An entrepreneur is a person who takes risks and has the responsibility to innovate by bringing together factors of production in order to achieve a certain return.
It is important for the entrepreneur to have experience in the sector they want to operate in. In addition, they should have experience in marketing, production, management and finance.
It is not obligatory to be a university graduate to become an entrepreneur. However, being a university graduate will contribute to the entrepreneurship process. However, there are currently very successful exemplary entrepreneurs who are not university graduates.
For an idea to become a successful entrepreneurial story, it must offer a solution to the problems people face, the good or service must be accessible, and people need to want to buy these goods and services
In the 12th Development Plan (2024-2028), in the “women” chapter, the main objective is to ensure that women benefit equally from opportunities and possibilities in all areas of life, especially education and employment, and live free from all forms of violence and discrimination, and to increase their representation and participation in all areas and levels in order to ensure that women, who have a central role in the family, receive the superior value they deserve and to accelerate our development.
When the numerical targets of the chapter are analyzed, it is seen that the targets for strengthening the position of women in economic life include increasing the female labor force participation rate to 40.1% and the female employment rate to 36.2% by the end of 2028.
The 12th Development Plan's “women” chapter includes the following measures in the field of women's entrepreneurship:
In the 2024-2026 Medium Term Program The following statement is included:
“Special programs will be developed to ensure women's full, equal, secure and effective participation in the labor market, which is changing with the digital and green transformation, and to provide women and girls with the new skills and abilities that will be needed in this context, and programs in areas such as entrepreneurship, financial literacy and cooperatives that will increase women's participation in the labor force will be expanded and disseminated.”
Institutions and organizations provide financial support, legal and financial consultancy services and trainings to those who will start their business for the first time. Many institutions and organizations such as KOSGEB, Credit Guarantee Fund, Banking sector, Development Agencies, Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution, Turkish Foundation for the Prevention of Waste (TİSVA), Ministry of Industry and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Trade, Halkbank, Ziraat Bank, etc. provide financial support such as training and grant and loan support to women entrepreneurs.
One of the most effective areas where women can reflect their knowledge, skills and experience is entrepreneurship. Women's entrepreneurship enables women to create jobs for themselves and the people they employ and to be more active in working life. It strengthens their position in society, affects the level of development of societies and makes significant contributions to preventing injustice in income distribution. Therefore, in order to contribute to Turkey's social and economic development and realize sustainable development, it is crucial to increase the number of women entrepreneurs who create economic value, empower existing women entrepreneurs and integrate them with the world.
Digital marketing is one of the effective and efficient marketing methods. The most prominent digital marketing methods are internet, social media and mobile platforms.
The data on women's entrepreneurship in Türkiye is generally evaluated by the ratio of women among employers and self-employed persons obtained from TURKSTAT Labor Force Statistics.
According to the data for the third quarter of 2023, 1 million 104 thousand of the total 6 million 656 thousand people who are employers and self-employed in Türkiye are women. Proportionally, the ratio of female employers and own-account workers among total employers and own-account workers is 16.6% in the third quarter of 2023.
Digital Marketing goes one step further than the production and service-based understanding of traditional marketing and provides an opportunity to realize sales interactively by utilizing the opinions and experiences of customers. It also contributes to increasing brand awareness.
The rate in the European Union 27 countries is 33.3%.
To be a successful entrepreneur you need to have vision, risk-taking, courage, creativity and innovation, determination and perseverance, openness to innovation, strong communication skills, financial literacy and leadership skills.
Many public institutions and organizations such as KOSGEB (Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization), Credit Guarantee Fund, Banking sector, Development Agencies, Halkbank, Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution, Turkish Foundation for Waste Prevention (TİSVA), Ministry of Industry and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Trade, Ziraat Bank provide financial support such as grants and loans to women entrepreneurs.
Women entrepreneurs face many problems both while establishing their businesses and during the operations of their businesses. As in the rest of the world, the main problems faced by women entrepreneurs in Türkiye are difficulties in finding financial resources and lack of capital. In addition, due to the complexity of the bureaucratic processes that need to be followed in order to obtain a loan, women often tend to use their own circle of friends and savings. On the other hand, lack of business experience and self-confidence, difficulties in accessing the market, the need for coaching and counseling, and lack of access to incentive mechanisms are other problems that women entrepreneurs face in this process. This situation causes women to have problems in starting a business and in the sustainability of the business in the following process.
A large number of women entrepreneurs also have to make extra effort to balance their family life with their business.
Public institutions and organizations such as KOSGEB, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Commerce, Information Technologies and Communication Authority, Halkbank, private sector and organizations such as TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Board, which was established to increase the quality and quantity of women entrepreneurs, offer entrepreneurship training as well as other training services that women entrepreneurs can benefit from.
Individuals can benefit from appropriate mentoring support online through the websites of the institutions that provide mentoring support or by contacting the institutions. TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Board can run mentoring programs. Women entrepreneur networks such as the W2W National Women Exporters Network also provide services such as mentoring. In addition, projects such as the Young Women Building Their Future Project are also supported under the mentoring program.
Many institutions and organizations such as KOSGEB, Credit Guarantee Fund, Banking sector, Development Agencies, Halkbank, Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution, Turkish Foundation for Waste Prevention (TİSVA), Ministry of Industry and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Trade, Ziraat Bank, TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Board and NGOs (KAGİDER) provide training and mentoring as well as financial support such as grants and loans to women entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneur networks such as the W2W National Women Exporters Network also provide training and mentoring.
Many institutions and organizations such as KOSGEB, Credit Guarantee Fund, Banking sector, Development Agencies, Halkbank, Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution, Turkish Foundation for Waste Prevention (TİSVA), Ministry of Industry and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Trade, Ziraat Bank, TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Board and NGOs (KAGİDER) provide training and mentoring as well as financial support such as grants and loans to women entrepreneurs. In addition, women entrepreneur networks such as the W2W National Women Exporters Network also provide training and mentoring.
In our country, organizations such as the TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Board, which was established in order to increase the quality and quantity of women entrepreneurs in the field of women's entrepreneurship, are organizations where entrepreneurial women come together to join forces and cooperate. You can also join women entrepreneur networks such as the W2W National Women Exporters Network and collaborate with successful women entrepreneurs and be part of their network.
Organizations such as the TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Board, which was established to increase the quality and quantity of women entrepreneurs, are organizations where entrepreneurial women come together to join forces and cooperate. You can also join women entrepreneur networks such as the W2W National Women Exporters Network and collaborate with successful women entrepreneurs and be part of their network.
You can contact Turkish Employment Agency (ISKUR), the authorized and official institution on the subject.