The importance of female entrepreneurs in economic growth

Research by the Harvard Business Review found that women outscore men in key leadership skills such as teamwork, innovation, and problem-solving. This bears testament to the immense potential women have and the reason why female-founded and co-founded startups usually perform better than all-male ones. Despite these results, women are still underestimated by investors. Ensuring greater equality and opportunities for female entrepreneurship could add an estimated $12 trillion to $28 trillion to the global economy by 2025. This is why we need to reshape the reality for female entrepreneurs and embrace the role they play in economic growth.

Women-owned businesses

Nowadays, entrepreneurship is no longer only for males. Many women have started their businesses in different niches to break free from social limitations. In the last 20 years, statistics have shown that female-owned businesses have increased by 114%. These women-owned businesses generate around $1.9 trillion in revenue. In the U.S. alone, women launch more than 1,200 new businesses every single day, meaning that 42% of all companies are female-owned.

Striving to become successful entrepreneurs

Although data shows an increase in female entrepreneurs, many women strive to start a new business and some even describe the task as “next to impossible”. This is because women are often at a disadvantage. The government plays a big part in this as they look for foreign direct investments instead of focusing on more policies to advance women’s participation. Another barrier is culturally constructed perceptions and negative stereotypes related to women’s abilities for entrepreneurship. Thus leading to gender inequality and hindering the ability for women entrepreneurs to have support in their ventures.

Actions to create a new reality

Here are some things investors can do to support women entrepreneurs and help reverse the entrepreneurial discrimination:

• Connect with local female entrepreneur organizations with very capable women who need support to make their endeavors successful.
• Creating more women-tailored businesses venture capital funding.
• Be aware of stereotypes that affect female entrepreneurs.
• Create better ways to make competition honest, fair, and free of discrimination towards women’s sales pitches.
• Be open to more women-owned businesses in fields such as construction, high-tech manufacturing, and metal industries.

If more women had equal access to entrepreneurship opportunities the gender wealth gap could begin to reduce further. Women have firsthand insight into issues other women face, and can therefore develop innovative solutions to address these issues. Female entrepreneurs can help create entirely new industries and increase the economic growth of countries. Encourage them in their ventures, the world is also theirs.