Apparel and fashion business as a means of micro, small and medium scale enterprise: a study on the opportunities and the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs

Fashion and Apparel Design, Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprise Globally the micro and small enterprises (MSEs) are considered the engine of economic growth and, MSEs constitute over 90% of total enterprises in most of the economies. MSEs have the highest rates of employment growth that too at low capital cost. For strengthening MSEs, the Government of India has formulated the National Skill Development Policy (NSDP) and stipulated a target of skilling 500 million people by 2022. To support entrepreneurial ventures, the Government of India has formulated the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006. Viewing the high potential for the development of micro-small and medium scale enterprises it is imperative to look for different entrepreneurial avenues. In NSDP context, the textiles sector with high employment potential assumes great importance. The garment production units alone provide 40% of jobs in the small scale sector, besides offering ample opportunities for entrepreneurs to sprout and flourish. The textile sector also includes the fashion and apparel entrepreneurs. The word fashion generally draws our attention to the famous high end fashion apparel entrepreneurs such of Ralph Lauren, Levi Strauss or Phil Knight. However, the field of fashion and apparel design opens up avenues for the set-up of small and medium scale enterprises. The purpose of this paper is to explore the opportunities available in the area of fashion and apparel design and also study the problems faced by existing women entrepreneurs running small and medium scale fashion apparel business. The analysis would help in formulating the strategy as a means of giving solution to the problems faced by women entrepreneurs running fashion and apparel business on small scale.