Global Journal of Management and Business Research, A: Administration and Management, Volume 23 Issue 9

"There are several of us women who have set up this cooperative. "We were so desperate for a regular income to be able to provide for our families," said a 40- year-old widow with 3 children. For these women, the cooperative represents security, especially as they are generally illiterate: "I can't read or write, so other women like me came up with the idea of setting up this cooperative", said one interviewee, who is divorced and has 3 children to support. As far as the family context is concerned, the women entrepreneurs interviewed said that they were in charge of family life. We found that these women rarely questioned the unequal sharing of family and domestic responsibilities. They see it as a duty they have to fulfil, which often leads them to adjust their working hours. This is likely to act as a brake on any project, especially when it requires geographical mobility or special working hours (Machado et al., 2023). It should also be noted that family support is considered essential for setting up a business, and for managing and developing it (Amadou et al., 2022). The family often provides start-up capital and also helps with market access and childcare (Ouattara, 2020). They are the first port of call in the event of financial, professional or personal problems (Laicher and Djemai, 2020; Bensoula et al., 2021). It should also be noted that self- employed women have sufficient financial resources and very often call on outside help or their parents for childcare and other household tasks (Tijari and Smouni, 2023). In this respect, one interviewee, a doctor, aged 32, married with one child, said: "My parents gave me part of the capital I needed and my husband provided the rest in addition to the premises where I currently practice my profession as a doctor". Another respondent, a 47-year-old company director and mother of 3 children, said that she had benefited from strong support from her husband, who had contributed most to the necessary financial investment: "My husband helped me a lot by giving me a large part of the necessary investment, in addition to the premises where I set up my business". It should be noted that in the absence of sufficient financial resources and given their precarious conditions, women cooperators are often the main economic players in their families. The latter, in a situation of poverty, offers them little support for entrepreneurial activity (Zogning, 2022; Lacle, 2020; MEYABE et al., 2022). The family, or even the eldest daughter, is often assigned family responsibilities. The importance of this help is paramount, and they are sometimes prepared to sacrifice these girls' schooling. One respondent, a 54-year-old widow with 5 dependent children, said: "My eldest daughter helps me with the housework and the children. As she doesn't go to school, she replaces me at home". As far as the professional context is concerned, our results show that the entrepreneurial activity of our interviewees is based on the development of a relational fabric, and mobilises the close family and social network. Women entrepreneurs are often affiliated to a professional network, without being enthusiastic about it (Félix and Zammar, 2021; Souidi, 2019). One female entrepreneur, aged 41, married, with two children, said: "Yes, I'm affiliated to an entrepreneurial network, but I'm not particularly enthusiastic about it and I don't have enough time to follow its activities". In the case of self-employed women, they all belong to an association that defends their interests. One respondent, a chartered accountant aged 39, married with two children, said: "I'm a member of the Tunisian Association of Chartered Accountants, but that's all. I don't have enough time to follow their activities or keep in touch with the other members". The women cooperators interviewed stated that they were not members of any professional network (Ouattara, 2020; Amadou et al., 2022). They rely mainly on the family network and the members of the cooperative: "I'm not affiliated to a network, and I don't know what it's for", said a single 32-year-old interviewee. Some of the women interviewed said they had difficulty gaining access to a public space. At the same time, women entrepreneurs maintain that they encounter difficulties in having their professional skills recognised in an environment full of prejudices about women's skills (Kone, 2021; Doubogan, 2019). They spoke of difficult relations with banking organisations and obstacles to accessing external funding. They stress that bankers do not take them seriously. A single 29-year-old optician said: "I don't totally trust the bank. So I preferred to borrow from my family, especially as I don't need a lot of money to get started". Another respondent, aged 35, married with 2 children and head of a public school, added: "Why borrow from the bank when you have your own savings? What's more, I don't think it's a good idea to start your business with a loan". For our sample, bank financing is risky and the guarantees required by the banks prevent this solution from being used. As far as customer relations are concerned, our interviewees mentioned the problems of non-payment, late payment, etc. .... One 44-year-old interviewee, a widow with 3 children, said: "Our customers are very few, so we have to agree to sell to them on credit to ensure that they come back". In Tunisia, commercial relations and negotiations often take place outside working hours, in public places, forcing women to abandon certain business opportunities for fear of tarnishing their image in the social environment. "Men can go wherever they want. After work, they go to the cafés, where they can find business opportunities. It's very difficult for us women to behave like men," says a 37-year-old owner of a clothing company, who is married with one child. Another, aged Challenges and Prospects for Women Entrepreneurs in Tunisia Global Journal of Management and Business Research ( A ) XXIII Issue IX Version I Year 2023 45 © 2023 Global Journals