All respondents stated that ICT played a major role in the development of their business with 2 of the respondents indicating that their business is solely an internet based business. As indicated in previous studies, female business owners often lack the knowledge and expertise in technology due to many factors, some of which include the subject area studied as part of their education or indeed because of the traditional “feminised” sectors in which they operate in. This study again reflects such findings with all of the respondents indicating that they “did not have the technical expertise to start the business” and indeed it was one the main challenges that they faced in starting and running the business, with one respondent indicating that she “had to learn how to use the Internet”. Other challenges faced by the female entrepreneur included the “changing pace of technology” and keeping abreast of technological developments and also “drastically changing software programmes’". What was interesting to note is that all of the female entrepreneurs were themselves managing the ICT of the business on their own without employing anyone in this position within the business. All of those interviewed were very positive and proactive in recognising their weaknesses in the area of ICT and had received training in order to operate their businesses effectively and efficiently with one of the respondents indicating that she is currently growing her business through partnerships with other internet based businesses. It was cited also by the majority of respondents that the training received should have taken a more practical approach rather than theoretical approach.
Previous studies show that appropriate ICT can help the entrepreneurial firm to create business opportunities (OECD, 2004). It can assist in reducing costs for the business by improving internal processes, improving their product/service through faster communication with their customers, and better promoting and distributing products/ services through an online presence (Sakai, 2002). Essentially, ICT has the potential to improve the core business of entrepreneurial businesses in every step of the management of the business. Although all of the respondents recognised the benefits of ICT, the research showed that the adoption of ICT was very much on a piecemeal basis where none of the respondents had fully integrated ICT across or between business functions. Where the use of ICT was most prevalent it was customer lead and centred on selling and promotional activities. Feedback from respondents revealed a strong reliance on the internet and email. The internet was most frequently used and was deemed a critical communicational tool to contact and communicate with customers and suppliers. A reason may be attributed to fact that market and customer base of the firms is local.
Further probing of respondents indicated that ICT was not used for front end activities whereby respondents seemed to be deficient in their comprehension about how ICT could be incorporated into every aspect of the business. They were not leveraging the benefits of ICT for all functions of the business. E-procurement (allowing faster and cheaper communication with suppliers; improved inventory management systems; creating linkages to global supply and outsourcing opportunities) was not being adopted by the respondents as part of the ICT strategy, alongside employing more cost effective accounting and financial management practices through ICT. The opportunity to enhance business planning capabilities and improve customer relationship management through ICT was not recognised either by the respondents. Furthermore the respondents were not familiar with how the adoption of ICT could allow them to manage the Human Resource Management (HRM) function of the business by improving communication with employees through the use of an intranet and also provide an opportunity for e-learning for employee training. In essence, the adoption of ICT by the respondents was to improve comprehension and understanding of business trends and market prices through easier access to information via the internet and e-marketing through websites.