Why women will be the next billion successful entrepreneurs?

You will find an endless amount of literature and useful tips on the key factors that make a business successful. Ask any expert for advice, and in return receive a list that includes product delivery that matches the needs of the market, a developed market tracking tactic, a well-coordinated team, and much more.



But until recently, one factor in a successful business was kept in the strictest confidence ... and, most likely, this is not something you could have imagined. These are women. And, while men, as a rule, are at the helm of a company, it becomes obvious that women run businesses, increasing business success. They attract the attention of high-class male leaders, large well-known corporations and even the government, which not only notices their leadership qualities, but also acts as their main defender.



The billionaire investor, Warren Buffet (Warren Buffet), is an ardent supporter of women's leadership. He publicly announced that the famous journalist / editor Carol Loomis (Carol Loomis) and Katharine Graham (Katharine Graham), who had been running the Washington Post for more than two decades, set an example for him to follow. He also advocated expanding business opportunities for women in his popular essay, which was published in Fortune magazine in 2013.

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Kevin O'Leary, an investor in the cycle of American reality TV show SharkTank, agrees that women are of great value when it comes to successfully running a business. In a recent article published on the Business Insider news portal, he stated that out of the 27 companies that he is an investor, not a single firm managed by a man has surpassed organizations with women at the helm. By the way, women occupy 55% of the posts of the general director in his companies.







These results are consistent with studies that show that female entrepreneurs achieve superior results when compared with their male colleagues:

• Private IT companies run by women demonstrate greater capital efficiency, and also generate a 35% greater return on investment. When they receive venture financing, they bring in 12% more profit than IT companies managed by men (taken from the Kauffman Foundation report “Women and IT: Evolution that will save the world”).
• Venture companies with more women in senior management have an increased likelihood of achieving positive results than companies exclusively with men in leadership (taken from the Dow Jones VentureSource report “Women at the helm: do they manage to lead a startup to success as managers?”)
• Female-headed venture capital firms that invest in enterprises outperform male-managed firms (according to a SBA study of the Office of Advocacy)

So why are there still so few female entrepreneurs?



Studies show that underfinancing can put women at a disadvantage when they are trying to start a business and continue to finance it.



The 2014 report, entitled “Barriers to Women's Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century” (the study was initiated by the US Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee), reads:

• Loans for the development of small businesses that were given to women account for only 16% of the total.
• Women receive only 7% of venture capital funds.

The report entitled “Access to capital of high-growth enterprises owned by women” (a study initiated by the International Women's Business Council in 2012) reports:

• As a rule, men start their business with a capital twice the money of women, ceteris paribus.
• Women receive only 2% of total funding from external investments, compared with 18% for men.
• In 2008, as head of the company, a woman had a much better chance of refusing to provide a loan than her male competitors.

For many women, another obstacle to starting a business is a lack of faith in themselves. Women often think that they will not be able to create their own business — that’s why they usually don’t try to take the first step.



According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 2012 Women's Report, almost two-thirds of men are confident that they can start a business, but less than half of women think they are capable of it, despite the same level of education and experience.







This may be one of the reasons why women do not even consider the path of an entrepreneur, choosing their career path. Every fifth man and only one of 13 women plans to start their own business in the next five years.



Finally, the lack of support or mentor can prevent women when it comes to starting their own business. According to the 2010 report titled “Are Successful Women Entrepreneurs Different from Men?” (Are Successful Women Entrepreneurs Different from Men?), Encouragement and support are much more important for women than for men.



In fact, more than half of women (56%) and only 31% of men were motivated to start their own business thanks to the "personnel" efforts of the founder of another company. Similarly, the report noted that women, unlike men, attach greater importance to professional and business relationships to achieve the success of their start-ups. This is the reason that if there is not enough support, they can give up their intentions to start their own business.



As stated in the report of The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 2010 Women's Report, women can be in a losing position compared to male “competitors”, if we talk about business connections.



But these barriers are beginning to recede, as leading organizations offer their help.



Most recently, Intel announced its intention to allocate $ 125 million to support women in business and other "business minorities." Dell and EY have also created support programs for women who own and operate their own business.



In addition to these private initiatives, the governments of the USA and Canada are engaged in supporting women entrepreneurs. The US Small Business Administration reported in 2011 that it would allocate funds for the development of small women's businesses (WOSBs).



In March of this year, the Canadian government also announced that the Business Development Bank of Canada would allocate $ 700 million over three years to finance women-run companies.







While women entrepreneurs still face challenges, it cannot be denied that the awareness of their success has increased, and public support has also increased. All these trends undoubtedly symbolize change for the better. Women are ready to take advantage of new opportunities for business management and leave their mark on business development. In fact, this is already happening.



In recent years, women are increasingly starting their businesses, and we hear more and more successful stories of “female entrepreneurship”.



Probably one of the clearest examples of a business woman held is Lynda Wienman, co-founder of Lynda.com, which provides online training services. The company was acquired by LinkedIn for $ 1.5 billion in April of this year. This sale was the fourth in the list of the most expensive deals in the history of social media!



So the secret is revealed. Women will be the next billion entrepreneurs and change the face of business.