State Of Women And Entrepreneurship 2020: Here's What You Need To Know

Editor note:This article was 1st published on March 20, 2020 by Forbes. In 2018 we surveyed 100 women entrepreneurs asking what are their biggest struggles. From this experience we learned the main reasons for women entrepreneur business failure is lack of mentoring, business resources, social networks, business building strategies, and funding. Our findings are consistent with this article. If you are looking for business success support, check out C2YHWI.org Women Move Forward Mentoring.

A new study finds that women have made great strides in entrepreneurship, but they still need better 

Women are making incredible strides in the field of entrepreneurship. We’re seeing more women-owned businesses, more female investors, and—what’s perhaps even more important—more brands waving their “women-owned and operated” flag. It’s become a badge of honor, rather than something to hide. 

While the overall trend, therefore, is highly encouraging, there are still stumbling blocks that women entrepreneurs continue to face. These issues, as well as the positive progress women business owners have made, is detailed in Visa’s second annual State of Female Entrepreneurship report, the initial findings of which were released in early March. The findings offer a glimpse into the state of women and entrepreneurship in 2020, and are something everyone with a stake in the future of business—in other words, everyone—should pay attention to. Here are a few of the most salient pieces of information. 

Growth in funding for women entrepreneurs has not kept pace with the growth of other types of support.

A troubling statistic from the report is that while 79% percent of women entrepreneurs in the U.S. feel more empowered now than they did five years ago, 66% still report difficulty in obtaining the funding they need to succeed.  

What this means is that while women may feel that they have the other resources they need to support them on their entrepreneurial journey, they’re not receiving the financial support from investors or VCs needed to get their business off the ground. 

This is backed by a growing body of research, including a 2019 Columbia Business School study that found that female-led ventures are 63 percent less likely to receive VC funding. This is in spite of the fact that when female-led ventures do receive VC funding, they are just as likely to achieve exit outcomes through IPOs or acquisitions. 

Support networks for women in startups, greater representation of women in leadership, girls being taught entrepreneurial skills at a young age—these are all critical components of furthering women’s success as entrepreneurs. 

But these efforts by themselves will not allow women entrepreneurs to reach their full potential. These support systems must be combined with the same funding opportunities that male entrepreneurs receive if women are to reach their full potential as founders. 

The bottom line is that VCs and investors must work way harder to stay aware of their own biases when it comes to the companies they choose to fund. That’s the only way we’ll see women-led companies achieve the funding they deserve.

This is an excerpt from Women founders need better tools to grow and manage their businesses to read the rest of the article. 

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