A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF HOME-BASED VERSUS OUT-OF HOME MUMPRENEURSHIP VENTURES CHALLENGES IN BOTSWANA.

The purpose of this paper is to present empirical research done on Botswana women in business (mumpreneurs). An increase in women’s educational levels, and decline in men’s earnings are some of the factors that have contributed to the surge of women in the workforce (formal or informal). Mumpreneurs are female business owners who actively balance the role of mum and the role of entrepreneur. Botswana mumpreneurs possess some commonly observed qualities that can, and often do enhance their competitiveness: they can identify viable business ideas, run the business with determination, and streamline processes efficiently. We adopted a qualitative research in which data was collected from 13 selected mumpreneurs through semi structured interviews. Our findings established that both home based and out of home Botswana mumpreneurs encounter five main challenges: business environment, government and institutional, societal (society, self, family), financial and ethical challenges. Basing on our findings, we suggest possible strategies for the enhancement and sustainability of businesses run by mumpreneurs.