Article provided by Rob Love, CEO and Founder crowdfunder.co.uk
Have you got a burning business idea that needs some help to make it real? Or a side-hustle that you would love to make your main-hustle? Then crowdfunding may just be the support you need to help you take that leap.
The Rose Review, commissioned by The Treasury, showed that only 5.6 per cent of women run their own business, despite the fact that in the UK starting a small business is easier than it has ever been. Small businesses now provide almost half of all private sector job opportunities and have helped drive the UKs employment rates to record highs. Self-employment offers some of the working conditions that women desire, such as flexible hours and a bespoke working culture, yet the review went on to expose the fact that women are half as likely as men to start their own business.
What’s holding women back?
The review concluded that “access to funding, risk aversion, primary care responsibilities and perception of skills are among the barriers female entrepreneurs need to overcome.”
Here at Crowdfunder we can add ‘mansplaining’, ‘hepeating’ and lack of self-belief and then the barriers become clear!
One of the major learnings from our work over the last 6 years is that…
Women make great crowdfunders!
In the last year, 52 per cent of successful Crowdfunder project owners were female. Take into account the bias we see in business where men outweigh women as entrepreneurs by 66 per cent, we can safely say that women make great crowdfunders.
Why?
- Female led campaigns tend to pitch for less money, placing more emphasis on work-life balance and reaching a realistic target that will sustain that goal.
- Women are more collaborative and happier to ask for help. The Brain Magazine debated an analysis of the flight vs flight response, concluding that women have a third response, the ‘seek assistance response’, which stems from evolution and women’s need to protect their offspring. Gathering strength in numbers was often their safest protection. Research also shows that women are much more effective in their social relationships.
- Women learn more efficiently from other successful projects. They put their egos to one side, gather information, listen and learn from others, adopting the tools they need to bring their idea to life. They value and utilise the community support that crowdfunding offers.
- Crowdfunder doesn’t choose what the projects are that people want to fundraise for, the crowd decides by backing the idea. Gender biases are massively reduced. The crowd is in effect ‘the client’.
Back Her Business
This is why we launched the first ever female focused crowdfunding platform, Back Her Business. Offering events, mentoring and coaching support to smash that glass ceiling and bring thousands of female-led businesses to life. The icing on the cake? Successfully crowdfunded projects could receive 50 per cent of their fundraising target (max £5,000) in grants from NatWest, Royal Bank and Ulster Bank (regionally dependent).
As life guru Oprah Winfrey once said “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”
Think Big. Find out how Back her Business can help you realise your dreams. https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/back-her-business
