According to the Boston group analysis, women running their businesses generate 10% more revenue in 5 years than men do. It reflects the number of women-owned business in the country.
It is when there are more male entrepreneurs than females. In Ireland, 20% of women are entrepreneurs. There are barriers that Irish women face in entrepreneurship.
These barriers involve managing business and child care and restrictions on married women. The imbalance between professional and personal lives also impacts dreams. Pandemic has proved to be a major source of relief to these women.
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor ranks female entrepreneurs in Ireland as the 8th best in the world. This is compared to entrepreneur women in other countries like- the US, Germany, Sweden and France. They have outperformed male entrepreneur peers in Ireland. The reason for the same is still unknown.
Barriers a Women-Owned Business Face in the initial stage
There are many other restrictions that a woman faces in starting a business. Let’s discuss:
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Funding
Business needs funds to meet the present and urgent requirements. In this journey of shaping their dream, women struggle. According to a report from Enterprise Ireland, only 3% of women angel investors in Ireland.
What’s more heartbreaking is – female entrepreneurs in Ireland receive less than 10% of funding. The venture capitalist does not appreciate the idea if the product lies beyond the male’s interest. This is why women resort to a start up business loan to meet their immediate requirements in business.
There is an increased need for a democratic investment system to promote women entrepreneurs. It should be economical, sustainable and equitable.
It is all about ensuring an open community for women entrepreneurs. If they have spare cash to achieve their dreams, they share all the right to comfortable funding.
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Networking
Networking is crucial for any business to:
- Gather more customers
- Get new suppliers
- New export opportunities
- IP licensing opportunities
- Connecting with capitalists for funding
Apart from this, networking provides women entrepreneurs with the needed support and encouragement. Networks are the product of culture, historical experiences, personal drive, social structure, and domestic duties.
In the case of women, the imbalance between these leads to loosening networking. Although women are complete, they still share fewer networks than men. There is research that supports this fact:
- Women are less active than men in networking
- Also Women will have a less dense network than men
- Women incline towards discussion with a women
- Family members are at the top of the contact list of the female entrepreneurs.
These are the top findings regarding women entrepreneurs in Ireland.
Several organizations support women’s entrepreneurship or women-only networking opportunities. In this, women may connect with like-minded individuals and build networks to grow business.
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Lack of initial capital for Women-Owned Business
In general, women have low personal finance assets than men. And they suffer a hard time qualifying for financial help than men.
It implies the gender issue. Sometimes, financial institutions base the potential of the product, service and the entrepreneur’s vision on funding. There are other obstacles to securing personal loans in Ireland on bad credit and lack of initial capital. They are:
- Lack of collateral – collateral needed to secure loans may be beyond the worth.
- Securing finance from venture capitalists or angel investors might be a faint hope. The reason is that women lack active networks to communicate and send the word across.
- Women’s relationships with financial institutions might suffer due to gender stereotyping and discrimination.
- Hard to involve family’s support as a sole women entrepreneur and thus suffer fund crisis.
Micro financing is a good way to combat this situation. It is ideal for low-income bracket individuals. The micro financing institution serves those rejected from securing start up business loans.
The popular individuals borrowing these funds are self-employed people. It is currently active in the US. Individuals do not need to pledge collateral every time to get the funds.
It enables entrepreneurs with little assets to bridge the funding gap. It further helps them to meet business requirements without delay.
Thus, microfinance appears to be a win-win situation for women entrepreneurs in Ireland. It is helpful if seeking urgent business funding assistance.
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Obstacles to managing the Business
The fundamental discrepancies in men’s and women’s entrepreneurial cultures significantly impact the women’s position. As per research, women collect less revenue than men. The reasons behind this are startling.
The facts suggest that women have to cope with stereotypical biases. Business owners should develop a strong relationship with suppliers, customers, and funding institutions. The interactions constantly remind her of being different.
Managing business with children is another obstacle, where women take a back seat. Managers and CEOs get overburdened in this situation. Motherhood is a constant worry among venture capitalists and angel investors. It is this thing that prevents one from supporting women entrepreneurs in Ireland.
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Ensuring Finance in the Mid-Business Stage
The inability to reveal their expertise in achieving the desired growth target firm or business has monthly and yearly targets is an issue.
Women have the most innovative minds. But lack of motivational figures is distressing for young women entrepreneurs. As a result, they start less ambitious.
This discernible image restricts women from gathering funding. A business expansion requires-
- sound networking,
- market research,
- expanding business in the existing market
- introducing a breakthrough idea to get the lead.
Networking and expansion or entering into new markets is one of the major challenges for women entrepreneurs.
It prevents these entrepreneurs from attracting a maximum audience and expanding the customer base. It is the reason they sometimes could not accomplish the yearly sales or customer acquisition target.
Financial Programs for Women Entrepreneurs in Ireland
While difference exists in operations, it is important to believe that men and women differ in terms of education, work ethic, social class, age, ethnicity, country, work experience and thinking abilities.
Every individual entrepreneur is unique regardless of gender. Effective policies should be there to support women’s entrepreneurship.
To support this, Enterprise Ireland offers annual funds for startups in Ireland. it is specifically for female entrepreneurs. In 2020, Enterprise Ireland launched a 6-year Action plan for a women-owned business. It aims at:
- To increase the number of women entrepreneurs in Ireland
- Increase the number of women founders in HPSU (High Potential Start-Ups)
- To increase the number of women-owned companies throughout the country and internationally
- To increase the number of women in senior leadership positions in top and leading companies in Ireland.
Under this, Enterprise Ireland provides funding to young women entrepreneurs of up to €50,000. It is split into halves- i.e., €25,000. Other organizations like ACORNS and EMPOWER promote women entrepreneurs. It grants them the needed momentum to scale up their business.
If you women entrepreneurs face a hard time qualifying for a startup business loan, they can check out these programs in Ireland to fund their dreams.
Bottom Line
To sum up, women entrepreneurs face several challenges in ensuring a successful business. The whole interface creates substantial barriers for women-owned business. There is a dire need for democratic funding and capital needs for women entrepreneurs.
