Women
and Men Entrepreneurs Take Different Paths
Toward Business
Success
Women
business owners are less likely than their men counterparts
to have a mentor before opening a business, but more likely
to consult outside sources on business management and growth
issues, according to a survey from the National Foundation for
Women Business Owners (NFWBO).
When
owners of fast-growth firms were starting or acquiring their
firms, less than half of the women had a mentor or role model.
Women
who own fast-growing businesses are also less likely than
men who own fast-growing firms to indicate that someone close
to them was an entrepreneur when they were growing up,
said Mark Lange, executive director of the Edward
Lowe Foundation. "Only 43 percent of fast-growth women owners
had an entrepreneurial role model, compared to 59 percent of fast-growth
men owners.
However,
women may compensate for the lack of mentors by consulting
more with outside sources while they grow their businesses.
When asked who they consult with on business issues, women
owners of fast-growing businesses are the most likely to say
they consult with accountants, family members and fellow business
owners.
Gaining new perspectives from outside sources on business
management and growth issues is an important ingredient in
expanding a business, Lange said. Sixty percent of the fast-growth women owners consult with accountants
compared to 44 percent of men owners of fast-growing firms. Furthermore,
women owners of fast-growing firms are the most likely to
discuss business issues with their family and fellow business
owners.
While
49 percent of these fast-growth women discuss business management
with their family, only 36 percent of fast-growth men do. Thirty-one
percent of fast-growth women confer with fellow business
owners compared to 26 percent of fast-growth men.
The
survey, Entrepreneurial Vision in Action: Exploring
Growth Among Women- and Men-Owned Firms was conducted
in mid-2000 among 1,194 business owners — 602 women and 592
men.
(Source:
NFWBO) |