Challenges Faced By Women Entrepreneurs

After the growth in woman empowerment in the late 20th century, it is a common sight to see more and more women coming out as entrepreneurs. During earlier times, business and commercial activities were strictly male dominated territories and it was only after the emergence of women after the Second World War that helped them gain a strong social footing and several women entrepreneurs like Oprah Winfrey and Coco Chanel showcased the power of women in business. Even though the number of women in the field of business and Entrepreneurship is growing at a steady rate, one cannot deny the fact that women entrepreneurs face some extra challenges. Here’s a list of some of the most common challenges face by women entrepreneurs.

1. Gender Discrimination

Although women entrepreneurs are rising in numbers, the number of males still overpowers them. It is quite common for new women entrepreneurs to be intimidated by male executives. Women also have a harder time accumulating capital for their business ventures even though in reality they are less likely to default on their loans as compared to men. Studies also show that most men have a major lack of trust in women and the deal they are offering. Women also tend to have fewer personal assets as compared to men and generally need to procure additional funds as compared to men. This is why women’s empowerment is still such an important part of society that needs events such as this women empowerment workshop. A safe space and giving women a voice when they feel they are being treated differently from their male workers, for example, is crucial in today’s world. Everyone deserves an equal voice, and these workshops can teach women in sports, or younger women in education, to speak up and be unapologetically heard.

2. Emotional Aspects

Females are known to be emotional creatures and no matter how hard they try to act like men, they often crack in tense situations. For men, owning and running a business is more about meeting the bottom line and taking decisions for the greater good of the organizations. Women can easily get emotionally attached to people and have a more relationship-building approach. While this benefits the organization to a certain level, it can also stand as an obstacle to important business decisions like lay-offs and cancellations of service agreements.

3. Result-Oriented Decision Making

The first and foremost quality of entrepreneurs is their ability to make profits and bear losses. Business requires an immensely stable temperament and the owner’s ability to guide the organization through a mixed bag of profits and losses. Studies show that women tend to be more result-oriented than men and are immensely afraid of failures. While this makes them do a lot better than men in several areas like academics, it limits their ability to take higher risks. Business is all about taking calculated risks in order to make large profits and create an iconic brand image. Compared to men, women are more scared of taking risks and often go for the tried and tested methods instead of trying something revolutionary.

4. Lack of Support from Other Females

It is an old saying that ‘women are their own worst enemies’. Several behavioral studies show that while men easily trust and support other males, females have a hard time getting along with other females of equal stature. Especially when there is a serious lack of female entrepreneurs, women often try to be liked by everyone around them and show an unnatural disdain if another female tries to stand up to them. Due to the low numbers, females often lack the support and camaraderie from female peers. Without this support, females can find it particularly difficult to climb the career ladder, unless they can find a way to gain vital support from others. Not only can they organize team bonding sessions to help them know their colleagues on a more personal level, but they could also consider buying trust-enhancing pheromones, from somewhere like True Pheromones, to create lasting relationships with the people around them. When that trust is there, females can achieve anything that they put their minds to in a professional setting.

5. The Need For Balance Between Family And Business

Achieving a perfect work-life balance is one of the primary goals of entrepreneurs. This can be a troublesome situation for female entrepreneurs as they might have to deal with work and business simultaneously. It is extremely difficult to run a business while being a mother as one needs to allot unspecified amounts of time to both. Women are often associated with the house related tasks and often face trouble maintaining a work-life balance.

The above challenges are few of the major challenges that the women entrepreneurs face around the globe in the current business market. Despite of these challenges, statistics show a steady rise in the number of women entrepreneurs around the globe, thanks to the rising awareness and the defacement of social taboos through education and media. Additionally, several social and political reforms are also aimed at women empowerment.