‘Accelerated action’ required to unlock female entrepreneur opportunity

Women’s Enterprise Scotland (WES) has called for accelerated action to realise the ‘multi-billion pound opportunity’ represented by women’s under-participation in entrepreneurship.

The newly-published Survey of Women in Enterprise has suggested that while some action has been progressed by the government and other organisations, a much greater economic contribution could be realised every year by tackling constraints in areas such as grant funding, mainstream support services and sectoral support.

The report is based on insights gathered from a survey involving 238 female entrepreneurs between January and April last year, exploring gender-based inequalities, structural barriers and the exceptional repercussions of the pandemic and subsequent cost-of-business crisis.

Many participants praised existing support services, although access was not universal, with 35% reporting they were not accessing business adviser support.

Improvements to support services are needed to better meet the needs of women entrepreneurs, according to the survey, with 93% of respondents stating that advisers should have ‘lived experience’ of business ownership and 82% stating that services should be more aware of the differences in needs between men and women.

Nearly three quarters (74%) of respondents view dedicated support for women as vital to realising their business aspirations, while two thirds have experienced discrimination as a women entrepreneur – almost double the 34% reported in 2016.

Meanwhile, 81% said investing in digital or technology would benefit their business, yet of those who reported needing support to set a digital or technology strategy, 75% said they were unable to access this.

Two fifths of women entrepreneurs lacked confidence in their company’s ability to achieve net zero, but only 4% had applied for any related financial support and 21% thought net zero did not apply to their company.

Despite a majority (57%) of survey respondents anticipating turnover growth within the next 12 months, this figure is down from 92% in 2019.

WES chief executive Carolyn Currie said: “The results of our survey demonstrate the requirement for accelerated action which is aligned with the needs of women-led businesses.

“With many women not accessing support services and others highlighting they are not getting the best out of support services, we can hardly be surprised that experiences of discrimination by women entrepreneurs have risen sharply – yet this picture is wholly at odds with our aspirations for an inclusive and thriving economy in Scotland.”

Despite constituting more than half of Scotland’s population, women remain significantly underrepresented in entrepreneurship. Currently women-led employer businesses are 22% of employer businesses in Scotland; down from 23% prior year.

The report also made several policy recommendations, including improving information dissemination, instituting more tailored support mechanisms, establishing clear and inclusive eligibility criteria for funding and implementing sector-specific initiatives.

Of primary importance is the need for greater data and measurement, including mandatory gender-disaggregated data reporting on all future business funding disbursements.

Currie concluded: “Increasing the participation, sustainability and resilience of women-led businesses would provide Scotland with a welcome economic boost.

“Added to this, the influx of new business owners has the capability to revitalise communities the length and breadth of Scotland, boosting our current innovation capabilities and productivity.”

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