1. Introduction

The dramatic growth and participation of women in entrepreneurship have become an important subject, due to its positive impact on the global economy. This trend has continued to attract the attention of governments, industrialists and academics. However, worldwide, women have lower participation rates in entrepreneurship since they confront more social and cultural limitations than men [1–4]. The recent OECD/EU [5] report on women's entrepreneurship also indicates that women were half as likely as men to be self-employed, even in the European Union. All the research conducted in the field of entrepreneurship indicates that less than 10% of those studied are female entrepreneurs [6]. Moreover, most of these research have been conducted in developed countries [7]. As a developing country, North Cyprus reflects this sad reality. Female entrepreneurship has not been the subject of many studies despite this proliferation of interest and research on female entrepreneurship. However, women have a key role in

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and eproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

active business life, in both the state and private sectors. Despite their strong presence in the workforce, according to a 2016 report by the State Planning Organisation (SPO) of North Cyprus, 1416 (3.3%) of female entrepreneurs have the status of 'employer'. It is important to understand the motivations, personal traits and challenges facing those female entrepreneurs who have proven themselves to be successful business owners. Even though 'success' can be defined by intrinsic criteria like 'freedom', 'independence' and 'controlling one's own future' [8], the term 'success' is used here in terms of economic and financial returns [9] and specifically in the number of employees employed by a business. Female entrepreneurs have been designated the new drivers of growth in economies, and they have started to play key roles in bringing prosperity and improving general welfare [10]. It is important to pay detailed attention to those women who have contributed to the economic and social fabric of their communities by their role in increasing the employment rate and serving as role models for others. A limited number of previous studies have included both the self-employed and employers in their samples, in an effort to understand the factors affecting the performance of female entrepreneurs and their general profile in North Cyprus [11, 12]. This study will be the first to focus on only those female entrepreneurs who employ a minimum of five personnel in their businesses which are considered to be extrinsically successful within the scale of North Cyprus. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to use North Cyprus as a case to contribute to a better understanding of the motivational factors, personality traits and challenges shown and faced by successful female entrepreneurs in North Cyprus. To accomplish this objective, an in-depth analysis of 10 female entrepreneurs, employing at least five staff, is used to gain insights and uncover hidden issues that go beyond the usual clichés used in regard to female entrepreneurs.

who successfully complete the training programmes provided by the centre. In 2016, 412 aspiring entrepreneurs applied to the fund, of which 211 (51%) of them were women and 28 (56%) of

Women Entrepreneurs as Employers http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80309 143

Several studies have focused on female entrepreneurship in North Cyprus. In their research, Jenkins and Katırcıoğlu [12] examined the factors affecting business performance for a selected group. Their findings indicated that many female entrepreneurs in the North had started their own businesses without having prior business activity in their families. The main reasons for establishing their enterprises included taking advantage of a market opportunity that they had spotted and that they liked the idea of establishing their own businesses and that all the

Eyüpoğlu and Tülen's [11] study was conducted in order to broaden the understanding of the nature of the female Turkish Cypriot entrepreneur through an investigation of their demographic profiles; business characteristics; the impact of prior experience on their successes; their motivational factors and the measure of their successes. Their findings indicated that entrepreneurship seemed to be a more viable option than paid employment for married women who wanted to balance their careers with their domestic obligations. Similar to Jenkins and Katırcıoğlu's [12] findings, they also found that there was no family effect, since none of the subjects had parents who had been self-employed. They measured their business success through the metrics of sales and/or profits and through the growth and/or expansion of their ventures. Those women with prior business experience identified their greatest motivation as their desire for independence. However, those women who had no prior business experience

People may have a variety of motivations for becoming an entrepreneur. In her literature review of the subject, Kirkwood [15] identified four key drivers of entrepreneurial motivation that were a desire for independence; finances; unemployment due to redundancy and/or the lack of job or career prospects and family-related motivations including desire for a more equitable work-family balance and family obligations. The primary theory that is used in explaining the motivations of women in starting their own ventures is the 'push and pull' factors outlined by Brush [16] and by Buttner and Moore [17]. The push factors are characterised by personal or external factors, which are usually associated with negative motivators in encouraging women to start their own businesses [18], such as having an inadequate family income, dissatisfaction with a salaried position, difficulty in finding work and a need for a flexible work schedule due to family responsibilities. The pull factors, on the other hand, are associated with positive reasons for starting a business such as independence, self-fulfilment,

Opposing arguments exist as to whether there is a relationship between personality and entrepreneurial behaviour. Moreover, the difficulty in making generalisations about the

the 50 successful female candidates were granted funding.

subjects had had the encouragement of their husbands in their activities.

made their entrepreneurial plans primarily for financial reasons.

entrepreneurial drive and a desire for wealth, social status and power [19].

1.3. The personality traits shown by female entrepreneurs

1.2. The motivational factors of female entrepreneurs

#### 1.1. Research context: North Cyprus and female entrepreneurship

North Cyprus, with a population of 313,626 people, is the Turkish speaking part of the island whose government is only recognised by Turkey. In comparison, the Republic of Cyprus is the internationally recognised part of the island, and it became a member of the European Union in 2004. The Republic of Cyprus is classified as a developed country within the parameters of United Nations. According to the OECD/EU [5] report on women's entrepreneurship, Cyprus is one of the countries with the narrowest gender gap in the proportion of men and women who are self-employed. Despite the fact that in North, women and men personnel proportion employed by the government institutions is very close (54 vs. 46%), this figure for women's entrepreneurship is very different: the number of self-employed (including employers) men is almost three times greater than women, where this number is 12,984 for men and only 4,376 for women [13]. As indicated earlier, out of 4,376 of those women who own her own business, only 1412 of them are in the status of employer and moreover this figure reduces further to 498 for those who have five and more employees employed in their businesses and thus considered successful within the framework of this study. On the other hand, recent figures from the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Centre [14] in North Cyprus indicate an increasing intention amongst women of becoming an entrepreneur. This centre was established within the North Cypriot Ministry of Economy in 2016 with the aim of supporting and developing projects for small- and medium-sized businesses. Since that time, they have been funding budding entrepreneurs who satisfy the evaluation criteria set down by the centre and who successfully complete the training programmes provided by the centre. In 2016, 412 aspiring entrepreneurs applied to the fund, of which 211 (51%) of them were women and 28 (56%) of the 50 successful female candidates were granted funding.

Several studies have focused on female entrepreneurship in North Cyprus. In their research, Jenkins and Katırcıoğlu [12] examined the factors affecting business performance for a selected group. Their findings indicated that many female entrepreneurs in the North had started their own businesses without having prior business activity in their families. The main reasons for establishing their enterprises included taking advantage of a market opportunity that they had spotted and that they liked the idea of establishing their own businesses and that all the subjects had had the encouragement of their husbands in their activities.

Eyüpoğlu and Tülen's [11] study was conducted in order to broaden the understanding of the nature of the female Turkish Cypriot entrepreneur through an investigation of their demographic profiles; business characteristics; the impact of prior experience on their successes; their motivational factors and the measure of their successes. Their findings indicated that entrepreneurship seemed to be a more viable option than paid employment for married women who wanted to balance their careers with their domestic obligations. Similar to Jenkins and Katırcıoğlu's [12] findings, they also found that there was no family effect, since none of the subjects had parents who had been self-employed. They measured their business success through the metrics of sales and/or profits and through the growth and/or expansion of their ventures. Those women with prior business experience identified their greatest motivation as their desire for independence. However, those women who had no prior business experience made their entrepreneurial plans primarily for financial reasons.

#### 1.2. The motivational factors of female entrepreneurs

active business life, in both the state and private sectors. Despite their strong presence in the workforce, according to a 2016 report by the State Planning Organisation (SPO) of North Cyprus, 1416 (3.3%) of female entrepreneurs have the status of 'employer'. It is important to understand the motivations, personal traits and challenges facing those female entrepreneurs who have proven themselves to be successful business owners. Even though 'success' can be defined by intrinsic criteria like 'freedom', 'independence' and 'controlling one's own future' [8], the term 'success' is used here in terms of economic and financial returns [9] and specifically in the number of employees employed by a business. Female entrepreneurs have been designated the new drivers of growth in economies, and they have started to play key roles in bringing prosperity and improving general welfare [10]. It is important to pay detailed attention to those women who have contributed to the economic and social fabric of their communities by their role in increasing the employment rate and serving as role models for others. A limited number of previous studies have included both the self-employed and employers in their samples, in an effort to understand the factors affecting the performance of female entrepreneurs and their general profile in North Cyprus [11, 12]. This study will be the first to focus on only those female entrepreneurs who employ a minimum of five personnel in their businesses which are considered to be extrinsically successful within the scale of North Cyprus. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to use North Cyprus as a case to contribute to a better understanding of the motivational factors, personality traits and challenges shown and faced by successful female entrepreneurs in North Cyprus. To accomplish this objective, an in-depth analysis of 10 female entrepreneurs, employing at least five staff, is used to gain insights and uncover hidden issues that go beyond

the usual clichés used in regard to female entrepreneurs.

142 Active Learning - Beyond the Future

1.1. Research context: North Cyprus and female entrepreneurship

North Cyprus, with a population of 313,626 people, is the Turkish speaking part of the island whose government is only recognised by Turkey. In comparison, the Republic of Cyprus is the internationally recognised part of the island, and it became a member of the European Union in 2004. The Republic of Cyprus is classified as a developed country within the parameters of United Nations. According to the OECD/EU [5] report on women's entrepreneurship, Cyprus is one of the countries with the narrowest gender gap in the proportion of men and women who are self-employed. Despite the fact that in North, women and men personnel proportion employed by the government institutions is very close (54 vs. 46%), this figure for women's entrepreneurship is very different: the number of self-employed (including employers) men is almost three times greater than women, where this number is 12,984 for men and only 4,376 for women [13]. As indicated earlier, out of 4,376 of those women who own her own business, only 1412 of them are in the status of employer and moreover this figure reduces further to 498 for those who have five and more employees employed in their businesses and thus considered successful within the framework of this study. On the other hand, recent figures from the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Centre [14] in North Cyprus indicate an increasing intention amongst women of becoming an entrepreneur. This centre was established within the North Cypriot Ministry of Economy in 2016 with the aim of supporting and developing projects for small- and medium-sized businesses. Since that time, they have been funding budding entrepreneurs who satisfy the evaluation criteria set down by the centre and

People may have a variety of motivations for becoming an entrepreneur. In her literature review of the subject, Kirkwood [15] identified four key drivers of entrepreneurial motivation that were a desire for independence; finances; unemployment due to redundancy and/or the lack of job or career prospects and family-related motivations including desire for a more equitable work-family balance and family obligations. The primary theory that is used in explaining the motivations of women in starting their own ventures is the 'push and pull' factors outlined by Brush [16] and by Buttner and Moore [17]. The push factors are characterised by personal or external factors, which are usually associated with negative motivators in encouraging women to start their own businesses [18], such as having an inadequate family income, dissatisfaction with a salaried position, difficulty in finding work and a need for a flexible work schedule due to family responsibilities. The pull factors, on the other hand, are associated with positive reasons for starting a business such as independence, self-fulfilment, entrepreneurial drive and a desire for wealth, social status and power [19].

#### 1.3. The personality traits shown by female entrepreneurs

Opposing arguments exist as to whether there is a relationship between personality and entrepreneurial behaviour. Moreover, the difficulty in making generalisations about the personality traits of successful entrepreneurs lies in the impact of non-psychological factors including demographics, training and experience, and this has been pointed out in the literature [20, 21]. Brandstätter's [22] study revealed that in order to become and continue as an entrepreneur, one needs to possess some distinctive character attributes such as self-motivation; a moderate risk propensity; an internal locus of control, as well as a personal talent for innovation, pro-activity, a high tolerance for stress and self-efficacy.

face in their businesses. As recommended by Silverman [28], field notes and inter-coder

Women Entrepreneurs as Employers http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80309 145

The demographic characteristics of those interviewed are presented in Table 1. The mean age of the sample was 46.1, and 80% of the women had a university degree, while the remaining 20% had completed high school. The marital status of the respondents is broken down as 80% married, and 20% divorced. Half of the respondents were active in both the service and productive sectors, while 30% were active only in the service segment and 20% were involved

Demographics No %

35–39 2 20 40–44 3 30 45–49 1 10 ≥50 4 40

High school 2 20 University 8 80

Married 8 80 Divorced 2 20

Service oriented 3 30 Trading 2 20 Both service and manufacturing 5 50

5–10 3 30 11–20 1 10 21–30 2 20 31–40 2 20 ≥41 2 20

agreement were used to increase the reliability of the study.

3.1. The demographic profile of the female entrepreneurs

3. Findings

in trading businesses.

Age

Education level

Marital status

Number of employees

Type of business activity engaged in

Table 1. Demographic profile of respondents.

#### 1.4. The challenges facing female entrepreneurs

In many of the women entrepreneurship literature, availability of financial resources and government support are indicated as important external environment factors limiting the success of women entrepreneurs ([7, 23, 24]). In a study dedicated to the challenges facing women entering entrepreneurship, Still [25] identified three different classes of barrier that also include availability of financial resources. The first class is composed of the motivational factors that push women to establish their own businesses, including creating the confidence necessary in starting a venture, finding proper sources of help and advice, financial resources, coping with risk and access to networks. The second class of barrier again includes motivational factors, but this time the pull factors include women's lack of access to finance, mentors, knowledge and information. The third barrier class refers to the youth of such entrepreneurs, which elicits discrimination on the basis of age by consumers, insufficient family and peer support, and the lack of proper business advice.

In light of this literature review, the motives, personal characteristics and challenges facing successful female entrepreneurs in North Cyprus are investigated.
