Across India, millions of women-run micro and small enterprises (MSEs), often from their homes, while balancing caregiving, household responsibilities, and business operations. Most are first-time entrepreneurs with limited exposure to formal business management, structured record-keeping, innovative tools, or access to wider markets. National schemes in India have significantly expanded women’s access to finance. However, foundation capability gaps continue to constrain their ability to scale, formalize, and access growth capital.
To address these gaps, the EmpowerHer initiative – launched by Women’s World Banking in partnership with the Maharashtra State Rural Livelihood Mission (UMED–MSRLM) – delivered a structured, practical capability-building model to 100,000 women entrepreneurs across Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in the state.
The model focused on three core pillars with a direct link to credit productivity and business growth:
- Digital bookkeeping
- Business formalization
- Market access
Delivered through Community Resource Persons (CRPs) within SHG networks and reinforced through continuous digital nudges, this approach ensured that women could adopt and apply new practices in real time.
This new study finds critical links between business and financial management skills and business outcomes for women’s small enterprises. It demonstrates that credit alone is not enough; “credit-plus” – combining finance with business and financial management capabilities – is essential to unlock sustainable growth. Women who maintained structured financial records were significantly more likely to formalize their enterprises – 65.7% compared to 54.8% among those who did not maintain records. This underscores the role of bookkeeping in building financial discipline, improving transparency, and enabling access to institutional credit.
The results demonstrate the impact of a credit-plus approach:
- Digital bookkeeping adoption nearly doubled (2x), indicating early movement toward structured financial management
- Enterprises selling beyond local communities increased sixfold, expanding access to new markets
- Businesses operating across both online and offline channels grew nearly fivefold, enabling diversified revenue streams
- Enterprises limited to hyper-local customers declined from 56% to 43%, reflecting broader market outreach
- Brand recognition almost tripled, alongside improvements in customer reach and sales
These outcomes show that while capital helps women start a business, capability building is essential for sustainable growth and scale. It also consolidates a framework to reinforce a few high-impact pillars – bookkeeping, formalization, and market access – which have a direct link to institutional credit readiness and business productivity. For financial services providers, this marks the creation of a more mature customer base, thereby strengthening portfolios.
Importantly, the EmpowerHer model is scalable and replicable. It provides a clear roadmap for livelihood bodies, financial services providers, and ecosystem organizations to embed capability building alongside credit delivery.
Credit-plus approaches can transform women entrepreneurs from informal participants into growth-oriented business owners – unlocking value for women and the financial systems that serve them.
