More and more women are setting up their own business. Women are voting with their feet and setting up their own businesses to get more flexibility between work and family life, according to a urvey of female entrepreneurs.
The biggest motivation for going it alone - 70% of those polled - was to be able to work more flexibly, with three quarters (75%) saying work family life balance is better when you run your own business, rather than being an employee.
Women entrepreneurs are overwhelmingly positive about the benefits of being self-employed, with nine in ten (86%) happy to set up their own business all over again.
Additional findings from the survey include:
More than three quarters (78%) gained greater independence from setting up their own business, two thirds (66%) increased confidence, and 60% said it gave them greater self-worth.
Other reasons for women started their own business are to be their own boss (65%), to be able to work from home (61%), to get more job satisfaction (53%), to achieve a better work-life balance (52%).
The proportion of manual/unskilled (C2DE) female entrepreneurs is increasing - 55% set up their business in the past five years, compared with 47% of professional/skilled women (ABC1), indicating that starting up a new business is not just for those with degrees.
Female entrepreneurship in the United Kingdom is increasing. There are now more than one million self-employed women - a 17 percent rise since 2000. But the gap between female and male entrepreneurship remains stubbornly wide. Despite women making up half of the UK population, they only constitute 27% of the self-employed.
The survey marks a reception hosted tonight by Ms Harman and John Hutton for women in business to celebrate their contribution to the UK economy. They will announce a new publicity campaign which will encourage more women to start up a business and direct them to sources of help.
"Women want to call the shots by running their own business. Theyre recognising that being their own boss gives them control and allows them to balance their work and family life. "Mothers often tear their hair out trying to balance earning a living with bringing up their children, and need more flexibility from their work. Setting up their own business can be the solution.
"But we need to encourage more women to take the plunge. Men are almost twice as likely as women to start a new business. Thats why we are determined to close this gap by providing solid support and encouragement."
"Increasing entrepreneurship among the UKs women brings us huge economic benefits – maximising an untapped economic dividend and increasing productivity."
"If the UK matched the USAs level of women-led businesses we would have an additional 900,000 businesses and 150,000 start-ups every year. I want us to be the most enterprising economy in the world and to do this, we need women to start and grow their own businesses. Thats why measures to boost female entrepreneurship are central to our recent enterprise strategy."
The Government recently announced an Enterprise Strategy, with measures to increase the number of womens entrepreneurs, including a £12.5million Womens Investment Fund with the aim of private sector to match the funding to develop women-led businesses. Other measures include a pilot of US-model Womens Business Centres and the establishment of a national mentoring network, both of which will provide women entrepreneurs will support and advice.
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