Female entrepreneurs are on the rise today. Studies have showed businesswomen encompass around 1/3 of all self-employed people worldwide. From this fact alone, you can already say that the women are becoming less fearful of leaving their full-time employment and venture into the unknown world of entrepreneurship regardless of the risks involved.
In the past 15 years, firms owned by women have increased one and half times than the usual. By 2018, it is even anticipated that businesswomen will bring over five million jobs. Firms with at least one female serving a leader are forecasted to have higher fundraising valuations.
The continuous rise of women entrepreneurs has not been noticed until now. As women are slowly taking over the business world, it seems that they are also finding the right locations to expand their empires. Currently, the United States of America is considered as the best country for businesswomen. Learn more on why the United States is the best country for women to do business:
United States: Best Place to Become a Female Entrepreneur
According to ACG Inc.’s Global Women Entrepreneur Leaders Scorecard, United States is the number one country for businesswomen. United States had outperformed United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Sweden in the list. The country is constantly seen to have an imperative mix of technology, heavy business environment, education, and training.
This Dell-sponsored study based its evaluation on a wide array of factors. Aside from analyzing the countries’ business environments, the research also concentrated on different gender-related aspects of doing business.For instance, ACG Inc. checked women’s access level to the Internet, banking, education, and training. Furthermore, the research team also noted the existing number of females starting their own businesses in various countries. The report also took into account the number of female executives in organizations.
Despite the fact the United States topped the list of best countries for female businesswomen, the report concluded it still has to improve its funding system for the gender. According to the report in 2014, only three percent of the companies owned by females in the country obtained venture capital. Out of the 31 countries, Pakistan and Bangladesh scored last because of poor financial and educational assistance to women. All over the world, the report still found instances wherein females are often held back from entering entrepreneurship due to high-cost contracts that must be obtained from the government.Overall, ACG Inc. believes all countries should both support men and women in entrepreneurship.
Challenges Are Ahead Female Entrepreneurs of the World
There are still challenges for female entrepreneurs when it comes to doing business even in the best country in the world. We list down the most common obstacles female entrepreneurs face when doing business:
Lack of Financial Support. A Gallup World poll revealed women have less access to savings and checking accounts in financial institutions than men. As a result, female entrepreneurs who are in the process of starting a business will find themselves working with a small capital. This obstacle has kept some women from making long-term investments for their firms or even lead their companies to the growth stage.
Informal Operations. Multiple reports are saying female-led businesses are often informal. One report claims that 63 percent of females in Africa, for example, are self-employed proprietary business. This could be one reason why females are often found in service and retail businesses.
But there is an underlying truth towards these self-employed businesses. Women who own businesses tend to prefer working from home or remote to have flexible time to run their households. While this does not necessarily limit them from growing their companies, there is no denying the fact that there are only a few women entrepreneurs who have made great contributions back to the economy. Growing a business will require more formal operations, and a shift towards this management style will require more work and a change in company structure.
Less Women-Friendly Educational Support. There are still places around the world that restrict women in making major educational strides. Some female entrepreneurs find themselves lacking support to develop their vocational attributes, education, and technical skills.Low-income females are also at disadvantage and find themselves with the lack of access to information and communications technology (ICT) support.Moreover, it is evident that there are more males than females getting employed.
While these obstacles have long been identified, it is simply understandable that the business industry and the government should take more action to encourage female entrepreneurship. And progressive countries are paying more attention not only to seek closure to the gender pay gap, but to the growth of the business industry as a whole. On the other hand, the strategic road map, public procurement programs and funding should constantly evolve to continue attracting more women to venture into the business industry.
