Budding female 'dragons' urged to leave lair
18 August 2008
British women are trailing far behind their male counterparts when it comes to setting up in business. Despite an abundance of skills, academic prowess and the high profile of businesswomen like Dragon's Den's Deborah Meaden, the gulf between the numbers of male and female entrepreneurs is significant. If women matched men's start-up levels, an extra £32billion* could be added to the economy, so why the gulf?
Lack of confidence is one of the main barriers recognised by NatWest and RBS, whose pioneering Women in Business Service has been introduced to encourage greater levels of entrepreneurship amongst females. Women starting up in business are also much more likely to worry about debt then men. Of the fifth of women who think about starting a business only half that number actually does. The service is endorsed by the government, Everywoman and Prowess. It provides experienced business managers dedicated to the specific needs and wants of female entrepreneurs.
Founder of the Women in Business Service, Tessa Lyndon-Skeggs joins a webchat alongside successful entrepreneur, Shaa Wasmund to answer your queries and provide advice on any challenges you're facing. Log on to the chat and get to work on taking your life in a new direction.
Tessa Lyndon-Skeggs and Shaa Wasmund will be live online at webchats.tv/chats/Business/buddingfemaledragonsurgedleavelair/ on Wednesday 20th August at 14:00 to discuss the best ways for budding female entrepreneurs to start-up
* Average turnover of female run businesses is £209,678. The extra 150,000 businesses that would be generated if females matched male startup rates would have a combined turnover of £32 Billion. Sector statistics sourced from BERR (Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform).
