Entrepreneurship a catalyst for Economic Empowerment: Evidence from women-led Enterprises in East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh, India

Women entrepreneurship has increasingly been recognized as an important instrument for achieving inclusive growth, poverty reduction, and economic empowerment in developing economies. Despite considerable policy attention, evidence from district-level entrepreneurial ecosystems remains limited. This study examines the relationship between women entrepreneurship and economic empowerment in East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh, India, while also investigating the influence of entrepreneurial challenges on enterprise growth and development. Primary data were collected from 504 women entrepreneurs through a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, correlation, regression, chi-square, and one-way ANOVA were employed to analyze the data. The findings reveal a significant positive relationship between women entrepreneurship orientation and economic empowerment. Women exhibiting stronger entrepreneurial orientation reported higher levels of financial independence, decision-making capability, and perceived improvement in quality of life. The study further demonstrates that entrepreneurial challenges significantly influence future growth intentions and development outcomes. Financial management, marketing capability, and customer relations emerged as the most prominent barriers affecting enterprise sustainability. The results suggest that entrepreneurship contributes substantially to women’s empowerment; however, long-term sustainability requires targeted interventions that extend beyond microfinance and focus on capability development, mentoring, market access, and institutional support. The study contributes to entrepreneurship literature by providing district-level empirical evidence and offers practical recommendations for policymakers, development agencies, and entrepreneurship promotion institutions seeking to strengthen women-led enterprises in emerging regional economies.