8 Challenges Female Entrepreneurs Face And How To Overcome Them
The business world was for a long time dominated by men, making it look like the women are not capable of holding positions or running businesses. But in recent times, a lot of women have emerged as forces to reckon with in the business world. Such names as Linda Ikeji, Mo Abudu, Kemi Adetiba, and many others. Being a female entrepreneur comes with a lot of Challenges and here in this blog post, I will highlight some of these challenges.
8 challenges female entrepreneurs face and how to overcome them
- Defying Social Expectations: A lot of times, female business owners may feel the need to adopt a male attitude towards business. No! Don’t do that. Be yourself and have confidence in who you are. You have come a long way; you made it this far through your own hard work and perseverance. What is important is that you are there!
- Support: It is common knowledge that men support each other, but women do not get such support from them or from each other. So all women should do is support each other. It is usually very difficult to raise funds for your business. Having a network of supporters will help your business a lot.
- Capital: When starting a business, entrepreneurs need to line up capital to get the business “off the ground.” Female entrepreneurs often get their initial funding from family, small loans, savings and gifts from friends. However, in recent times women can obtain capital from government startup programs and self-funding. When women have promising business ideas, it is less difficult for them to obtain startup capital. Therefore, having a solid business plan helps in reducing the financial barrier for women.
- Struggling To Be Taken Seriously: At one time or another, most female CEOS have found 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 can be a struggle. A lot of times women face negative comments and attitudes from the opposite sex. Your willingness to put in the work, to create your own reputation for being hardworking and an honorable person is needed. To overcome this you have to learn to build your confidence and overcome your limiting beliefs. You need to drop those negative thoughts that are stopping you from reaching your full potential.
- Owning Your Accomplishments: Never be afraid to own your accomplishments. It doesn’t matter if you have a team of workers or not. Be confident in your accomplishments and own them. That’s true success.
6.Lack of Networks: Female entrepreneurs are more likely to encounter difficulty because they are less likely to be associated with networks of people who can help them launch and sustain their businesses. “Networks” include people who provide mentorship, coaching, help, and valuable information to entrepreneurs. Men tend to dominate the highest levels of corporate leadership. Therefore, there are fewer women available to provide valuable advice to female entrepreneurs. Women also face “customer/supplier” discrimination, which occurs when customers or suppliers discriminate against women-owned businesses. Women business owners can create their own networks. Building a robust support system is the key to success. The saying “it is not what you know but who you know” plays a huge role in how successful you become. Finding the right support system is not always easy. Start with women focused networking events and join female forums and groups.
7. Coping with the Fear of Failure: Failure is a very real possibility in any business venture. Do not let your insecurities keep you from dreaming big. Self doubts will surely come; every business owner faces that. There is nothing like perfection. The fact that a business failed is not an excuse for negative thoughts or for relinquishing your goals. See every mistake as a teaching or learning process.
- Family Considerations: In many countries in the world, for example, Nigeria and Africa in general, women are more likely to shoulder a greater share of child-rearing duties. Children may demand their mothers’ undivided attention, which can be a challenge for female entrepreneurs to deal with. Building and running a new business requires a great deal of time, which may conflict with one’s family obligations. Women in this situation must balance their family lives with their duties as entrepreneurs. For example, parents can communicate about the need to devote some time during the day solely to business, while other times can be devoted to family matters.
The road to success is paved with losses, mishaps, misfortunes, and mistakes, but it still takes you where you want to go as long as you don’t lose sight of your ultimate destination. A lot of female entrepreneurs are breaking boundaries. It could be you next!
Author: UGOCHI
Women empowerment, encouragement, motivation and mentoring. We take bold steps each and everyday to become better.