We can all agree that in today’s startup world, women business owners are increasingly recognized for their contributions to the economy. But it wasn’t always like this!
For the longest period, as social norms suggest, women are traditionally expected to be submissive rather than dominant in the workplace. But it’s not that women lack the ability to lead. Instead, the idea that a woman should hold such a position has recently been widely acknowledged and accepted in our culture.
While the situation has improved significantly, we still have a long way to go. According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, more than 11 million U.S. businesses were owned by women in 2017. This means that women-led startups have contributed to our economy by employing nearly 9 million people and generating $1.7 trillion in sales.
It’s undeniable that the idea that female entrepreneurs help drive progress and expansion in the economy has been proven in a wide range of studies. However, even now, women business owners are a minority and face unique challenges.
The first challenge that women entrepreneurs face is limited funding resources.
But while finding investors is essential to getting a business off the ground, not everyone is so fortunate. Especially women entrepreneurs. Startups need funding to design, produce, and market their products smoothly and to keep their administrative functions running smoothly. There’s no denying that!
But to no one’s surprise, one of the leading types of businesses that don’t have enough money to succeed is owned by women. Unfortunately, even in today’s world, many financial institutions favor investing in male-owned companies.
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Failure is an inevitable step on the path to success. In fact, the two often go hand in hand.
And while this is true for both men and women, the general consensus is that it is more acceptable for men to fail in business than for women. And the worst part? Women are more likely to fail than men.
When it comes to women, people take pleasure in making fun of them for being unsuccessful. They view it as a win when women fail in business because it proves what they already thought: that a woman can’t lead a company well or that they don’t know how to.
Another one of the challenges that female business owners encounter is the persistent issue of gender inequality.
One of the phrases used most frequently in the modern world is “women are paid equally for the work that they do”. But it seems as though this brings about very little change, if any change at all, in most communities. Each field we check out has a man in charge of it.
Although women have the mentality and ability to do the job just as well as men do, they are still perceived as being beneath men. Due to the internalized gender normative terms, we as people have predefined definitions of what women and men are capable of doing. And even if these definitions have changed over time, women are still suffering the consequences of the characteristics that society has imposed.
So even to this day, women business owners have trouble being taken seriously when running their companies. And unfortunately, these challenges only serve to increase the already challenging task of starting a new business.
Even more so, the lack of education and family support is also a result of gender inequality.
Why? In many parts of the world, sending a girl to school is not a top priority. Instead of being encouraged to pursue a career or especially to become a leader, they are more likely to be encouraged to be “a good wife and mother”.
They’re expected to prioritize their families’ needs over their own ambitions. Finding new ways to think and turning those thoughts into businesses requires a solid foundation in education. Their lack of education and experience makes it hard for them to use the many public and private resources that are available to them, such as services and information, to help them grow their businesses.
Due to the time and effort required by running a business, many people struggle to meet the needs of their families and the community's needs. As a result, they have trouble juggling their personal and professional lives and struggle to take care of their homes and children while running a business. This is an issue that men are not typically known to deal with.
Compared to the other problems that women business owners face, an unfavorable environment is one of the hardest.
Sadly, this goes hand in hand with women’s fight against gender inequality. Besides the lack of credibility, even in communities where women are permitted to run a business, they are expected to have a male partner.
Despite women’s capabilities, they are often asked to delegate to their male counterparts essential tasks such as making deals, negotiating, or even acting as the public face of the company. Undoubtedly, this can be a pain point for women entrepreneurs as it seems like they are doing all the work, but their male partners are taking all the recognition.
Women give up on their dreams of becoming successful businesswomen because they aren’t given the encouragement, help, and backing they need from their own communities and society at large. Unfortunately, all of these problems make them less able to handle the risks and unknowns that come with running a business. Still, there are a number of influential businesswomen who have been able to get past these problems and keep their businesses running smoothly while also maintaining a good balance between work and life.
But women’s determination to overcome obstacles and build successful businesses is a big reason why public opinion has changed. This has led the World Bank and its donor countries, as well as top corporations, universities, and non-governmental organizations, to give more money and attention to women-owned businesses.
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