This paper analyzes the evolution of various concepts and definitions of entrepreneurship with special reference to women. It provides the present scenario of women entrepreneurs in India and the various challenges, which they are facing in the changing global scenario. It then focuses on marketing challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, and the various strategies used by them and related organizations to overcome the challenges.

The word `entrepreneur' is derived from the 17<sup>th</sup> century French word `entreprendre', which means to undertake. Over the years this term is widely used by social scientists and with the changing socioeconomic context, the concept of entrepreneurship has further evolved as well as refined. According to the earlier definition, an entrepreneur is an actor or a person in charge of a large-scale project. Later on various other perspectives, such as risk-taking ability, innovativeness, taking initiative, perseverance, taking responsibility of the project, etc., were added to this definition. According to Hisrich (2004), entrepreneurship is a process of creating something different with value by devoting necessary time and effort, assuming the accompanying financial, psychological and social risks and receiving the resulting rewards of monetary and personal satisfaction. In simple words, entrepreneurship can also be defined as an ability to discover, create or invent opportunities and exploit them for the benefit of the society, which in turn brings prosperity to the innovator and his organization.

It is now generally accepted that entrepreneurship is a driving force of economic development in any country. It is not only considered as a powerful tool to increase national as well as per capita income, but also as an essential instrument to bring structural, social and cultural changes to the economy. This article focuses on entrepreneurship among women who constitute about 48% of the total population of India. By definition, woman enterprise is a small-scale unit where one or more women entrepreneurs have more than 51% financial holding.