The organization DI’AK enterprise has so far provided business management training to 150 female entrepreneurs.
Program Manager Ariana Almeida said that many women still faced problems in developing their business because they did not know how to manage their income and expenses properly.
“We have various training to help entrepreneurs to run and improve their business management,” said Almeida at a recent forum for strengthening women’s economic participation in Dili.
She said the local entrepreneurs needed to be creative to compete with foreign entrepreneurs, who already dominated the marketplace.
“They have to create their own product,” she said.
She said it was also difficult to compete with price as international entrepreneurs often bought in bulk and were therefore able to offer a lower price.
Local entrepreneur Mirandolina Soares said that since opening a shop she was able to support her family and her children’s education.
She said her husband was unemployed and she managed the profits herself, with some going towards her children’s education and every day needs, and the rest for traditional ceremonies.
Even though some days she may earn up to $200, Soares said it was difficult manage her profits due to the expense of traditional ceremonies such as weddings, engagements and funerals.
As an entrepreneur, Angelica Alves said to be successful in business it was important to know how to manage it.
“I manage it by myself and sometimes my family helps me,” she said.
Between 2008 and 2014 the government allocated more than $7,000 for 399 women’s business groups, but only 42 groups succeeded and the rest failed.
The Advisor for the Secretariat of State for Socio-Economic Support of Women (SEM), Eusebio Guterres, said many women’s groups were not working effectively as they did not know about the principles of business management.
“Our problem is not the money, but the management,” he said.
He said SEM was ready to support women’s groups to run their enterprises, but they also needed to take responsibility to ensure their business was sustainable.
