Women entrepreneurs should focus on business, not their gender

As entrepreneurs, women must not focus on their gender of being a woman, but on what is important in business, said patron of the National Association of Entrepreneurs of Malaysia (NAWEM) Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz.

She said to be a good entrepreneur, they had to understand the profile of the market, the competition as well as the manifestation of doing business.

"I'd like to say that it is not the woman who is weak but the person who happens to be a woman who is weak. You need the perseverance and resilience to face and overcome the challenges in the market place and operating environment.

"You must be prepared to learn something new and relearn, and not be contented with what you know," she said in her keynote address at the Inspire Women in Business Conference 2015 organised by NAWEM here, today. Her keynote address was delivered via video recording.

She said women who were in the medium-sized businesses had the opportunity to exploit the ASEAN market.

Rafidah said women should take that opportunity by going cross borders to undertake business alliances, joint ventures and mergers in sectors that have great growth potentials in some of ASEAN member countries.

"These are things you can actually seek out as opportunities. Go to the countries that are not yet developed, be the first to be there, be the pioneers and then you groom that market, forge it and nurture your own market segment there," she said.

Meanwhile, Rafidah said there were many more areas women should exploit in education and business services such as health, where they have some insights.

"You don't have to go to other woman. You can go to anyone and do joint ventures. Forget that you are a woman, think of yourself as a business person.

When you go to the bank, they are not talking about you as a woman but about your business proposal," she added.