Westpac’s Post

Women continue to encounter challenges in accessing finance for high growth businesses and the disparity is crippling. Women-led businesses received 34% of the amount approved for loans offered to male-led businesses. A new taskforce has been established in the UK to enhance the overall environment for women-led businesses, with a goal of increasing the amount of women that start and scale businesses. https://bit.ly/3REluTQ #WomeninResearch #MRX #MarketResearch

𝗔𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝘀 Despite the growing number of women entrepreneurs, significant barriers remain, particularly in accessing funding. This issue is compounded by stereotypes and unconscious biases in traditional lending and investment sectors. Key challenges include: 🔷 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: Women often face higher barriers when seeking financing, with stereotypes about their roles as caregivers influencing lenders' decisions. 🔷 𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗕𝗶𝗮𝘀: Women are frequently asked questions that men are not, such as how they plan to balance business and family, leading to fewer funding opportunities. 🔷 𝗥𝗲𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀: Over 22% of women are rejected outright for financing, compared to 15% for all businesses, highlighting a disparity in access to financial support. 🔷 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗼𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: Women are asked risk mitigation questions, while men are asked about growth strategies, creating a biased evaluation process. 🔷 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀: A lack of visible female role models and established networks makes it harder for women to navigate the entrepreneurial landscape. Initiatives like #WeBC and campaigns such as #HerFairShare by Spud.ca aim to support and spotlight women entrepreneurs, fostering a more inclusive and diverse economic environment. #WomenEntrepreneurs #Entrepreneurship #WomenInBusiness #GenderEquality #StartupFunding #DiversityAndInclusion #InclusiveEconomy #VentureCapitalist

“I believe that the key to the U.K.'s growth will be enabling every single entrepreneur in this country to thrive; female entrepreneurs face significantly higher barriers to getting their businesses the support and investment they need, from seed funding for start-ups to the challenges of gaining scale-up investment."   Our co-chairs Hannah Bernard OBE and Debbie Wosskow, OBE spoke to Shaheena Janjuha-Jivraj, PhD, FRSA about the Taskforce’s mission to address the barriers faced by women when accessing funding, in order to unlock their potential to establish and grow their enterprises.   Read the Forbes article in full here: https://lnkd.in/gbQk8rjA

📢 NEW WEBINAR ANNOUNCEMENT 📢 "Alternative Funding for the #Midlands: Unlocking opportunities for #female #entrepreneurs" 📅 Tuesday, 5th March 2024, ⏲ 10.30am – 12 noon 📍 MS Teams - https://lnkd.in/eU7Qm_4Z At the third and final ‘Alternative Funding for the #Midlands’ webinar planned this year, we’re delighted to welcome three of the #Midlands’ key finance professionals – Rebecca Blaymires from Watts Commercial Finance Ltd, Roxanne Goodman from Female Founder Finance and Victoria Copestake from First Enterprise - Enterprise Loans, as well as entrepreneurs Kate Parker from Harrier Trail Running and Aitanna Gomes from Light Rave Studios. Register here - https://lnkd.in/eU7Qm_4Z The #Midlands has become a hub for women taking the leap into entrepreneurship. Figures from The Gender Index Report 2023 state that 17.6% of active companies in the West Midlands are female-led, the second highest region after London. The East Midlands is also in the higher percentile with 16.7% female-led businesses. Despite challenging economic conditions, women business owners and founders are blazing a trail for themselves and it is certainly encouraging to see. However, these economic challenges are particularly difficult to navigate for female entrepreneurs, who have historically faced gender-based barriers that have prevented them from achieving their professional goals. According to the Investing in Women Code report, still only just over 20% of companies founded in 2022 were led by women. Fewer female-led businesses seek funding than their male counterparts, often due to misconceptions about the funding journey. As a consequence, for example, women are much less likely to apply for a loan and incorrectly believe that they must find alternative avenues or self-fund their new businesses in order to give themselves equal footing. This webinar will discuss the particular barriers faced by female entrepreneurs and how they can be unlocked. Register here - https://lnkd.in/eU7Qm_4Z If you’re a female business owner and founder or working with the region’s female entrepreneurs, find out about what types of finance options are available and how these options can be accessed. We’ll also be discussing current issues in the #Midlands’ lending market. 

In the U.S.,“women-owned businesses generate $2.7 trillion in revenue.” So why is it still so challenging for female entrepreneurs to secure funding? Beirne Partner Lindsey Allard, MBA, AWMA explores this important topic in her latest piece for Forbes Finance Council. #WomenOnWealth #WomensHistoryMonth #Finance #InvestmentAdvisor

Access to skills, access to capital, and perhaps most importantly, access to a supportive community – these might be the cornerstones that will empower women entrepreneurs to thrive.   I am honoured to have been given the opportunity to write a blog post for Equals, reflecting on our inspiring event, 'Networking Lunch: The Scale-Up Founders Edition'. In the blog, I share my insights on the role of access and community in empowering women entrepreneurs.   You can read the full blog post here: https://lnkd.in/eZRtkYfb   #WomenEmpowerment #Entrepreneurship

Did you know that despite #women #business owners contributing approximately $150 billion to the Canadian economy, they still encounter significant hurdles in their entrepreneurial journeys? Women face difficulty finding access to funding from government programs and financial institutions. Read our blog to explore funding opportunities: https://hubs.li/Q02s5v_C0

For anyone women who has a kernel 🥜 of an idea to become their own boss and take the great leap into #entrepreneurship this Booster programme could be perfect for you ⬇️ #womenempowerment #womeninbusiness #startup #advice #bootstrapping

This is so counter-intuitive! 🤦🏻♀️ If we’re collectively going to reshape the future of #genderequality we need more female investors, not less! With new legislation to be introduced into UK on 31st January, the number of people who could qualify as #angelinvestors will decline dramatically, affecting every region and nation of the UK outside of London the most. And the decline is disproportionately greater for women and underrepresented groups. Why is this important? ✅ Growing the number of diverse angels directly increases the level of investment in diverse entrepreneurs. ✅ Data shows that women are more likely to invest in female-led businesses ✅ Investing in diverse teams has proven beneficial benefits; companies with a female founder generate more revenue overall (BCG 2018 study) #impactinvesting #sustainabilityinaction

"However, a new report authored by an alliance of labour, feminist and women’s entrepreneurship organizations, shows Canadian women entrepreneurs need far more than start up skills, power networks and unbiased access to capital to fully liberate their economic potential; they also need social and economic policy support." Thank you to CanWCC Board Member, pk mutch for this excellent write-up about our report "Invisible Entrepreneurs" on rabble.ca. Read it for report highlights and a well-researched overview of how the self-employed are overlooked in Canada: https://lnkd.in/gfBa45yd #EconomicEquity #InvisibleEntrepreneurs #AdvocacyForChange