Women entrepreneurs are on the rise. This is partly due to improvement in technology that has helped scale their online visibility and allow ease of collaboration. Gone are the days when it was an all-man's business world. Each year we have more women leaving the corporate world to start entrepreneurship. Program to support such women are also emerging as well as business coaches. Does this imply a bright future for women entrepreneurs? We asked entrepreneurs and business owners their thoughts on the future of women entrepreneurs and below are their thoughts.
#1- It continues to increase
As a business owner who supports women entrepreneurs, I see the future of women in entrepreneurship only continuing to increase. When I started my business nearly six years ago – there were many women who connected with me and came to the conclusion they ‘weren’t ready yet’. This is something I no longer hear anymore. Women contact me with many ideas and we have to focus them in on one, to start. The tides have changed.
Thanks to Cassandra Shuck, Tola Marketing!
#2- The number of female entrepreneurs continues to grow
The corporate world is not built for most women. Females are more collaborative and less competitive generally speaking. We communicate differently and this can be challenging when you are in the minority. I worked in an organization where women were expected to dress and act like men, and I refused to do that. I know it sounds trite, but I like wearing colorful clothes and high heels, and I am not changing the way I talk or communicate to fit a certain mold.
Thanks to Susan Power, Power HR Inc.!
#3- Many factors give women a competitive advantage
The future for women entrepreneurs is wide open, yet also very competitive. There are many factors which support or can give women a competitive advantage. For example, women-owned businesses that sell to the largest customer on the planet – the US Federal Government – can use the 5% contracting goal as extra muscle. State and local government, as well as large businesses, are also attempting to meet diversity goals for awarding contracts to women. Businesses are more aware of diversity on board seats and these are opening up for women. At the end of the day an entrepreneur can be measured as successful based on receiving investor funding and/or making sales. Some of the above factors can help influence these benchmarks.
Thanks to Jennifer Schaus, JSchaus & Associates!
#4- More investment firms are talking about and looking at women
I see the future for women entrepreneurs blowing wide open in the next three years due in large part to investors and funding sources looking to lead in diversity. More and more investment firms are talking about and looking at women and minority-led businesses right now. They are taking them more seriously than ever before, investing in them at new levels, and also putting women in charge of these funding decisions. And women are also coming together and forming their own investment firms focused solely on funding other women. This is the seismic shift so many of us have been waiting for, and it is finally happening, and gaining momentum.
Thanks to Eileen Scully, The Rising Tides!
#5- It will be the rise of social businesses
As a female entrepreneur, I'm constantly blown away by the collaborative energy of female founders. In a space where it's so easy to be competitive, a lot of the women I meet want to be helpful and support other founder's visions in a collaborative way. A lot of women, like myself, don't see business as a race to the top, but rather a way to create impact and also paint their own life. With this in mind, I think the future of women entrepreneurs will be the rise of social businesses, more eco-systems that let entrepreneurs support each other like conferences and co-working spaces, and also the removal of women preceding entrepreneur. We will just be entrepreneurs.
Thanks to Jess Ekstrom, Headbands of Hope!
#6- More opportunities for them to them to exploit
I believe women entrepreneurs will have more opportunities open to them, as we identify and break down the barriers that women currently face in business. There is a lot of research that recognizes the biases that currently exist. Female entrepreneurs have opportunities to use that research to be pro-actively prepared when conducting business in the future. They will also be able to exploit gaps in the market that are overlooked by their more traditional male counterparts.
Thanks to Lena Gore, Find Me A Gift!
#7- They'll be more on online businesses
I think that the future of women entrepreneurs will be more on online businesses as women have to manage family and kids, and working from home on an online business really can meet their needs to manage their work time with their family time. They can stay more at home with their kids and at the same time being independent working from everywhere online. This is what I really believe as a mother of a 6 years old girl, working from my computer whenever and wherever I want on my 2 fashion businesses.
Thanks to Maristella Colombo, Ebooks4fashion.com!
#8- It's on a continuous growth trajectory
Quoting Beyonce: Who run the world? Girls! According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, 1.4 trillion dollars was generated in 2017 by women-owned businesses. The future of women entrepreneurship is on a continuous growth trajectory. I believe this is because of the lifestyle that business ownership affords women. Joggling the multifacet of being a woman, such as motherhood, wife, career woman and caretaker, having the ability to directed their life without asking for permission has caused more women to gravitate towards entrepreneurship. The future of women entrepreneurs is bright, growing and wealthy. Women entrepreneurs will continue to earn more money, keep more money and build a life of true wealth through entrepreneurship.
Thanks to Octavia Conner, Say Yes To Profits!
#9- We continue to strengthen and become better in our respective fields
I can say with full confidence that as women join various industries as business owners and leaders, others are inspired to do the same. It is indubitably a Herculean effort to breach the business world successfully, especially as a woman. I and many other female entrepreneurs have had to leap over a profusion of professional hurdles. However, I think the challenges we undergo, such as rampant sexism and bias, make us infinitely stronger. This speaks to the future of women entrepreneurs; we will continue to strengthen and become even better in our respective fields. If we, as women business leaders, allow ourselves to learn from and embrace our shortcomings and tribulations, we will be far better equipped to face competition than someone who has never looked failure or defeat in the eye and continued on.
Thanks to Victoria Den Bleyker, Planet Green Machine!
# 10-It's definitely bright for many reasons
A recent report on female entrepreneurs released by SCORE revealed that “women-owned businesses are just as successful as men-owned businesses despite facing greater financing challenges.” The truth is women’s entrepreneurship has been on the rise in the United States for the last two decades and shows no signs of slowing down. There are many reasons for this including the fact that American women still face a substantial gender wage gap. In addition, the proverbial “glass ceiling” still exists in the Corporate world, preventing women from reaching the highest leadership positions. Jobs in Corporate America also generally don’t allow for a lot of workplace flexibility—something that is especially attractive to women. Women want to have control over their careers and the ability to really leave behind a legacy that they can be proud of. Finally, women are realizing that to play big and get a seat at the table, you just need to build your own table!
Thanks to Caroline Castrillon, Corporate Escape Artist!
#11- This world still needs more women entrepreneurs
As a woman entrepreneur myself, I saw the increasingly competitive world of business as a life challenge which I am looking forward to conquering. I look at it in a positive way. The reason why the world business gets more competitive is we have more brilliance people both men and women. In 2018, the role of women has changed a lot from three decades ago. Women are more independent and a lot of them take it to the next level by starting her own business. I started my own contemporary bag brand called KAYYSA last year. Fortunately, the knowledge, skills, and perspectives I have earned since I was born, assured me that I am capable of anything. All I have to do is to go for it. This quote also become one of the key concepts of KAYYSA brand. I do believe that women entrepreneurs out there are aware of what they are facing and I truly hope they won't give up. I must emphasize that this world still needs more women entrepreneurs. Lastly, I am more than thankful for doing the business in this equality era.
Thanks to Warisa Krairavee, KAYYSA!
#12- The future is female
The future is female, especially with Black women. Black women are the fastest growing entrepreneurs in the United States, and despite being the least funded demographic, I believe it shows the determination and resilience of not just Black women, but women as a whole. I believe women are tired of relying on companies and men to dictate their pay and livelihood. This frustration has definitely increased in the Trump era.
Thanks to Eboné F. Bell, Tagg Magazine!
#13- The gap between men/women in business will reduce significantly
As a woman who is juggling a young family with running a business, I am happy to see the continuous increase of women in the business world who are setting the bar high, making a name for themselves and showing the world that you don’t have to choose between having a family and having a successful career. It’s been great to see how many men have stepped up to the plate and shared parenting and household responsibility in order to allow their significant other to dedicate time to their career and grow successful businesses. I don’t think the men/women ratio will ever be 50/50, but I think we will see the gap become smaller than ever before.
Thanks to Natali Pupovac-Peters, FranNet!
#14- They will grow and inspire more women
Women are natural multi-taskers. With more women becoming entrepreneurs you will see startups growing at a much faster rate, as more things get done in a working day. This ability combined with their people skills will put women in a very unique position in the business world where they are able to not only grow their business with good people and execution skills, but they would also be able to inspire more women like themselves to become entrepreneurs changing the landscape of the business world.
Thanks to Kavita Ganesan, Opinosis Analytics!
#15- Many programs continue to empower women in business
The future of women entrepreneurs is bright indeed, thanks to technology that knows no boundaries between men and women and makes incubation of ideas possible. Many state-run and independent organizations have come to the fore, only to equip women with the requisite knowledge and tools to start and scale a successful business. Also, there is no death of programs that focus on educating women about the lesser-tapped and exclusive sectors that can be tapped to cater to the women customer segments while generating entrepreneurial opportunities for them on the side. As businesses run by men can proliferate only to an extent in the women customer segment, the ability to understand women preferences and mindset is going to create a myriad of opportunities for women entrepreneurs there. Take Kylie Jenner in the cosmetics space or Arianna Huffington and Oprah Winfrey in the media world, the number of successful businesswomen is only going to add up in the future.
Thanks to Ketan Kapoor, Mettl!
#16- All indicators point to more women entrepreneurs on the horizon
I think the future for women entrepreneurs is strong. In the almost 2 decades since I started my company women make up a bigger percentage of college graduates and grad school admissions, hold more board seats and have started companies in higher numbers. The #MeToo movement has taken hold, record numbers of women are running for office and I do not see these trends slowing down so all indicators point to more women entrepreneurs on the horizon. More young girls are studying STEM and learning how to code, When women are empowered and have a voice the future is bright which bodes well for everyone.
Thanks to Paige Arnof-Fenn, Mavens & Moguls!
#17- There are more women entrepreneurs creating support systems and possibilities
Thanks to Mel Judson, Mel Judson Branding & Web Design!
#18- There's more collaboration between women entrepreneurs
Women for a long time seem to have always been conditioned to compete with one another, however, I feel that now this is no longer the case. Female entrepreneurs are not only collaborating with one another more than ever in order to grow their careers and themselves, but also coming together creating communities of learning and leadership to expand the network of women in business. We have brands like Girlboss, Boss Babe, and other female-founded groups that celebrate collaboration and transparency towards success. Even here at Mercury Hour, we are working on creating a channel that allows others to see how our brand began, the trials and tribulations that lead us to our fruition so they can learn from us as well. I think that the future of women entrepreneurs will consist of continuing this growth, no longer having fear in showing how their success was made but instead of raising others up to be leaders themselves.
Thanks to Scarlett C. Dancer, Mercury Hour!