Keusahawanan peniaga wanita Minangkabau (The entrepreneurship of Minangkabau women)

Abstract

Peniaga wanita telah lama mendominasi perniagaan di pakan-pakan nagari di negeri Sumatera Barat. Budaya Minangkabau dipercayai telah memupuk kemahiran berniaga dan bakat keusahawanan mereka. Kajian ini mengamati ciri keusahawanan ini menerusi pengaruh faktor budaya Minangkabau itu sendiri dan faktor motivasi mereka. Data kajian telah diperolehi dengan membuat kajian terfokus yang melibatkan 91 peniaga wanita Minangkabau di nagari Tabek Panjang, Padang Tarok, Koto Tinggi dan Simarasok, kesemuanya terletak di kecamatan Baso, Sumatera Barat. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa wanita Minangkabau berniaga untuk menambah pendapatan kerana mereka lazimnya telah pun mempunyai pekerjaan dan kemahiran di luar perniagaan. Ternyata kemahiran berniaga mereka perolehi daripada keluarga mereka. Kemudahan pengangkutan asas merupakan faktor luaran utama yang mendorong mereka berniaga. Bagaimanapun, mereka masih menghadapi dua masalah utama dalam mengendalikan perniagaan mereka, iaitu masalah kekurangan kemudahan kemudahan fizikal seperti bangunan pasar yang berbumbung dan teratur supaya dapat mereka menjalankan aktiviti mereka dalam keadaan yang selesa, dan masalah mendapatkan kemudahan modal tambahan untuk mengembangkan lagi perniagaan mereka.

Katakunci: budaya Minangkabau, kemudahan fizikal, keusahawanan, pakan, peniaga wanita, perniagaan

Women retailers have long dominated the business scene in in its core culture area of West Sumatra. The Minangkabau culture has equipped them with basic entrepreneurial and business skills that fostered that dominance. This study takes a closer look at the women’s entrepreneurial traits through an analysis of the intrinsic influence of their own Minangkabau culture and the possible influence of extrinsic factors on their motivation. Primary data were obtained from the focus interviews of 91 Minangkabau business women of Tabek Panjang, Padang Tarok, Koto Tinggi and Simarasok in the Baso province of West Sumatra. The findings revealed that most Minangkabau business women engaged in retailing business to obtain additional income for they already had a main non-business source of income. Evidently, they had acquired their business skill from their family . They were also helped by the availability of basic infrastructural facilities such as road transportation. However, they were still confronted with two major challenges: one was the lack of physical amenities such as a physical building with systematic conveniences and adequate shelter from the elements so that they could conduct their transactions in a comfortable environment; the other was access to capital and financial assistance to facilitate their business expansion.

Keywords: business, business women, entrepreneurship, Minangkabau culture, pakan, physical amenities