Top 5 Problems Women Entrepreneurs Face

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Website design By BotEap.comMost people want success, fulfillment, financial freedom with enthusiasm. But the problem is, what is the easiest, fastest and probably the best way to achieve this?

  • A Labor Force survey in 2006 found that 8.4% of the female workforce in London are self-employed. It also found that 81% of the freelancers surveyed are happy with their choice.
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  • A white paper entitled ‘The Observed Characteristics of Outstanding Women in Business’ (2006) found that while women-led businesses contribute £70bn to the UK economy and employ over a million, there would be 750,000 women-led startups if rates matched those in the US
Website design By BotEap.comFor a growing number of women today, starting and running their own business is seen as the best way to achieve success, fulfillment, etc. Gone are the days of a job for life, and even with the flexible hours some employers now offer, it still doesn’t match the substantial benefits that can be gained from running your own business. Let’s look at some of these benefits.:

  • You can be in control of your destiny without worrying about getting fired. As a business owner, you can gradually evolve your business to be successful at your own pace, to meet your personal or family needs, or your lifestyle.
  • As you create and decide on your products or services and your own income, you can lead a business life in your own way that feels refreshing and exhilarating.
  • You determine the level of engagement and growth for your business as you make calls, schedule appointments, and more. For example, if you have a nursing baby or work part-time, you can evolve your business to suit your circumstances.
  • You are constantly learning new things and new ways to improve. This keeps your mind active and young.
  • Imagine how you’ll feel when your friends enthusiastically let you know that they’ve heard someone rave about your product and your local community newspaper recognizes you as a role model!
  • Many businesswomen started from the kitchen table and their business has evolved several times, and some have become well-loved brands passionately supported by customers all over the world.
Website design By BotEap.comWhat does psychology have to do with business?

Website design By BotEap.comAs you can see, most of these benefits fall under the highest of human needs for self realisation Y esteem. According to Abraham Maslow’s theory of human motivation, self realisation, creativity, self-esteem, respect from others, confidence and achievement are at the top of the pyramid and is what everyone strives towards. A famous quote from Abraham Maslow What a man can be must be’. This, in other words, is asserting that a person’s ultimate need is self realisationalways striving to reach his full potential.

Website design By BotEap.comHowever, once women take on the challenge of starting a business as a way to self realisation there are a series of obstacles in the way that tend to discourage or completely destroy the dream of success and personal fulfillment.

Website design By BotEap.comThese blocks can be linked directly to abraham maslow hierarchy of needs in the sense that if the lower levels of the hierarchy are not fulfilled and dominate, helplessness, depression, weakness, demotivation and stress will occur. These lower level needs are:

  • Security – finances, security, personal health and wellness
  • Physiological – air, water, food, clothing, environment
  • love and belonging – friendship, emotional support, intimacy and belonging
Website design By BotEap.comAs a businesswoman, some of the blocks are self-inflicted, while others are environmental and cannot be avoided, can they? How do you deal with self-doubt, loneliness, lack of income in the early stages of your business, balancing family life, getting ripped off in business, having to learn new skills or buy them?

Website design By BotEap.comAll of these are critical to the success of women-owned businesses. As such, I have compiled what I have discovered from research and experience as the top 5 issues women entrepreneurs face;

  1. Not having a good and strong enough idea and prototype– Most women have wonderful business ideas, but they tend to revolve around their lifestyle and while it can sometimes be enough to cover household bills and a bit more, they are not really scalable business ideas that allow them to obtain the financial freedom that they really want. .
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  3. Lack of access to finance and financing– Studies have shown that entrepreneurs and startups in general (and women are a subset of this) find it particularly difficult to raise funds for their businesses. Women have the additional disadvantage that their businesses tend to be more micro and non-scalable in nature, therefore they are considered uninvestable by most financial institutions. Obviously, without financial backing, there is a lack of financial security and therefore the business cannot grow appreciably.
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  5. Lack of promotional skills.: Women, more than men, tend to underestimate themselves and this is manifested in business. When promoting their businesses, they do not adequately engage their customers by highlighting all of their qualities and value propositions. Therefore, there is a missing link between your business and your customers. The use of online social media and digital marketing has changed this significantly as it is an impersonal and non-judgmental way of doing business.
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  7. Reconciling work and family life: Women have the added challenge of balancing their business endeavors with family requirements. Even in today’s society, where men play an active role in the home, the main role of women is still to ensure the care of children and elderly dependent relatives. This leaves women with little time and energy to pursue their businesses. Traditional financial institutions and the business community in general still assume that women-led businesses are more likely to be interrupted at any time due to family problems, such as childbirth, illness of a family member, divorce, etc.
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  9. Building business relationships: women are fantastic at building relationships! However, most of these are not necessarily the appropriate ‘power’ relationships that will drive your business forward. They tend to associate with friends and peers of the same level or experience. Also, while networking, they don’t use it as an opportunity to sell themselves and their business. Men are great at getting down to business and letting you know what they can offer you and what they want from you. Women must learn from this. If you are going to grow your business, you need to get out of your comfort zone and engage with people at higher levels in the houses of power who can lift you to where you want to be. This doesn’t mean neglecting your existing network, but simply spending quality time on the top networks.
Website design By BotEap.comWomen are more likely to use social networking sites to communicate with friends than men, as evidenced by Facebook, Groupon and Twitter they all have more female than male customers. 68% of women use social media to keep in touch compared to 54% of men (Huffington Post, 2011). However, men are more likely to get business from social media than women.

Website design By BotEap.comWhat do successful women say are their guiding principles that have helped them navigate the self-employment minefield?

Website design By BotEap.comLaura Tenison MBE, Founder and CEO of JoJo Maman Bébé, the multi-channel mother and baby specialist

Website design By BotEap.comjojo mama baby has grown organically from a kitchen table start-up with a first year turnover of £30,000 to its current size with an expected gross turnover of £36m this year, 52 stores and a busy mail order business that ships up to 2,000 packages per day.

Website design By BotEap.com“Taking a small business to the next level takes hard work, perseverance, great customer service and a great product – all are key”

Website design By BotEap.comJK Rowling, AuthorHarry Potter Collection.

Website design By BotEap.comJK Rowling was a struggling single mother who transformed the minds and imaginations of a generation through her books.

Website design By BotEap.com“It is our choices… that show who we really are, much more than our abilities”

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