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Introduction
In this interview I set out to interview Kathleen Monroe a single business lady in Michigan on the challenges facing single women entrepreneurs. Prior to the interview I embarked on a planning exercise for my interview. These included outlining the type of information I was hoping to get from the interviewee which I achieved by setting up a detailed questionnaire. I later cross checked my questions to correct any leading and closed questions. Thereafter, I prepared all the relevant instruments for the interview consisting of a pencil, eraser, questionnaire, and a sharpener.
The goal for the interview
The purpose for my interview was to examine the challenges faced by single women entrepreneurs in Michigan. Single women face a host of challenges on business as opposed to their male counterparts some of which affect their business adversely. I am therefore seeking to investigate how these challenges can be addressed to ensure a level playing ground with men. My choice for Kathleen was inspired by her 5 year successful career as a business lady specializing in clothing wear. This made her an ideal candidate for my interview.
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Techniques used
For the purpose of the interview I carried out an oral interview with a questionnaire. Since Kathleen initially looked curious about the intention of my visit, on introduction I briefly explained to her my mission and objectives for my interview. The rapport building worked positively for me and she promised to cooperate. She questioned why I had chosen her among others and trying as much as possible to display a relaxed smile, I convincingly explained why she was the best candidate for the interview. She directed me to her office where we carried on. I started off by explaining to her why the interview was important and how it would benefit her. Surprisingly she interjected with a comment that she had been reminded the same a thousand times by politicians with no change forthcoming and wondered whether I could be vouching for one. This caught me off guard but I cautiously avoided of showing it on my face to which I instead smiled in preparation for my response.
On inquiring how she had mobilized her start up capital, she informed me she had borrowed funds from friends and relatives since the lending institutions could not lend her due to lack of collateral. She also said that many of those she approached did not believe that a woman investor could succeed and so dismissed her as a wishful thinker. On competition she told me that her rivals would sometimes use very negative tactics to push her out of business including bribing her suppliers.
Conclusion
My interview was largely successful in getting the challenges as I was able to get satisfying answers through her cooperation. The down side of my interview was my inability to get the perception of other women especially those married towards her to which she simply replied that she never cared. Interestingly I learned that she didn’t feel threatened by male dominance in the industry. But most important of all was the knowledge that women felt that policy reforms were key to addressing heir challenges in business. Single women it seemed did not require any favors from any authority but a level playing ground to run their business.