Women Entrepreneurs – Stop Wishing You Were A Man!

Source: Tumbler

Only 10% of Indian Unicorns in 2021 were led by women. This is despite women led start-ups generating a 10.1% return on equity vs. the global average of 7.4%

As you would have guessed, I have had a few women entrepreneurs at Brand Couch recently. Women with great ideas, talent and running businesses with tons of potential.

This piece draws from my interactions as a business counsellor. The idea is not to mansplain or patronise but to draw attention to, and explore a recurring theme that cropped up in the sessions with different women entrepreneurs - men have it so much easier! From dealing with vendors and staff, to negotiating and collecting funding and payments! It was male privilege staring me in the face!

Advantage men

Further investigation revealed that male entrepreneurs do have it better with funders for sure. Between January 2018 and June 2020 female-founded start-ups received only 1.43% ($480 million) across 80 deals (Makers India Report 2020 (YS)).

Additionally, men have greater geographical mobility and a support system equipped to facilitate them working outside the home and even away from it. They aren’t hamstrung by safety concerns or family and kids to take care of. The single biggest familial expectation from men is to put bread on the table. 

Female entrepreneur’s bottleneck

Now, one could argue that at least women of privilege could have access to all these advantages and incentives to level the playing field. However, the question, “what is stopping you?” revealed something deeper hidden in simple answers –

“I know the ideas are good, but what if I am wrong” 

“Who will take a chance with just initial numbers”

“I can’t seem to reason with clients when they get aggressive”

“I need a (male) partner to deal with other men” 

Lack of self-confidence and self-belief

Having worked with entrepreneurs and consumers, the ear and mind get attuned to also listening to what is unsaid. While their concerns were valid entrepreneur woes, at a deeper level these women seemed to lack confidence! Not the kind solved by a Chak-De style locker room pep-talk.

Source: wamaindia.in

Good girls are meant to look pretty and not heard 

Further investigation showed that women were socially conditioned to ‘hide’ their potential. In the business world, they either ‘act small’, or tend to veer to the other extreme and ‘behave like men’ or how they think men want them to act. The latter only reinforces stereotypes in Prada shoes. The former reminds me of a Margret Atwood quote, “men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them”. In this case, women entrepreneurs potential. 

What can one do?

In what would seem a no-win situation in an apparently male bastion, I am listing two pieces of advice that worked –

1.      Don’t shrink, don’t hide. Stand your ground – this may sound simple but is tough. Standing ones ground and asking for what one wants takes courage. It involves redrawing boundaries which is always tough, especially given women are ‘conditioned’ to be agreeable. Secondly, it needs people to be assertive, not aggressive. The combination can be daunting to put in practice.

What to do – one, when about to approach such a situation or in one, repeat the 6-4-10 breathing exercise 3 times as detailed in a previous post.. The oxygen relaxes you and exhales the tension from the muscles. Next, remember a time when you were really proud of yourself. Recall the feelings of positivity, confidence and happiness. This stops you from shrinking. Thirdly, keep a favourite key ring, lucky coin, or mascot handy. Holding on to this will make you feel comforted and safe.

2.      Be YOU – trying to be ‘one of the boys’ only shows one is trying too hard for validation. It also takes away the inherent advantage of being a woman amongst men. I always tell the women founders there are always enough men in a pissing contest. They don’t need another. Be the one who makes them want to zip up and sit straight.

Remember - women have a unique ability to multitask, and an intuitive sense of situations. They can successfully navigate team dynamics with minimal friction and get the job done. A certain sensitivity that doesn’t shy away from being human. The ability to effortlessly see and grasp what men can’t seem to see staring at them. 

Source: virtualistan

To conclude

In the labyrinth of entrepreneurship women have an additional challenge to overcome – of self confidence and self belief. They need to remember to not shrink just to be agreeable and sweet. Neither do they need to be yet another man in a man’s world. They have no reason to back down and should own their inherent advantages and be their authentic selves, making the difference they want to see.