Women experience various challenges as they undertake entrepreneurship in both developed and developing worlds. Similar experiences have been reported in Kenya in this study where the objective was to understand the challenges in the provision of informal hospitality services to socio-economic well-being of women entrepreneurs in Kenya. The study used a qualitative approach with women from Muranga, Kakamega, Nakuru, and Kisumu Counties who work in informal hospitality and are registered with the Social Services Offices. Purposive sampling method was used to pick the 8 women entrepreneurs from the target population for key informant interviews, and 1 Focus Group Discussion was carried out with 8 participants. The study revealed that women in informal hospitality services in the 4 Counties faced many challenges in the provision of these services: records keeping, customers’ management, government registrations, drawing action plans, completion, getting loans and business locations. Women entrepreneurs have developed coping mechanisms to deal with these challenges with the help of the government. Keywords: Socio-Economic Well-Being, Women Enterpreneurs, Informal Hospitality Services, Challenges
Purpose: Women have ventured into the informal hospitality sector to provide different services to improve their socio-economic well-being in the developed world and Africa. Similar results to assess informal hospitality services women entrepreneurs in Kenya have also been reported. These services include outside catering, events management, and housekeeping services.
Methodology: The study employed a qualitative research design to collect data from women entrepreneurs providing informal hospitality services through interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The study population was drawn from women groups providing informal hospitality services and are registered by Social Services offices from Muranga, Kakamega, Nakuru, and Kisumu Counties. The study used an in-depth interview where the researcher interviewed eight critical informants from the four Counties. The purposive sampling method was used to pick the eight women entrepreneurs from the universal target population of the study. Further, the researcher carried out one (1) FGD with a total of 8 participants, 6 participants purposively identified from urban-based Sub-Counties and two (2) participants from the rural-based Sub-Counties. The researcher used framework analysis, where the collected data from interviews and FGD were organized into themes based on the study objectives.
Findings: The study found out that women in the informal hospitality services in Nakuru, Kisumu, Muranga, and Kakamega Counties were doing outside catering services and events management to improve their socio-economic well-being. The women entrepreneurs found these services profitable and were overwhelmingly willing to continue with the services, unlike housekeeping services that some could offer as free services to the community.
Recommendation: The women enterpreneurs in the informal hospitality services in the four Counties need capacity building and more funding from both the County and National Governments so as to expand and diversify their businesses.
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