Name: Kalim Ashraf, Zafar Ahmad Sultan
Country: India

Year: 2026
Volume: Vol-13, Issue-2, 2026 ( July- Dec)
Page Number: 95-105
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22932593

Women-owned micro-enterprises have emerged as an important source of income diversification, household resilience and local employment in Bihar. Their performance, however, remains uneven because enterprise outcomes are shaped by the interaction of financial access, managerial capability, market connectivity, digital adoption, social networks and household support. The present study examines the determinants of entrepreneurial success among women micro-entrepreneurs in Katihar district. It combines district- and state-level secondary information with a structured micro-level analytical dataset covering 300 women entrepreneurs engaged in food processing, retail trade, tailoring, agriculture-allied activities, personal services and other micro-enterprises. Entrepreneurial success is measured through a composite index incorporating sales performance, profitability, reinvestment, employment generation and business stability. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Pearson correlation, heteroskedasticity-robust ordinary least squares regression and binary logistic regression are employed. The results show that access to finance, market connectivity, digital capability, training exposure, business networks, family support and enterprise experience positively influence entrepreneurial success. Access to finance records the largest standardised effect, followed by market access and digital capability. Education and urban location lose statistical significance after controlling for enterprise-level capabilities. The study concludes that credit alone is insufficient; enterprise development policies must integrate working capital, digital payments, market linkage, mentoring, family sensitisation and sector-specific business services.

Keywords: women entrepreneurship, micro-enterprises, entrepreneurial success, financial inclusion, digital adoption, self-help groups, Katihar, Bihar