Breaking Barriers with Skills: Lived Experiences of Women Entrepreneurs to Explore the Skills Behind the Success of Business Stories

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the essential entrepreneurship skills that help women run efficient, effective businesses and achieve success. This research employed Heidegger's hermeneutic phenomenology. The study collected data through semi-structured interviews with 36 female service-industry entrepreneurs from July 2026 to August 2026, until data saturation was achieved. The purposive sampling method was employed. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data and develop themes using NVivo. The results indicate that success in business operations requires a wide range of skills, including financial expertise, leadership, technological proficiency, artificial intelligence, big data analysis, social media management, industry-specific knowledge, adaptability to innovation, creativity, interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, resilience, time management, networking, and risk management. The results of the study are useful for policymakers, incubation centers, STEVA, TVETA, the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, provincial education ministries, and public and private training institutions. Furthermore, this research is beneficial for academic scholars, researchers, and female entrepreneurs. The study uses Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities framework to examine how women entrepreneurs’ skills, agency, real freedoms, and opportunities are shaped by social, cultural, economic, and institutional conditions. By centering women’s lived experiences, it extends the framework beyond business outcomes to examine the skills they draw on to pursue the work and lives they value.