Unique Challenges Women Face in Being an Entrepreneur

By Christie Mary –

The business world offers equal opportunities to all players regardless of gender. Both men and women can invest in different kinds of businesses and get to enjoy enormous profits. What is different though are the challenges women have to face in being an entrepreneur in US. Most of these challenges have a great impact on the daily operations of the business. The adverse effect in turn creates a rift between the degree of success of enterprises run by men and those managed by women.

Some of these challenges include;

Juggling between business and family

This is arguably the biggest challenge where women have to balance business and family time. Until recently, women have always been the backbone of the family and build the home’s foundation. Almost everyone in the family relies on the mother (woman) for the home to run smoothly. This has proven a challenge to women entrepreneurs who are torn between business and family commitment.

Gender stereotype

Women have to deal with gender stereotype that is held by many in the industry. Most people- both men and women have perceptions about how women should do things. People think business is not for women, and if they make it, they are thought to be aggressive. Sometimes, few people take them seriously when it comes to managing a business. The issue of gender discrimination also arises. Normally, men find the business world easy because such stereotype is not held on their side.

Fear

Women are known for being less likely to take risks and may let fear stand in the way of starting and managing a business. There is the issue of having low self-confidence thus leading to the fear of failure. Fear of being by themselves and being less likely to succeed. Some women think they need a man by their side for them to succeed in business. Fear can easily be overcome by boosting self-confidence.

Challenges with raising capital

Women find it a bit daunting to raise capital to start and sustain business ventures. This is because banks and investors who are supposed to give out loans feel more confident with male than female entrepreneurs in US. Where a woman is considered for business financing, she has to prove her confidence and show credibility whereas men can easily get loans without necessarily doing this.

Discrimination based on type of business

Society still believes that certain businesses are better handled by men than women. Thus, if women put forward an idea of starting a business say of plumbing, people will not take them seriously. They would ask, “Why don’t you think of venturing in something more feminine?” The truth is there is no particular business for specific gender, it is just a stereotype. Women should develop a positive drive towards criticism and stop thinking that their feminine gender is a weakness. These are just a few of the many challenges that women in the US face as entrepreneurs.
Despite the drawbacks, life has to go on and business must make profit. In the business world, nothing comes easy, to forge ahead well, women must overcome these challenges and be at par with their male counterparts. Apply for esta now and join the female entrepreneurs in the US.