Empowering Women To Feel That Urge To Become Entrepreneurs Despite The Difficulties

Empowering Women To Feel That Urge To Become Entrepreneurs Despite The Difficulties

“A strong woman holds on to the belief that she is strong enough for the journey she faces; and a woman of faith believes that it is in this journey of her life that she will become strong.”

— Millie Leung, Entrepreneur, Author, and International Speaker

Around 163 million women worldwide have started their journey as entrepreneurs since 2016. Ever since, women’s entrepreneurship has continued to follow an upward trend, with more and more women venturing into the business world.

Today, women entrepreneurs are creating jobs and contributing to economic growth & social progress across the globe. Unfortunately, barriers and constraints women entrepreneurs face today are gender-specific which stem from cultural values, customs, and norms.

Important Characteristic Traits of Women Entrepreneurs

• Imaginative: A women entrepreneur must have the skill of creating fresh ideas to thrive in the competitive world.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit: One has to have the spirit to face difficulties and never give up without trying.
• Attribute to Work Hard: Entrepreneurs are born hard workers. For a woman entrepreneur to attain success, she must have a strong work ethic.
• Ability to Take a Risk: Women entrepreneurs must have the appetite to take risks if needed.
• Persistence: Women entrepreneurs have the intention to fulfill their dreams and must have the patience to reap the fruit of their labor.
• Good Negotiating Skill: She must know her worth first to negotiate her worth.

Why do Women Entrepreneurs Matter to Society?

Women entrepreneurs are creating more jobs than ever, contributing to the Gross National Product (GNP) of various economies like their male counterparts. Even more fascinating are the contributions women entrepreneurs make to society. As evidence speaks, women entrepreneurs are more likely to reinvest their profits in education, family, and their community.

For example, the path-breaking work of Grameen Bank shows that small micro-credit loans given to women are always paid back, and the funds are invested in businesses, providing funds to educate children and lift families out of poverty.

No doubt, women entrepreneurs are transforming families and society, making contributions to business development.

Gender Role Expectations and Identities

According to studies, women often experience bias stemming from expectations of female leadership styles and perceptions of how they lead. This leads to discrimination when women are considered less favourably than men. Prejudice is also there, which often leads to barriers to women becoming leaders and climbing the leadership ladder of success.

What Makes a Good Entrepreneurial Environment?

A supportive environment for women’s entrepreneurship and leadership requires unified systems with reciprocal features and a constructive culture. Without opportunities for growth, investments & financial capital, a mixture of innovative & progressive institutional provisions, women entrepreneurs cannot thrive.

Since women have faced more gender-based barriers to securing capital for their businesses, they end up securing smaller amounts of investment capital and fewer bank loans. To help women overcome these obstacles, a favourable entrepreneurial environment must be created. That includes policies that encourage financial institutions to market investment funds & loans to women directly. Ideally, they should create and assign specific financial products exclusively for women entrepreneurs.

Want to learn more about women’s entrepreneurship and how to become a successful entrepreneur? Reach out to us at KW Productions and let us know if you need any assistance regarding upgrading your skills as an entrepreneur.

Becoming a successful entrepreneur is no easy feat. It takes dedication, grit, ability to work hard and dream big. Do you think you would make an exceptional entrepreneur? Check out this video for some amazing tips from some successful women entrepreneurs.