7 Challenges Women Entrepreneurs Face (and How to Overcome Them)
On paper, things have never looked better for female entrepreneurs. In fact, more than 11 million U.S. firms are now owned by women, employing nearly 9 million people and generating $1.7 trillion in sales, according to 2017 data from the National Association of Women Business Owners.
But these numbers only tell part of the story. Women-owned firms are still in the minority, and the hurdles faced by women who have embraced entrepreneurship are vast and often very different than those experienced by their male counterparts. To shed light on some of these disparities, Business News Daily asked female CEOs about the key challenges women entrepreneurs face and how to overcome them.
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.
In this sort of situation, women may feel as though they need to adopt a stereotypically "male" attitude toward business: 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.
2. Dealing with limited access to 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. A 2014 Babson College report found that less than 3 percent of venture-capital-funded companies had female CEOs.
Investors typically look for businesses 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 [operations] well, investors will have confidence in those people. [You also] need a good product market fit."
3. 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. Alison Gutterman, CEO and president of her family's business Jelmar, had this experience early in her career.
"As a female entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry, earning respect has been a struggle," she said.
Those negative comments that have built up in your head are stopping you from reaching your full potential, said Gutterman. To combat them, she's joined a variety of women entrepreneur groups. Failure also should not be viewed as a negative or an excuse for relinquishing your goals, according to Swartz.
"When you hear no again and again, when your plans don't turn out or if you make a costly decision ... see that as a teaching moment," she added.
The road to success is paved with losses, mishaps and mistakes, but it still can lead to where you want to go as long as you don't lose sight of your ultimate destination.
"Stay the course," Swartz said. "Take in all the feedback; filter out the noise and the naysayers; learn from your mistakes and try not to make them again. But whatever you do, do not give up."
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