Entrepreneurship is a central force that plays a vital role in economic growth. The performance of enterprises determines the pace of the economic growth of a country. In the context of Nepal, the beauty parlour business is one of the rapidly growing businesses among young women in the urban area. However, some beauty parlour businesses are not as successful as others. Entrepreneurship theories explain why some enterprises or businesses are more successful than others. In this context, this study aims to identify the factors determining the performance of women entrepreneurs in the beauty parlour business. For this study, the data were enumerated using a semi- structured questionnaire from 143 women entrepreneurs who own beauty parlour businesses in Pokhara. The performance of beauty parlour business was measured in terms of the growth in profit, employment and assets during the period between 2015/16 to 2016/17 AD. A multiple regression model was run to assess the effect of various factors on the performance of the beauty parlour business. The study disclosed a significant increase in average annual profit and employment over the period. The study revealed that among many likely individual-, business- and environment-related factors determining the performance of beauty parlour business, year of registration, enterprise age and initial paid-up capital are the key factors determining the performance of the beauty parlour business in Pokhara. However other factors such as the age of the respondent, education of the respondent, previous experience, creative tendency, calculated risk-taking, independence, type of ownership, market dynamic and government support do not appear to have such a significant effect on the performance of the beauty parlour business.

Keywords : Beauty Parlour Business, Economic Growth, Women Entrepreneurs, Nepal.