Exploring societal value creation through women’s informal entrepreneurial activities in Nepal - a narrative approach

This chapter explores how informal women entrepreneurs in a developing country context create value through nurturing social relations in their communities. Focusing on the rich narratives of three women entrepreneurs in three cities in Nepal, we illustrate the richness of life experiences and the economic and socio-cultural characteristics of their contexts with implications for societal value creation. Particularly, we highlight three different ways through which women entrepreneurs create value - changing perceptions about women’s work, supporting other women in the community by providing employment opportunities, and acting as role models in their communities. Overall, our chapter contributes to the existing literature on value creation beyond profit, including non-economic value creation by emphasising the role of context in shaping women’s choices.