Only 14 per cent of the UK’s businesses are owned by women, yet they represent 42 per cent of the workforce.
On Wednesday night, as part of Global Enterprise Week, Women Unlimited hosted their first ’Extraordinary Female Entrepreneurs Evening’ to call out to the UK’s female entrepreneurs to ‘be extraordinary’ and turn this around.
Leading female entrepreneurs including Rachel Elnaugh, founder of Red Letter Days, former Apprentice Saira Khan (click here for her FMWF column), and Kanya King, founder and CEO of the MOBO Awards, hosted discussions with businesswomen on how to break the mould.
Julie Hall, founder and editor of Women Unlimited, said: ‘Women’s Enterprise Day offered the perfect opportunity to create a unique event that would help women learn from some of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs. I am a strong believer in modelling behaviour as a way of learning. And by giving the women in the room personal access to these extraordinary entrepreneurs, we are also giving them access to their success strategies and experience.’
Gabrielle Rose, business engagement manager at The British Library, said: ‘Launched in 2006 the British Library Business and IP Centre has worked to actively target aspiring female entrepreneurs, and worked with organisations like Women Unlimited to encourage more women to “take the plunge”. Three years on, women now make up over 50 per cent of our users, which is an encouraging sign. In the future, the British Library hopes to be able to roll out the Business & IP Centre model across the country and help to create better opportunities for female entrepreneurs from all over the UK.’
Julie Hall said: ‘As we come out of the recession, this is the perfect time for women to fill the gaps that have been created in the market and increase their contribution to the UK’s economic recovery. Owning a business is the best way for women to break through the glass ceiling and take control of their earning potential.’
She added: ‘There are 602,000 female-owned companies in the UK, representing just 14 per cent of all business. This figure is particularly significant when we compare it to the statistics in the US, where women owned businesses represent 28 per cent of the total number of businesses. At Women Unlimited we are keen to explore the reasons for this, and our mission is to double the percentage of female entrepreneurs in the UK over the next 20 years.’
Top tips from Women Unlimited and some of the entrepreneurs who attended:
Follow your passion. Rachel Elnaugh, founder of Red Letter Days, said: ‘When you work from joy/passion/love for what you do you magically start to attract amazing people and opportunities – it is the highest form of energy’.
Trust your intuition. Karen Hanton, founder of Top Table, said: ‘Women are incredibly intuitive creatures but unfortunately can lack confidence in their hunches. Every time I have gone against a hunch I have lived to regret it. So my biggest tip is to follow your feelings, as I think intuition counts for a lot in business and we have it in spades’.
Be prepared to make sacrifices. Kanya King, founder and CEO of the MOBO Awards, said: ‘The onus is still on women to be the main caregivers. It is realistic to think you can be an entrepreneur and have a family, but something has to give, so be prepared to make sacrifices and make strict decisions as to how you will spend the hours in the working day’.
Never give up. Laura Tenison, founder of JoJo Maman Bebe, said: ‘Never take no for an answer. If you don’t get the result you want first time, approach the issue from another direction’.
Think big. Julie Hall, founder of Women Unlimited, said: ‘Time and again evidence shows that if you strive for more you will achieve more. Women typically set lower expectations for themselves, but the extraordinary among us set no limits.’
Focus on your vision. Julie said: ‘Know what you want to achieve and then test everything you are doing against whether it will help you achieve your vision. By focusing on your goal you will increase your chances of success ten times over’.
Don’t do it all yourself. Julie said: ‘Build a strong team around you. Do the things that you are good at and bring in exceptional people to fill the gaps. Your team should include mentors, advisors and team members who can each bring you one step closer to your goal’.
Watch Saira Khan’s video from the night:
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November 23rd, 2009 at 4:09 pmWomen Unlimited aims to double number of female enterprises in the UK « FMWF says:
[...] stories and experiences. I think it works. People are very appreciative. At the last event we held (The Extraordinary Entrepreneurs Evening) someone actually came up to me and said I had changed her life! We are definitely resonating with [...]