Entrepreneurial Success: Key Challenges Faced by Malaysian Women Entrepreneurs in the Aged Care Industry.

This article examines the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs operating aged care centers in Malaysia, a sector critical due to the country’s rapidly aging population. Through qualitative interviews with ten women entrepreneurs in Klang Valley, the study identifies key obstacles including limited government support, complex licensing procedures, funding shortages, staff training deficits, and sociocultural barriers such as family support and elderly families’ behavior. Despite these challenges, the centers remain sustainable, highlighting women’s potential in this industry, which aligns with their caregiving attributes like empathy and patience. The study proposes a success model emphasizing environmental, organizational, individual, and customer-related factors, and offers policy recommendations for government, banks, corporate organizations, researchers, communities, and elderly families to enhance support for women-led aged care enterprises in Malaysia.