Penmex: Are female entrepreneurs still facing massive hurdles?

Although female entrepreneurship is on the rise, studies have revealed that women still face a number of huge challenges when starting a business. Penmex reveals what needs to be done for women to be seen equal to men in the business world.

About Penmex: http://penmex.co.uk/#about

The Women's Entrepreneur Network recently announced the results of its 2015 Global Women Entrepreneurs Leaders Scorecard, which ranks 31 countries based on their institutional and business environment and measures. The Scorecard ranks and rates opportunities and challenges faced by female entrepreneurs worldwide and the 31 countries surveyed account for 70% of the world's female population. Penmex were surprised the see that results show that gender-based differences are still stifling the growth of female-owned businesses worldwide.

The categories in the survey included the pipeline for female entrepreneurship and potential for high-growth, women-owned businesses. The Scorecard also estimates the number of jobs that will be created by female-owned businesses if they reach their growth potential. More than 70% of the countries surveyed scored below 50%, showing a significant growth gap between female and male-owned businesses globally.

Penmex have revealed what they believe women need in order to overcome these challenges and have the same growth opportunities as men in business:

Women need more equal access to resources
Those resources include education, internet access, bank accounts and training programs. Penmex were proud to discover that the UK provides nearly equal access for men and women in these categories. However, in countries such as Pakistan only 10% of women use the internet and only 3% have access to a bank account.

Women need more access to growth capital
The US scored the highest in the business environment category overall, but only 13% of start-ups that have women on their executive team – and only 3% of those with female CEOs – received venture capital funding in 2014.

Women need more leadership roles
Only four countries – China, Brazil, Malaysia and Nigeria – report women holding 5% of CEO positions in the largest publicly-traded companies; six report a complete absence of female CEOs. Poland, Jamaica and Russia are the only countries where women make up 35% or more of senior management.

Gendered differences hold back entrepreneurs
In all the countries surveyed women are significantly less likely to know an entrepreneur. Penmex points out that this means women lack role models and essential connections to the entrepreneurial community, which lowers the likelihood they will start a business. In 68% of the countries surveyed women reported seeing significantly less opportunities to start a business than a man, but they also believed they matched a man's skills to do so.

Penmex is an outsourced sales and marketing firm based in Edinburgh. The firm specialises in a personalised form of marketing that enables them to connect with consumers on behalf of their clients' brand. Penmex works closely with their clients to create personalised campaigns that accurately represent their products or services. They then take these campaigns directly to their target consumers via face-to-face marketing methods. This often leads to long-lasting and personal connections between brand and consumer as well as increased customer acquisition, brand awareness and brand loyalty for their clients.

Penmex is run by female entrepreneur, Kirsty Pennal who believes that more needs to be done to ensure that women entrepreneurs have equal opportunities with men across the globe.