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CHALLENGES AND MYTHS THAT WOMEN IN BUSINESS FACE

It used to be the man’s world, deep-rooted with patriarchy when it was considered a taboo if women would step out in the world to earn bread for her family because it was the job of a man, the head of the family. Times are changing! Today, women are wielding more and more power on both sides of the business transaction. It’s clear that in many cases, women are not just influencing the industry they are simply being the industry. And perhaps even more surprising is that statistics have changed very little over the past ten years. In other words, women have been the industry for some time now yet many executives have not taken action on this huge opportunity. Even in countries where you’d expect women to have no voice at all, thanks to computers and smartphones becoming more prevalent worldwide, people everywhere are getting informed and empowered, which ultimately has an effect on culture. The world is changing and women hold a major part in the contribution to that they dont only manage their households but are educated and have high posts in their respective fields. Even more interesting is that we’re now seeing women lead companies in industries that have been historically male-dominated. For example, for the first time ever, IBM chose a woman CEO, Virginia “Ginni” Rometty. Hewlett-Packard, another technology company, named Meg Whitman as their CEO in September 2011. And Yahoos new CEO Marissa Mayer has been driving positive headlines for the struggling company. These are just three examples of global, male-dominated technology companies now run by women.And this trend isn’t just in the US. Over half the corporate leaders in China are women. India has more women CEOs than the US. And over the past 30 years, we’ve seen the number of women leaders in the Middle East, Africa, China, and Europe increase as well. Well, we are right when we say women are the future they are capable of way more than they get. CHALLENGES AND MYTHS THAT WOMEN IN BUSINESS FACE Lets talk about some common myths surrounding women in business: Myth 1: there are more men entrepreneurs than women Well, we can say that this is a wrong assumption. According to the Megaphone of Main Street, women are more likely than men to start a business, with 47% of women vs 44% of men polled answering yes to starting a business in the last year. And this number’s on the rise, increasing by 45% in the last 10 years. Women are as interested in starting a business as men and there is no lying about that, women are better at organizing and managing things. Let’s take look at how this translates to real life. Women makeup to 38% of the 28 million small businesses operating within the United States and employ nearly 9 million people, all the while generating $1.6 trillion in revenues. Myth 2: women-owned business are mostly based on “lifestyle” Nope, not at all.Lifestyle businesses are businesses run for the purpose of sustaining a certain level of income and no more, with little focus on growth or revenue success. Lifestyle businesses are great, but it seems like the 62% of women entrepreneurs that depend on their business as a primary source of income would disagree with this one. Women more likely than men start a business in the healthcare and education industries, and 19% of women-owned businesses operate in the service industry, compared to the 15% of men-owned businesses that do. Myth 3: Men-owned business companies make more revenue Well, that is not entirely correct. 15.5% men-owned and women-owned businesses predicted static revenues in 2018, and 9.5% of men-owned predict a decrease in revenue, vs the 9% prediction from women-owned. Here’s another handy infographic focusing on the incredible impact women-owned businesses have had on the economy. With a yearly revenue of $1.3 trillion, it’s safe to say women-owned businesses aren’t just surviving when it comes to revenue production, but they’re cashing in with their hard work and dedication, big time. Myth 4: Men who own business feel more confident in their success. As we previously mentioned, there’s really no difference in reported success between men-owned and women-owned businesses. Of the entrepreneurs that participated in the study, 33% of the men and 34% of the women reported that their business was struggling, and 32% of both men and women reported that their businesses are maintaining their current size. 28% of men and 29% of women reported that their business is expanding in size and revenue, and 7% of men vs 5% of women reported aggressive expansion. There is no doubt that both men and women have toface problems while maintaining or expanding their business. It takes a lot of dedication and work to establish a company and even more to keep it going the way it should, therefore gender does not play a factor in deciding if your business will grow or diminish. Myth 5: both men-owned and women-owned business face the same level of difficulty in acquiring financing Not even close, but it stinks to have to disprove this one. Unfortunately, the financing of ventures is where the real gender disparity lies in the business world. So much so, that a 2014 Senate study found that despite making up 38% of all small businesses, only 4% of all small business loans go to women. As a result, men are more likely than women to seek financing for their business in the first place, and the women that do are still less likely to succeed in acquiring the financing their business needs to grow. In order for the amount of women-owned businesses to continue to increase every year, this number has to start to change.   Challenges faced by women entrepreneurs

  1. Defying Social expectations
Most female business owners who have attended networking events can relate to this scenario. You walk into a crowded seminar and can count the number of women there on one hand. When women entrepreneurs talk about business with primarily male executives, it can be unnerving. In this sort of situation, women may feel as though they need to adopt a stereotypically "male" attitude toward business that is competitive, aggressive and sometimes overly harsh. But successful female CEOs believe that remaining true to yourself and finding your own voice are the keys to rising above preconceived expectations.
  1. Dealing with limited access and funding
Not all startup founders look for investors to help get their businesses off the ground, but those who do know how difficult the pitching process can be. Raising capital is even more difficult for women-owned firms. Investors typically look for a business that can grow their valuation to more than $1 billion, Crater said. "Think about how to do that," she advised. "If you have experts on your founding team that can execute the business well, investors will have confidence in those people. Another way to overcome this issue is by working to get more female investors involved in supporting one another "looking to not only inspire and encourage female investors but to grow and support other female entrepreneurs through both funding and strategic educational workshops." Female entrepreneurs can raise the necessary capital for their business by learning to ask for exactly what they need, even if that means requesting more than what they want.
  1. Struggling to be taken seriously
At one time or another, most women CEOs find themselves in a male-dominated industry or workplace that does not want to acknowledge their leadership role."As a female entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry, earning respect has been a struggle," This was especially difficult for Gutterman, who faced presumptions that she was living off her fathers and grandfathers reputation. "I was more than willing to put in the work to create my own reputation for being a hardworking, honorable businessperson in my own right," Gutterman said. "To overcome this, I have had to learn to build my confidence and overcome my negative self-talk."
  1. Building a support network
Having a robust support network is essential for entrepreneurial success, so it’s no surprise that 48% of female founders report that a lack of available advisers and mentors limits their professional growth. "With the majority of the high-level business world still being dominated by men, it can be hard to blaze your own path and facilitate the introductions and connections into some of the more elite business networks,". "As most of the business, today still rings true with the philosophy that its not what you know; its who you know, this can be a huge factor in your ultimate success." Knowing where to find the right support network isnt always easy. A few good places to start include women-focused networking events – such as  WIN Conferences, EWomen Network,andBizwomen events – as well as online forums and groups,  created specifically for women in business, like Ellevate Network.


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