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Article:
Times Are Changing for Woman Entrepreneurs by: Dr. Pirjo Friedman D.D.S. Although the definition of an entrepreneur, 'One who undertakes to conduct an enterprise assuming full control and risk.'¯ is not gender specific, it is no wonder that most entrepreneurs are men. Because women tend to undertake the greater share of raising children and keeping the house together, many women simply do not have the time to start a business! As a woman entrepreneur, and the current President of the Women Entrepreneurs of Canada, (WEC), I have had the opportunity to take a close look at the issues that female business owners face. At a recent international women's conference in Glasgow, the Bank of Scotland presented some of its research. According to the bank, women business owners tend to: under-capitalize their businesses at startup; have a disinclination to use debt finance and to be more risk averse than their male counterparts; use a higher proportion of their personal savings within their business, both at startup and development; be less confident than men about their knowledge and understanding of financial products and services. all of which can impact on financing and growing their businesses. This may be exacerbated by the banks' historical unwillingness to treat their female business customers in the same manner as male customers. Women owned businesses tend to be more service oriented and therefore have less equity than male owned businesses'”another reason banks can be skeptical. Financing is crucial to all commerce, and perhaps managing money is most critical among small businesses, whether at the start or when expanding. The struggle to maintain adequate cashflow is constant among entrepreneurs. Is it any surprise then, that financial worry is the most prevalent cause of stress and insomnia! With women generating forty percent of new start-ups, and one-third of self-employed proprietorships in Canada owned or led by women, women entrepreneurs have increased by more than two hundred per cent in the last twenty years. As a result, women are seeking more opportunities to grow their network and enhance their support systems. The Women Entrepreneurs of Canada was founded in Toronto in '1992
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