Why Women Entrepreneurs Should Take Personal Finance Seriously Too

Growing up, it was a double whammy for me as I had a difficult time acing mathematics at school coupled with intimidation by anything that was related to going to a bank. My earliest associations with finance and banking were grave, serious faces of my elders as they braced themselves for a trip to the bank or when they sat down to sort out their finances.

As I grew up, I navigated my way through life without having much to do with handling finances. I came face to face with handling finances only when I set up my own venture and got involved with all the nitty-gritty of running a business in a bootstrapped manner.

My first big shift in terms of finance was moving from a well-paying job to entrepreneurship. The financial consequences were huge and underestimated. As an employed person, you are used to getting a certain amount of money at a certain time of the month. With entrepreneurship, the regularity of income goes for a toss.

As an employed person, you are used to getting a certain amount of money at a certain time of the month. With entrepreneurship, the regularity of income goes for a toss.

The volatility of entrepreneurship meant I had to learn all aspects of finance - right from professional taxes to GST to other tax compliances to sorting out my personal finances. It was a rude shock to me as I realised how unaware women generally are of these aspects. I was lucky to be educated at a top MBA college but when I talked to women around me, they usually knew nothing about finance.

When women are embracing entrepreneurship and self-sufficiency, it is crucial that women entrepreneurs understand the nature of entrepreneurship and all its demands on personal finance in order to truly ace this game.

It was then that I started reading articles about managing your finances and laid out my goals for the next five years as a start. My parents, being financially savvy, were a big help as well, and helped me understand the investment landscape. I understood the importance of a rainy day fund for my personal use, how to separate business and professional funds and how to easily start investments like mutual funds and lock them in for a long time for great returns.

Being a woman, one is usually shielded from discussions around stock markets or finance or taxation when it is discussed. It is still considered to be a male domain with many women preferring their spouses to be the one taking care of the finances - in today’s day and age, when women are embracing entrepreneurship and self-sufficiency, it is crucial that women entrepreneurs understand the nature of entrepreneurship and all its demands on personal finance in order to truly ace this game.