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
