Development always comes with changes in personal life or the working environment. Today we are witnessing a significant shift of the sort: If up until now, working for a big corporation was thought prestigious, now starting one’s own company is becoming more appealing.
The adoption of the internet and social networks has dramatically supported this trend. Thanks to them, potential clients, employees, or even investments are just a click away, with no significant amount of funds or connections to be necessary. Making business creation easy turned out to be the kind of change that opened broad opportunities for women in the working environment.
What do the statistics say
According to the American Census Bureau, the number of women-owned businesses increased by 45% from 2007 to 2016. As for a bigger picture, American business advising firm SCORE reports that women-owned companies currently make up 39% of the 28 million small businesses operating across the country — and the number is on the rise.
SCORE also gives information about the industry women are mostly targeting — Turns out, they’re twice as likely to start a company in the healthcare or education space than men.
Why are women interested in starting a business?
Starting your own company is a much riskier decision than working in a well-established organization — we hear this from all around. And for most, women are thought of as lovers of stability. What makes them start on the bumpy road of entrepreneurship?
On one side, the reason is the fact that corporate life isn’t as stable as it seems, especially for women. Layoffs, low rates, and low chances of promotion are a couple of examples. Women around the world come across many difficulties when it comes to working. One way to get away from these problems is to become their bosses. In fact, in a survey by an American financing company Guidance Financial, precisely these words were listed as the number one reason among women for starting a company (31%).
1. Flexibility
The reality is that women are still the primary caregivers, whether we're talking about children or aging parents. And, being one’s boss equals more flexibility. Balancing work and life becomes their task, which makes it relatively easier.
"I knew that if I had continued working in the corporate world … I would have had to make a lot of choices I didn't want to make," said Garrett. "I do think the culture of work is shifting to allow women more flexibility, which is a good thing. But working for yourself will probably always allow more freedom than working for someone else." — Says Michele Garrette, who left her corporate job before having her first baby and started a public relations firm.
2. Fair pay
The gender pay gap has remained relatively stable, and this problem is fierce everywhere around the world. Often, women themselves are the reason for low payment themselves simply because they agree to it. This has motivated them to start their businesses where they could set their pay themselves. As it turns out, this had a good impact on their lives: According to SCORE, 62% of women entrepreneurs depend on their business as their primary income source.
3. stability
As weird as it may sound, women often state controlling their future as a reason for starting their businesses. Even though big corporations have a greater chance of survival, the employees’ places in the company aren’t that secure. Layoffs or payment cut-offs are a part of the corporate lifestyle and women often share this lot. In the survey by Guidance Financial, dissatisfaction with corporate lifestyle was the third reason (26%) for starting a company while layoff was the fifth (6%).
4. The opportunity to grow
Aside from low payment, women also have less chance of promotion (by 15%) than men, according to LeanIn.Org. To find out the reasons, the Harvard Business Review did a study using sensors in the workplace. The results showed that men and women behave the same in the workplace, get the same amount done in a day, spend the same amount of time at face-to-face meetings with their superiors, and score equally in performance evaluations. These results suggest that the differences in their promotion rates weren’t due to their behavior but to how they were treated.
When you start your own company, you are in charge of your progression. As it turns out, women, too, have career goals like men.
5. Following passion
And as it always happens. One of the main reasons for starting a company amongst women was their desire to follow their passion. More precisely, 26% of women stated so. When you know exactly what you want to do with your life, you are capable and willing to overcome all sorts of obstacles along the way.
But, there still are some difficulties
These optimistic statistics don’t mean that women entrepreneurs don’t stumble upon problems along the way. One of the main issues is finding support from the outside community.
According to an article published in Business News Daily, investors are less likely to trust women when it comes to running a business than men. The study by SCORE also notes that women have a 7% less chance of getting funding than their male counterparts. It should also be noted here that women are also 9% less likely to seek financing altogether. They assume upfront that no help will come their way, so they concentrate on their capabilities instead.
But, aside from funding, women have trouble finding mentors and advisors too. 45% of women entrepreneurs state this to be one of the main issues they’ve often encountered.
Final thoughts
When it comes to the working environment, the picture is still quite different for men and women. This is coming not only from their personal goals but from the attitude of their employers as well. The later has become the main driver of taking their lives in their own hands for many women. And as we saw from the above statistics, the tendency is not slowing down nor going anywhere.
Every change comes with new problems. But these problems seize to exist as the change is not a change anymore, but a standard.
Women in the business ecosystem
11 September 2020Development always comes with changes in personal life or the working environment. Today we are witnessing a significant shift of the sort: If up until now, working for a big corporation was thought prestigious, now starting one’s own company is becoming more appealing.
The adoption of the internet and social networks has dramatically supported this trend. Thanks to them, potential clients, employees, or even investments are just a click away, with no significant amount of funds or connections to be necessary. Making business creation easy turned out to be the kind of change that opened broad opportunities for women in the working environment.
What do the statistics say
According to the American Census Bureau, the number of women-owned businesses increased by 45% from 2007 to 2016. As for a bigger picture, American business advising firm SCORE reports that women-owned companies currently make up 39% of the 28 million small businesses operating across the country — and the number is on the rise.
SCORE also gives information about the industry women are mostly targeting — Turns out, they’re twice as likely to start a company in the healthcare or education space than men.
Why are women interested in starting a business?
Starting your own company is a much riskier decision than working in a well-established organization — we hear this from all around. And for most, women are thought of as lovers of stability. What makes them start on the bumpy road of entrepreneurship?
On one side, the reason is the fact that corporate life isn’t as stable as it seems, especially for women. Layoffs, low rates, and low chances of promotion are a couple of examples. Women around the world come across many difficulties when it comes to working. One way to get away from these problems is to become their bosses. In fact, in a survey by an American financing company Guidance Financial, precisely these words were listed as the number one reason among women for starting a company (31%).
1. Flexibility
The reality is that women are still the primary caregivers, whether we're talking about children or aging parents. And, being one’s boss equals more flexibility. Balancing work and life becomes their task, which makes it relatively easier.
"I knew that if I had continued working in the corporate world … I would have had to make a lot of choices I didn't want to make," said Garrett. "I do think the culture of work is shifting to allow women more flexibility, which is a good thing. But working for yourself will probably always allow more freedom than working for someone else." — Says Michele Garrette, who left her corporate job before having her first baby and started a public relations firm.
2. Fair pay
The gender pay gap has remained relatively stable, and this problem is fierce everywhere around the world. Often, women themselves are the reason for low payment themselves simply because they agree to it. This has motivated them to start their businesses where they could set their pay themselves. As it turns out, this had a good impact on their lives: According to SCORE, 62% of women entrepreneurs depend on their business as their primary income source.
3. stability
As weird as it may sound, women often state controlling their future as a reason for starting their businesses. Even though big corporations have a greater chance of survival, the employees’ places in the company aren’t that secure. Layoffs or payment cut-offs are a part of the corporate lifestyle and women often share this lot. In the survey by Guidance Financial, dissatisfaction with corporate lifestyle was the third reason (26%) for starting a company while layoff was the fifth (6%).
4. The opportunity to grow
Aside from low payment, women also have less chance of promotion (by 15%) than men, according to LeanIn.Org. To find out the reasons, the Harvard Business Review did a study using sensors in the workplace. The results showed that men and women behave the same in the workplace, get the same amount done in a day, spend the same amount of time at face-to-face meetings with their superiors, and score equally in performance evaluations. These results suggest that the differences in their promotion rates weren’t due to their behavior but to how they were treated.
When you start your own company, you are in charge of your progression. As it turns out, women, too, have career goals like men.
5. Following passion
And as it always happens. One of the main reasons for starting a company amongst women was their desire to follow their passion. More precisely, 26% of women stated so. When you know exactly what you want to do with your life, you are capable and willing to overcome all sorts of obstacles along the way.
But, there still are some difficulties
These optimistic statistics don’t mean that women entrepreneurs don’t stumble upon problems along the way. One of the main issues is finding support from the outside community.
According to an article published in Business News Daily, investors are less likely to trust women when it comes to running a business than men. The study by SCORE also notes that women have a 7% less chance of getting funding than their male counterparts. It should also be noted here that women are also 9% less likely to seek financing altogether. They assume upfront that no help will come their way, so they concentrate on their capabilities instead.
But, aside from funding, women have trouble finding mentors and advisors too. 45% of women entrepreneurs state this to be one of the main issues they’ve often encountered.
Final thoughts
When it comes to the working environment, the picture is still quite different for men and women. This is coming not only from their personal goals but from the attitude of their employers as well. The later has become the main driver of taking their lives in their own hands for many women. And as we saw from the above statistics, the tendency is not slowing down nor going anywhere.
Every change comes with new problems. But these problems seize to exist as the change is not a change anymore, but a standard.