According to research, there has been a major increase of women entrepreneurs over the past four years with new female business founders making up 32.37% compared to a mere 17% back in 2016.
Despite multiple challenges for female entrepreneurs, Instant Offices have laid out which are the top sectors and industries that women are currently dominating.
The Sectors that Women Entrepreneurs are Owning
The UK business categories with the highest percentage of female vs male entrepreneurs include hair and beauty, wellness, and consumables.
Hair & Beauty: 76% female vs 24% male
Gifts & Occasions: 67% female vs 32% male
Consumables: 64% female vs 36% male
Wellness: 63% female vs 37% male
Pet Care: 61% female vs 38% male
Following these insights, Lucinda Pullinger, Global Head of HR at The Instant Group has also shed some light on how the business world can pave the path to greater gender parity among entrepreneurs and inspiring women in business to thrive.
As today marks International Women’s Day, I hope the above may be useful to share with your readers.
ONE IN THREE FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS STILL FACE GENDER BIAS
Despite the global growth of women-led businesses, funding continues to be a significant challenge. Having gathered multiple data and research, Workplace Specialists Instant Offices revealed 35% of female business founders still face gender bias when raising their business capital. Female entrepreneurs also receive an average of 5% less funding than their male counterparts.
Although there has been encouraging growth from a mere 17% to 32.37% over the past four years, men are still twice as likely to start their own businesses, with women comprising just less than one-third of UK business founders.
It’s clear that much more can be done to support women-owned businesses and women in senior positions.
Interestingly studies have shown female business owners are most likely to run their business as a one-woman company. While 37.70% of women entrepreneurs work alone, 27.14% have 2-3 employees and just 23.44% employ teams of 4 or more.
The Sectors that Women Entrepreneurs are Owning
The UK business categories with the highest percentage of female vs male entrepreneurs include hair and beauty, wellness, and consumables.
Hair & Beauty: 76% female vs 24% male
Gifts & Occasions: 67% female vs 32% male
Consumables: 64% female vs 36% male
Wellness: 63% female vs 37% male
Pet Care: 61% female vs 38% male
In contrast, women are most underrepresented as business owners in the following industries:
Electronics & appliances: 3% female vs 97% male
Construction services: 5% female vs 95% male
Outdoor & garden services: 5% female vs 95% male
Biggest Barriers Facing Women in Business
The Funding Gap
Women are 81% less likely to be confident that they can access start-up funds
Women estimate that they need 40% less funding to get started
Women start out with an average of 53% less capital
The Scaling Gap
46% of female entrepreneurs do not seek scale loans as they expect issues with the process
40% of female entrepreneurs do not seek scale loans as they expect to be turned down
Only around 10% of female-led businesses in the UK are successfully scaling
Commenting on the research, Lucinda Pullinger, Global Head of HR at The Instant Group said
“The modern workplace has seen a major shift towards greater flexibility, with remote and agile working becoming the way of the future, especially post-pandemic. An increasing number of companies are also looking to initiatives that include men to help move the dial, such as shared parental leave. This allows more women to balance their work and family responsibilities more effectively.
As workplaces start reopening in the wake of a disruptive lockdown period, the business world is faced with many exciting opportunities to change and grow for the better. There are many more ways to pave the path to greater gender parity among entrepreneurs, inspiring women in business to thrive.”
Supporting Female Entrepreneurship in 2021
Some useful ways to contribute closing the gap include
Increase funding directed at female entrepreneurs
Provide more family-friendly workspaces and better parental leave for both parents
Improve access to professional networks and mentors for women
Forge pathways for women to enter and thrive in traditionally male-dominated industries
To view further insight into the self-starter gender gap, find out more here. (www.instantoffices.com/blog/instant-offices-news/gender-and-entrepreneurship/)
