A 2019 report published by the Telegraph revealed that female entrepreneurs get at least 157 times less funding compared to their male counterparts. In fact, according to another report released by Crunchbase, just 3% of venture capital investments land in the business bank accounts of women.
This are just a small handful of statistics from a very large pool, which all make it blatantly clear that it is still extremely challenging, stressful and lonely for female entrepreneurs to succeed and thrive in business.
How we can better support female entrepreneurs
Supporting female entrepreneurs everywhere is the key for global economic recovery, and this has now become more important than ever, following the start of the pandemic. Here’s how we can play our part:
Learn about and research female entrepreneurs
While this may seem like an odd place to start, visiting your local library or browsing books online that have been written by female entrepreneurs, is a great way to gain some knowledge on the subject. Why? Because once we read inspiring stories about how these women overcame the odds and claimed success, we can share their stories with others, and spread the word about how they ‘made it’ or became empowered.
This can really help kickstart the conversation on the challenges and barriers to success as well as the grievances women entrepreneurs face in a variety of industries.
Invest more in women-owned businesses
Despite all the challenges women business owners have been facing, female entrepreneurship is on the rise, as this report states how it has grown by 21 percent between 2014 and 2019 – and there are clearly no signs of slowing down, as we speak. But we really need to speed things up in order to put female entrepreneurs on a level playing field.
Unfortunately, with COVID-19 hanging like an axe over business owners, female entrepreneurs have become particularly vulnerable and need all the help they can get. Your investment in their start-ups can really give them the ‘breathing room’ they need to gain some traction.
Join a women’s entrepreneur support club, group or organisation
If you do a quick Google search, you’ll likely come across hundreds of networking organisations, clubs, and groups supporting women in business. In fact, many are funded by just membership dues, so by joining them, you are supporting them in their mission.
Host a gathering for female entrepreneurs
You don’t have to host a very large gathering or an expensive event.
Even a small coffee chat hosted over a virtual platform or, say, a casual gathering at your favourite café, and bringing business women and their supporters together – with the sole intention of collaborating, helping, supporting and connecting with each other – will help a lot.
Mentor other businesswomen
As long as you have the resources, experience, skills and knowhow to do so, you should definitely share your entrepreneurship experience with other women looking to make it in business. And, you don’t even have to be a businesswoman yourself – just be honest, transparent and impartial in your advice, because they’ll be hanging by your every word.
If you’re a female entrepreneur and would like some advice to help your business grow, then don’t hesitate to Contact Us or give us a call on 0151 319 8550.
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