Purpose – This exploratory study aims to examine how knowledge acquired via guanxi (networks and connections) is enabling women in China to overcome a number of significant barriers and challenges in order to start and grow successful businesses. Design/methodology/approach – The authors undertook two in-depth interviews to qualitatively investigate the use of guanxi as a means of overcoming various barriers faced by Chinese women in establishing and growing their businesses. Findings – The findings suggest that family background (and, in particular, support from parents and spouses), experience, training, education and finance are key success factors influencing the performance of women-led firms in China. The experiences of the two entrepreneurs in the study demonstrate the importance of mentors in helping to develop a woman's business acumen and providing the right contacts to help overcome potential barriers to developing a successful business. Research limitations/implications – While this study provides a useful first step to better understanding the role of guanxi networks in supporting women-led ventures in China, further research is needed to test the generalizability of the findings. Originality/value – This study contributes to the limited prior research focusing on the important role of guanxi networks in assisting Chinese women to successfully launch and grow new ventures.
Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 30 citations exist upstream.