Building a Network of Women Entrepreneurs in Serbia

By Olivera Popović

While the global economic crisis in 2008 affected many countries worldwide, the shock to Serbia’s society and economy was magnified due to the ongoing transition processes there. For the past fifty years, women in Serbia were most often employed in the public sector as part of Yugoslavia’s socialist planned economy. In the past two decades, the transition from socialism to liberal capitalism and an open market economy has initiated changes in approaches to work and ultimately led to a greater presence of women in business.

In making this transition, women face an uphill battle – in gaining greater access to capital, technology, networks, and acquiring the knowledge to start and grow their businesses. On top of those challenges, the social and economic landscape is characterized by poor labor market outcomes, a high youth unemployment rate, and large long-term unemployment. According to the Regional Cooperation Council (2013), the country’s per capita GDP is currently only 38 percent of the EU average.

Data from the International Labour Organization (ILO) shows that the overall unemployment rate in Serbia is 23.9 percent, with almost 25 of women unemployed. Youth unemployment is remarkably high (51 percent) and even more astonishing, 57 percent of young women are out of work. Equally important, universities in Serbia do not foster enough entrepreneurial spirit among students. Consequentially, students fail to fully consider entrepreneurship as a viable career option.

Recognizing this need for support to aspiring and established women entrepreneurs in a complex economic situation, the Association of Business Women in Serbia (ABW) created “Inspiring Women Entrepreneurship,” a project to strengthen the leadership and entrepreneurial capacity of young women in Serbia.

Through a formal mentoring program, ABW places special emphasis on:

• Spreading awareness about entrepreneurship as a career option for women
• Building a network of women entrepreneurs in Serbia
• Promoting young women entrepreneurs and their businesses
• Acknowledging the work of women entrepreneurs
• Inspiring and motivating other potential women entrepreneurs to become independent professionally as well as leaders in their communities

Testimonials from the young entrepreneurs and students in our project highlight the impact these efforts have had on empowering women entrepreneurs and providing the necessary skill set to succeed:

• Marija Savić, a second year student at University of Singidunum Faculty of Business in Valjevo. “Though I knew what I wanted to do, the trainer helped me to realize how much I wanted to do it and helped me find a good path.”

• Katarina Kovačević, University of Singidunum Faculty of Business in Valjevo. “At the end of the training, I had a better understanding of my professional strengths and weaknesses. Also, now I have a clearer picture of which competencies I need to improve upon or attain. At the same time, the training inspired me to assess and evaluate my readiness to achieve previously defined business goals. Some of the techniques that I learned I tend to use in my personal and professional life with hope that it can bring me clear and effective results.”

• Jovana Pumpalovic, a third year student at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Cacak. “I think that the project ‘Inspiring Women Entrepreneurship in Serbia’ was valuable for women business owners, but even more so for us students who study entrepreneurship. Participating in the project, we increased our self-confidence by acquiring new knowledge and networking with business women.”

• Jelena Nikolic – final year student at the Faculty of Technical Sciences and member of the NGO Suadeo in Cacak. “Initially when I received the open call for training, I thought this would be like one of many trainings, seminars, and conferences on entrepreneurship that I’ve attended as a member of an NGO dealing with economy. But I am glad that I was wrong. This training brought me so many helpful tools for practical use at work. Equally important, I managed to change my attitudes towards business in a positive way… After this training I see myself as becoming a successful, young entrepreneur in the future, either in my family’s start-up business or in my own.”

ABW’s support gives the much-needed push to put women’s entrepreneurship at the top of Serbia’s policy agenda. We hope that our work will contribute to greater women’s participation in the economy at the local level, but even more so at the regional and national level.

Individually, our Association is confident that economic independence will have an impact on better quality of life for women and their families. For society, empowering women improves the economy and reduces poverty.

We are striving towards a society that sees women as equally capable of creating their lives and pursuing careers in line with their aspirations. In return, the greater share of women in entrepreneurship will have an impact on the overall development of the entrepreneurial culture in Serbia.

Olivera Popović is  Vice President of the Association of Business Women in Serbia (ABW).