Before applying the WSME Segmentation Framework, it’s essential to understand the external environment in which women-owned businesses operate. This tool uses publicly available data to assess how market conditions enable or hinder women entrepreneurs – regardless of their business profile – helping identify barriers to address when designing effective products and services for WSMEs.
The visual illustrates the five key dimensions used to assess the environment surrounding WSMEs. This foundational step helps you analyse how external factors, like laws, financial access, cultural norms, and infrastructure, affect the application of the WSME Segmentation Framework within a specific market. These conditions shape the opportunities and constraints facing women entrepreneurs, regardless of their business size or growth ambition.
Gather data on legal frameworks that impact women’s economic participation. Explore areas such as women’s property rights, mobility, labour laws, equal pay, and anti-discrimination policies. Use publicly available tools like the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law database. These legal elements are crucial because they determine whether women can own assets, access credit, or operate freely as entrepreneurs.
Explore how societal attitudes, family roles, trust, and group participation shape women’s entrepreneurial journeys. Draw from sources like the World Values Survey to gather insights on perceptions of working women, women’s leadership, and gender equity. These factors help determine the degree of social support and psychological safety available to women in business.
Assess the availability and accessibility of credit, investment, mobile money, and formal financial products, especially for women. Consider indicators like gender gaps in account ownership and borrowing. These insights reveal how financial markets enable or constrain WSME growth, and whether products are suited to different segments (e.g., high-growth vs. survival entrepreneurs).
Collect data on how easy it is to start, register, and operate a business. Consider licensing, tax regimes, availability of skilled labour, and ease of international trade. A business-friendly environment encourages formalisation and innovation and improves the likelihood that women-owned businesses can scale sustainably.
Evaluate the reach and usability of the internet, mobile phones, and digital platforms. Check indicators like women’s access to mobile money, internet penetration, and availability of digital public services. This is vital because digital access enhances market reach, financial access, and operational efficiency, especially for growth-oriented WSMEs.
Once data is collected across the five dimensions, use a traffic light system (green = enabling, red = prohibitive) to rate the readiness of each element to support WSME growth. This simple visual helps identify where interventions are most urgently needed and where the environment is already supportive.