Making do by doing without: bricolage in the funding sources of female entrepreneurs in resource-constrained environments

Female entrepreneurship is increasingly playing phenomenal roles in the economic growth of many countries. Several businesses employing many people and producing a lot of revenues are created and run by women. Many governments and international bodies are promoting female entrepreneurship fervently especially in developing economies. However, the difficulty that women in resource-constrained economies face in accessing funding to start and grow their businesses makes going into entrepreneurship a wishful dream, thus pointing to low numbers of female ventures in developing countries. However, the phenomenal numbers of female entrepreneurs in certain developing regions such as West Africa present an intriguing situation. This study therefore sought to investigate the funding sources of female entrepreneurs in developing economies and how those sources are combined in funding businesses. Qualitative methods were employed for the study, collecting data through interviews and non-participant observations in two resource-constrained countries of West Africa—Ghana and Ivory Coast. We discovered that women entrepreneurs combined various resources from different sources to start and run businesses. These sources are made possible through their social capital. Prominent sources of funding are gifts/grants from friends, families, and well-wishers; personal savings; and interest-free loans. Few women accessed commercial loans but not until they have grown their businesses up to a certain stage. The study contributes to the social capital and entrepreneurial bricolage theories by extending them to entrepreneurial financing and female entrepreneurship in developing economies. It also adds to the studies questioning the well-publicized salvific role of microfinance in developing countries especially among the poor and vulnerable.