Australian women are increasingly becoming business operators, with the desire to improve their family’s social and economic well-being, remain attached to the labour force and better manage their work-life balance.
According to the 2015 Global Women Entrepreneur Leaders scorecard, Australia ranks second in the world just after the USA as the best place for female entrepreneurship. Globally, an estimated 163 million women were starting new businesses in 74 economies around the world according to GEM 2016/2017 women’s entrepreneurship report.
This not only shows the impact of women entrepreneurs across the globe, but highlights their contributions to the growth and well-being of their societies. Women entrepreneurs provide incomes for their families, employment for their communities, and products and services that deliver new value to the market.
“Over the last decade of being a business owner myself it has been so great to see more and more women braving the entrepreneurial journey, despite the challenges that come with it!”, says Franziska Iseli, an award-winning entrepreneur and the founder of Basic Bananas.
However, starting a business can also be a struggle. More than 60 per cent of small businesses cease to operate within the first three years of starting. The number of Australian women operating their own businesses has steadily increased over the past 20 years, but in line with other OECD countries, they remain “substantially under-represented as entrepreneurs” according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
“I feel very fortunate to be able to support fellow women in business through our educational programs and would love to see more women crack the seven-figure turnover mark,” Ms Iseli says. “A lot of women in business are feeling overwhelmed with the demands of running a business, life and family. But the good news is that there has never been a better time to run a business as a woman with technology making it a lot easier to enter the market.”
The February 2014 MYOB business monitor found that among female business operators cashflow, attracting new customers and profitability were a greater concern than among other business operators.
Many female entrepreneurs value having a strong network to support them, especially since they are more connected than men.
“It can be a little lonely at the top without a supporting network and it is important to build your tribe” Ms Iseli says. “Women naturally tend to want to connect with fellow business owners to collaborate and support each other and it is my mission to bring them together with the launch of our latest program for women in business.”
