterprises do not have great chances of surviving and ensuring future work for the family’s children. Women cooperatives were created by a top-down process and despite the problems they confront, they are a recognized form of female entrepreneurship and some of them are proven to be good practises. The simplification of the bureaucratic process for setting up a business, the creation of alternative financing tools and the improvement of the ways of dissemination of information to women are some important policy issues.

 

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