It’s well established that a great deal more men than women set up in business. According to recent research commissioned by business-support group Prowess, 8.1 per cent of men were involved in running their own business last year, compared with 3.8 per cent of women. (The gap is even greater among young people – male entrepreneurship is four times higher than female in the 18-24 age bracket.)
However, the Prowess research makes the point that it’s important to look beyond these average figures. When you break the figures down it becomes clear that there is a lot of vibrant female entrepreneurial activity out there. For example, black women of African origin are four and a half times more likely than white women to be entrepreneurs. And women in rural areas are almost twice as likely to be entrepreneurs as those in urban areas.
The rising level of female enterprise in rural areas challenges a range of stereotypes. Many women setting up in business in the countryside are turning to technology to develop business ideas to fill the gaps that have emerged with the decline of the agricultural sector. It turns out that twice as many women as men set up new businesses based around the newest of technologies (ie less than one year old).
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