From this perspective, the major training needs of most small businesses, particularly those operated by women, lie in the areas of product development, productivity and technology development, and marketing. At the micro and cottage level, women entrepreneurs are particularly handicapped in these areas by the combined impact of gender stereotypes and their more limited business experiences relative to men Developing the right products. When they come to the market as consumers, poor women tend to be almost completely price driven. The key for them is to find the cheapest price. When they enter the market as producers, they tend to extend this experience, automatically positioning themselves at the low end of the market where competition is strongest and the potential for adding value is minimal.
Women have less exposure than men to education, travel and the media.
As a result, most poor women entrepreneurs do not understand that some buyers might be motivated by quality, usefulness or fashion. Therefore, they often do not even consider targeting their products to the middle, much less the higher end, of the market. Gender stereotypes also tend to exclude women from information about technologies and from learning the skills needed to master the often quite simple mechanized technologies that could greatly increase the productivity and profitability of their enterprises. The Vietnamese fish processing project mentioned above trained women to use very simple fish grinding machines that were readily available and affordable to many households. The project found that the training not only enabled the women to utilize this technology, it also encouraged some to become more adventurous in seeking other forms of mechanization.