{"id":6287,"date":"2024-03-03T21:17:15","date_gmt":"2024-03-03T17:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.matsh.co\/en\/?post_type=course&p=6287"},"modified":"2026-05-19T22:43:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T18:43:37","slug":"essential-business-management-skills-for-female-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"course","link":"https:\/\/matsh.co\/en\/course\/essential-business-management-skills-for-female-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Essential Business Management Skills for Female Entrepreneurs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 has driven a dramatic increase in female entrepreneurship, the number of women registered as business owners in the kingdom has grown substantially since 2017, with Monshaat, the Public Investment Fund and the Saudi SME Authority actively backing female-founded enterprises. In the UAE, women-owned businesses contribute significantly to the non-oil economy. Across Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana, women dominate micro and small enterprise. The challenge is not ambition, women across the Gulf, Africa and Asia are starting businesses in record numbers. The challenge is that most are doing so without the business management foundation that converts a viable idea into a sustainable, growing enterprise.<\/p>\n

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11%<\/strong>of all businesses in the UAE are women-owned, and the number is growing year on year<\/span><\/div>\n
58%<\/strong>of women-owned small businesses in Africa cite financial management skills as their most significant business challenge<\/span><\/div>\n
320+<\/strong>women entrepreneurs trained by Matsh across the Gulf, Africa and Asia<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The business management challenges women entrepreneurs across the Gulf, Africa and Asia most commonly face:<\/p>\n

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  • You are generating revenue but you do not know whether you are making a profit, your business and personal finances are mixed together and you are avoiding the numbers<\/li>\n
  • Your pricing is based on what feels right rather than what your costs require, and you are undercharging because you are worried customers will leave<\/li>\n
  • You are doing everything yourself because delegating feels impossible, and the business is dependent entirely on your personal presence and effort<\/li>\n
  • You have great ideas for growing the business but no system for deciding which ones to prioritise or how to fund them<\/li>\n
  • You have tried to access bank finance and been rejected, and you do not know what to do differently or what other options exist<\/li>\n
  • You are managing family expectations that the business should be secondary to domestic responsibilities, and the tension is undermining both<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n

    This course provides the business management skills to address every one of these challenges, built specifically for women entrepreneurs operating in the Gulf, African and Asian business environments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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    Why Women's Entrepreneurship in the Gulf, Africa and Asia Requires a Specific Approach<\/h3>\n

    Generic business management training is built around assumptions that do not apply to women entrepreneurs in GCC, African and Asian contexts.<\/p>\n

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    \ud83c\udfdb\ufe0f GCC Business Environment<\/h4>

    The Monshaat ecosystem, Vision 2030 Entrepreneurship targets, Kafalah loan guarantees, free zone structures, and the rapidly changing landscape for women-owned businesses in Saudi Arabia and the UAE require specific knowledge. Generic \"SME training\" rarely covers it.<\/p><\/div>\n

    \ud83c\udf0d African Business Environment<\/h4>

    Mobile money, savings and credit cooperatives, women's market associations, informal business networks and the specific challenges of growing a business in markets with limited formal infrastructure all require specific business management approaches.<\/p><\/div>\n

    \u2696\ufe0f Gender-Specific Constraints<\/h4>

    Access to male-dominated networks, managing business authority in cultures where women's professional credibility is sometimes questioned, balancing business and family responsibilities where those responsibilities are heavily gendered, these are real constraints requiring strategic approaches, not complaints about the system.<\/p><\/div>\n

    \ud83d\udcb0 Finance Access<\/h4>

    Women entrepreneurs in the Gulf, Africa and Asia face specific challenges in accessing formal finance. The course covers the actual financing options available in each context, not abstract theory about venture capital designed for Silicon Valley.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

    Who Should Attend<\/h2>\n
    \n
    \ud83d\ude80<\/div>

    Women Starting Businesses<\/h4>

    Women in the planning stages who want to start with strong management foundations rather than learning by expensive mistakes.<\/p><\/div>\n

    \ud83d\udcca<\/div>

    Women Running Businesses<\/h4>

    Women who have started a business and want to manage it more effectively, scale sustainably or solve specific management problems.<\/p><\/div>\n

    \ud83c\udfe0<\/div>

    Family Business Women<\/h4>

    Women running or involved in family businesses who want to professionalise their management approach.<\/p><\/div>\n

    \ud83d\udd04<\/div>

    Career Changers to Entrepreneurship<\/h4>

    Women transitioning from employment to entrepreneurship who want business management skills before they start.<\/p><\/div>\n

    \ud83c\udf0d<\/div>

    Social Enterprise Women Leaders<\/h4>

    Women in social enterprise and NGO leadership who want stronger business management skills to sustain their organisations.<\/p><\/div>\n

    \ud83d\udccb<\/div>

    Women's Enterprise Programme Managers<\/h4>

    Managers of women's enterprise programmes who want a deeper understanding of what their participants actually need.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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    What You Will Leave With<\/h2>\n

    Practical business management tools applicable immediately to your business.<\/p>\n

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    \u2713<\/span>Business model clarity<\/strong>, a clear, honest picture of how your business actually makes money<\/span><\/div>\n
    \u2713<\/span>Financial management system<\/strong>, reading your numbers, managing cash flow, pricing for actual profit<\/span><\/div>\n
    \u2713<\/span>Marketing strategy<\/strong>, for your specific market, your specific audience, and your specific resource level<\/span><\/div>\n
    \u2713<\/span>Operations and systems framework<\/strong>, building systems so the business runs without depending entirely on you<\/span><\/div>\n
    \u2713<\/span>Growth planning framework<\/strong>, when to hire, when to invest, when to expand, and how to fund it<\/span><\/div>\n
    \u2713<\/span>Finance access guide<\/strong>, the specific funding options available to women entrepreneurs in your country<\/span><\/div>\n
    \u2713<\/span>Gender navigation strategies<\/strong>, practical approaches to the specific challenges of being a woman entrepreneur in your context<\/span><\/div>\n
    \u2713<\/span>90-day business improvement plan<\/strong>, specific, committed actions each participant will take in the three months after this course<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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    What Participants Report<\/h3>\n

    From follow-up surveys 90 days after the programme<\/p>\n

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    87%<\/strong>improved their financial management
    practice within 90 days<\/span><\/div>\n
    79%<\/strong>repriced at least one product
    or service after the course<\/span><\/div>\n
    320+<\/strong>women entrepreneurs trained
    across Gulf, Africa and Asia<\/span><\/div>\n
    16+<\/strong>countries represented across
    all cohorts<\/span><\/div>\n <\/div>\n
    \n \"I had been running my catering business for three years and had no idea whether I was actually making money or just staying busy. After this course I separated my business and personal accounts, built a proper pricing model and discovered I had been undercharging by 35%. That single change made the business viable in a way it had never been before.\"
    Food Business Owner, Jeddah cohort<\/em>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

    Programme Outline<\/h2>\n\n
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    1<\/div>Business Fundamentals and the Women Entrepreneur's Business Environment<\/strong><\/div>\n
    \n

    Why this module matters:<\/strong> Most women entrepreneurs start businesses without a clear picture of their business model, what they sell, who buys it, how they make money, and what makes them different from competitors. Module 1 clarifies the fundamentals and maps the specific business environment in Gulf, African and Asian contexts.<\/p>\n