Quick Facts about Women Entrepreneurs

There is a movement underway in Canada. Women are increasingly turning towards entrepreneurship as a career option and a way to support themselves and contribute to the economy.

There were over 910,000 self-employed women in Canada as of 2009. In 2010, the number of Canadian women entrepreneurs (self-employed plus small business owners) is expected to pass the 1 million mark.1 in 3 "self employed" Canadians are women46 percent of Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs)in Canada had some degree of female ownership. Canadian women entrepreneurs contribute in excess of $18 billion to the Canadian economy every year!As of 2001, the total number full-time, part-time and contract employees of women owned businesses exceeded 975,000." Between 1989 and 2004, the number of self employed women in Canada increased by 50%. The number of women run businesses is rising 60% faster than those run by men.The average age of a self-employed woman is 41.

Notwithstanding the good news portrayed above, women have their own unique approach and challenges to entrepreneurship

Small medium enterprises(SMEs) that are majority-owned by women are less likely than other SMEs to employ more than 20 employees.Women owners of SMEs tend to have fewer years of experience in the industries in which they operate compared with male owners of SMEs. More than 60% of self-employed women are “lifestylers” — entrepreneurs who are not actively seeking growth opportunities, but rather using entrepreneurship as a way to balance work and family demands. 79% of small business owners say that being an entrepreneur gives them the flexibility to take care of their family.Women still hold responsibilities of being the primary caregiver for children and increasingly aging parents as well. Recent studies show that even after controlling for human capital (e.g., experience, social and network capital) and firm-related factors (e.g., size, sector, innovation, age), Canadian women-owned firms are less likely to export internationally, access equity capital, or grow when compared to male-owned firms. According to recent statistics, 41% of women entrepreneurs say they are taken less seriously than male entrepreneurs.Women-owned enterprises earn less than men-owned enterprises. According to 2004 data, one-third of all women-run enterprises generated less than $50,000 in annual revenue, double the rate seen among men-run firms. At the same time, more than 20% of men-run firms earned annual revenue of more than $500,000 — almost double the rate seen among women.

Canadian, as well as American women, are leading the movement internationally towards entrepreneurship

Canadian women are leading the movement towards entrepreneurship worldwide. In a recent study comparing female entrepreneurial activity across the G7 nations, Canadian women fared second after the US and before Germany, France, U.K., Italy and Japan. In the US 10.1 million firms are owned by women (50% or more)1.9 million firms are owned (51% or more) by women of color in the USOne in five firms in the US, with revenue of $1 million or more is woman-owned.

....click here for reference