Women are taking over the business space
So what's Women's Day without talking about women in business for me as a business management consultant and business man myself?
I have worked in the business consulting space professionally for about six years now and can say I understand the space fairly well. The trends, the movements and climate of the business space in this country is something I'd say I know like the back of my hand.
Close to 70% of small businesses are owned or run by women. Restaurants, salons, boutiques, retail shops, stationary shops, even decoration businesses name it. Most have been pushed into these businesses out of necessity.
The need to be financially self sustaining has seen more and more women get into business to attain the means that afford them a life of full freedom. The desire for financial independence is one of the major driving factors pushing women into business.
Most of our clients are women. Women are more open to seeking help to enable them achieve their goals unlike men who see seeking help as a sign of weakness (another negative social stereotype).
The assumption is that men should know it all, at least they should figure it out and that's what they do even with their businesses until the situation is totally out of control.
This one character of being open to seeking help and support and not seeing it as a weakness has been one of the reasons we've seen more successful female small business owners than their male counterparts.
Men still dominate the big business space though, although slowly by slowly more women are gathering the courage to enter into the space to.
Hardships in accessing credit has been one of the bottle necks for women getting into this space.
A lot of the factors of production that are used as collateral for credit like land are still dominantly owned by men and this gives them a slight advantage over their female counterparts but this too is changing slowly as women work to acquire assets of their own.
Social limitations also still play a big part in it. I've worked with many women who have started up businesses and still have had to always consult with their men or seek their approval even when the investment was solely the woman's.
I've seen many woman who have dropped their entrepreneurial dreams because their men didn't approve of them. I've seen many women who have had to choose between their businesses and family unlike men.
The good news though is the space is progressively changing and we hope the gradual change continues with more affirmative action to make the space more and more conducive for those women who want to pursue business as a career.
Happy women day to all women in business.
Jaluum Herberts Luwizza is a Speaker, Writer and Business Columnist with the Nile Post. He is also a Business Consultant at YOUNG TREP East Africa's No.1 Business Management and Consultancy firm that helps people start and grow profitable businesses.
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