4 Challenges Women Entrepreneurs (Still) Face in 2021
More women are beginning the venture of starting their own businesses than ever. If you ask the average American if they know a female small business owner, the answer is likely a resounding "yes." In this age of women empowerment, women are becoming braver and more confident in going after their career goals. However, there are still some significant challenges that women entrepreneurs face in 2021, not normally faced by their male counterparts.
4 Challenges Women Entrepreneurs (Still) Face in 2021—-and How to Overcome Them
1.) Obtaining Funding
While the inability to obtain capital is the biggest entrepreneurial challenge across the board, it is notably harder for women, particularly women of color, to get loans than men. Investors are an even less likely path, as just 2.2% of venture capital went to female-founded startups in 2018.
Most women have to foot the bill for their own entrepreneurial ventures, rely on credit cards, or raise capital on their own. Women’s businesses are among the leading ventures that lack financial support. It is also common for women to be denied loans because of gender and cultural biases, as many financial institutions tend to fund male-owned businesses.
How can I beat the odds?
While it is unlikely women will receive funding from outside investors, this does not mean you should not attempt to gain capital this way. Before pitching to venture capitalists, know that they tend to look for products and services that will produce a big return on their investments. Typically, investors invest large sums of money and want to invest in businesses with a very large market opportunity. Further, venture capitalists look for products and services that fill a critical marketplace need as well as companies that have a management team that can meet the challenge of growing the business.
While ensuring that your business provides value to investors, it is important that those investing in your business will provide value, such as industry expertise, to you and not just capital.
What if venture capital is still unavailable?
Women entrepreneurs can fund their business through “bootstrapping”, applying for grants, using credit cards (but be sure you'll be able to pay the credit card bills on time), asking family and friends to help fund, or by locating other angel investors.
Microlending is another potential source of funding. A microloan is simply a small loan, available to some businesses that cannot get a traditional business loan from a bank. There are a variety of funding sources that provide microloans, and a list of organizations that offer them can be found here.
No matter how you obtain the capital for your business, ask boldly for what you need.
2.) Balancing Responsibilities
A large number of women are not just entrepreneurs or career people—they have families, spouses, and other responsibilities. Due to social and cultural norms, demands from personal and professional commitments can pressure a woman to feel she must choose between her family and her business.
The family expects her to be a mother and wife, while the business requires her to be the leader and show commitment. It becomes more difficult for those who lack social support because they have to carry the entire burden by themselves. Some women can balance these two spheres of their lives, while others become overwhelmed.
How can I ensure a work-life balance?
For many entrepreneurs, it can be difficult to fully shut off from work, and creating a work-life blend means that there is no “ideal” balance between the two to strive for. Instead, entrepreneurs should work for a blend of priorities, which can be regularly shifted, to achieve balance rather than perfection. To find the best work-life blend, women entrepreneurs may need to learn to be comfortable delegating tasks and asking for help when necessary.
Don't strive for the perfect schedule; strive for a realistic one. Some days, you might focus more on work, while other days you might have more time and energy to pursue your hobbies or spend time with your loved ones. Balance is achieved over time, not each day.
3.) Building a Support System
Struggling or failing in business could be the result of an inadequate support system. In business, no man’s an island, yet women tend to face the greatest challenges in getting support. This is usually from lacking the relevant connections to needing financial access or emotional support. Like their male counterparts, a robust support network is essential for female entrepreneurial success. It is not surprising that 48% of female founders report that a lack of available advisors and mentors limits their professional growth.
How can I build a solid support system?
Finding the right support network isn't always easy. Some good places to start are women-focused networking events – such as WIN Conference, eWomenNetwork and Bizwomen events – as well as online forums and local Facebook groups created specifically for women in business. Reach out to local women business owners, especially in your niche. Find ways that you can offer value to them and their business. Developing a mutually beneficial relationship with other local business owners will help you build a solid support system.
4.) Defying Social Expectations and Gender Inequalities
Laws, cultures, religion, and politics are built upon a patriarchal foundation. Women must work their way up in the masculine world while facing stigma and discrimination. Although laws and policies have attempted to create a favorable business environment for everyone, the actual changes have not yet been implemented.
Women entrepreneurs often face both overt and subtle gender discrimination — for instance, small-business loans for women-owned businesses dropped 70 percent between 2007 and 2013. Anecdotal evidence shows that women may not be taken seriously by investors and that they may not be seen as hard workers, due to socially reinforced expectations that women are the primary caregivers at home. Furthermore, gender signals may impact entrepreneurial success due to perceptions of “entrepreneurial competence, quality or investment worthiness,” according to researchers at the University of Michigan.
How do I succeed in a system built against me?
Being a woman doesn’t have to hold you back as an entrepreneur, but you may need to work harder and get creative to earn the respect of your male colleagues and contemporaries. The struggle to be taken seriously in male-dominated industries is real and hard to combat. As women, we tend to fill our minds with negative comments and prevent ourselves from reaching our full potential.
The ability to squash this negative self-talk and own your accomplishments is vital. You will never be able to change the mind of every person you encounter, but you can control how you handle your adversities.
“Believe in yourself and own your own success.”
Owning your success as a woman motivates you to work harder and achieve more in your business. It inspires the people around you. Several powerful women in the spotlight have inspired women to take their places in corporate boardrooms. Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama are among those who have motivated other women to work toward their entrepreneurial dreams.
While there are still challenges women entrepreneurs face today, confidence is an essential part of prosperity and growth. When a woman leads, others follow.
