Background

Women in India are the backbone of innumerable small and home-based enterprises — but few have the support or networks to realize their ambitions. The Sixth Economic Census showed that women make up only 13.76% of all entrepreneurs in India, and that most women are sole proprietors without access to credit, mentorship, or formal markets. In Delhi, the barriers are especially layered, as limited mobility, lack of childcare support, and solidified gender norms often prevent women from seeing enterprise as a viable pathway for a livable wage.

Even when they start businesses, they are affected by financial and social exclusion along the journey. Research shows that, in India, women-owned microenterprises receive under 10% of institutional credit, and most are funded by informal borrowing or their savings. This puts them in a continuous cycle; women who have the skills and ideas are stuck, forever operating in low-income and low-growth activities, because the support systems designed to enhance entrepreneurship do not consider them.

Encouraging women to engage entirely within entrepreneurial ecosystems is not only a question of fairness, but it is also a demonstrable catalyst of economic resilience. Closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship would increase India's GDP by 18%. However, realizing that potential takes more than simply access to capital or credit: it requires visibility, mentorship, a community, and trust. The Know Your Potential Network originated from this context: acknowledgement that women in under-resourced communities deserve opportunities, but also the tools, esteem, and ecosystem to translate potential into enterprise.