Women Entrepreneurship - Essay Example

Women Entrepreneurship Today, our discussion will focus on women entrepreneurship. The purpose of this presentation is to help you understand the requirements women need to start and run their business ventures. Currently, women take up more roles at startups in the traditionally male-dominated business world. Many people perceive running a small business as more sufficiently attractive than working as an employee in a firm or public organization. These reasons relate to women as much as they apply to men. On the contrary, there are certain factors that make entrepreneurship less attractive and viable to women thus discouraging them in all sections of the today’s labor market. Despite an encouraging upturn in women entrepreneurs in the past decade, much still needs to be done to overcome some specific factors that hinder us from actively participating in startup ventures. According to Casserly (2013), unleashing the power of women entrepreneurs can have a dramatic positive impact on a country’s economy. While the top ranking nations consistently performed well in sectors such as banking, education, and economic development, U.S remains at the top with the best indicators of good institutional foundations and a story dynamic entrepreneurial environment. The frequency and contributions of women-owned companies continue to rise in the U.S as reported by Casserly (2013). The same report indicates that between 1997 and 2013, the number of women-owned enterprises in the U.S increased by 59% while the number of businesses increased by 41%. This generated approximately $ 1.3 trillion in revenue as well as employing over 8 million people. Measures to encourage women to venture in entrepreneurship and accessing such opportunities easily are necessary to enable them obtain the needed financial capacity for startup businesses. Different nations have tackled these problems facing women entrepreneurs in various ways, but none of them has all the answers to the problems. Improving these situations, therefore, calls for soft actions besides legislations. Therefore, it is ideal for us to exchange good practices and experiences among different states. Access to financial support is one of the major problems facing us as women entrepreneurs today. All entrepreneurs find it cumbersome to get the investors they require to secure their business as well as specific measures needed to easy women access to funding. Innovation sectors that require substantial investments also see women as less credible entrepreneurs than men. While legislative actions are appropriate in some areas, in others, women’s access to better information is the key challenge. Other challenges facing women entrepreneurs and innovators include contextual obstacles such as educational choices, traditional views and stereotypes about women, science, and innovation. Soft obstacles such as lack of access to technical scientific and general business networks, lack of business training, role models, and entrepreneurial skills are also potential threats. Women find themselves intrinsically disadvantaged in entrepreneurship, but high power female role models have made breakthroughs. When it comes down to what makes female entrepreneurs survive the business storm, there is no secret, and the only way to go is to borrow from the men’s tactics at play. What it takes in many ways is gender neutral, since a business one is proud of, does not look different whether you are a man or a woman. The steps one needs to take are not confined to gender lines since entrepreneurial achievements rely on a combination of activities and attributes such as hard work, resourceful team and the desire for success. Hard work and viable ideas are a transgender that female entrepreneurs should exploit. We should, therefore, utilize the following resources to conquer entrepreneurship as outlined by Gonzalez (2014). Confidence: Science is women’s ally since we are often the most compelling negotiators. The caveat, only applicable in scenarios where we are not advocating for themselves. Controversially referred to as the confidence gap, women entrepreneurs cannot fall prey to insecurity but instead, it is crucial to be a refined speaker and easily able to convey your conviction and company’s specified objectives. The CEO’s job is to be the ultimate cheerleader and seller of the company. Even if these extroverted tendencies do not come naturally, it is vital for you to assert yourselves for the betterment of their budding businesses. A lot has to do with fearlessness and knowing where you want to go, your mission and figuring out your ways to get there defines successful women entrepreneurs. Build the right team for your brand: A resourceful team who embody our values, make meaningful contributions and easily integrate them into the company culture is key to the startup and survival of women entrepreneurship. Creating a supportive company culture is probably the beginning of attracting the best talents. As female entrepreneurs, we must also know how to hire employees who truly share in the mission statement and feel passionate about opportunities to grow the business. Enlisting help from the right investors is also important regardless of the gender but rather someone who shares the same vision and excitement. Right partners will, therefore, help you to build their brands. Think small before getting big: Every big business venture starts with a basic thought and first customer. It is about getting the right foot forward for you in the competitive word. Taking care of one’s customers at every single minute is the key to success since any success-oriented entrepreneur can never stand to forget or ignore a customer. While your vision is to keep your company competitively growing, it is equally important to know who your client is. In understanding them, you can better comprehend the trajectory that your company requires success and even bigger audience. As a successful woman entrepreneur, you can, therefore, capitalize on your seductive attributes to entice customers and investors. Invest in the good watch: As a female entrepreneur, you have to determine how best to utilize every hour of the day to make a bigger impact on your brand. Time is the greatest asset of young companies since they do not have much money or a lot of brand equity, and so it must be wisely used. Wasted time translates to wasted opportunity in brand and dream building. According to Progress (2015), a lot of would-be entrepreneurial women find themselves stuck on the verge of taking the leap into startups but are uncertain about the legal rules of operations based on fear rather than the reality. Getting over these bureaucratic hurdles is always not a big deal for a focused woman. You can always start as sole proprietors or partnership by just registering with one government. For starters, you will only require a sound business idea and be able to develop good management skills to guide you to success. Such situations require you to put your mental energy and brilliant ideas without wasting precious brain cells worrying about legal requirements. The glass ceilings that once limited a woman’s career path have paved a new road for business ownership and entrepreneurial development. You can, therefore, utilize your sharp business acumen while building your family ties at the same time. References Casserly, M. (2013). U.S. Tops List of Best Countries for Women Entrepreneurs. Forbes. Retrieved 10 July 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2013/06/04/america-tops-dell-list-of-best-countries-for-women-entrepreneurs/ Gonzalez, K., & Gonzalez, K. (2014). 4 Things Every Female Entrepreneur Should Know Before Starting Her Own Business. Elite Daily. Retrieved 8 July 2015, from http://elitedaily.com/women/4-things-every-female-entrepreneur-needs-know-start-business/639664/ Progress, W. (2015). Entrepreneurship Is The New Women's Movement. Forbes. Retrieved 8 July 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/06/08/entrepreneurship-is-the-new-womens-movement/ Read More