Creating, managing, and leading a business are activities that have been around since the beginning of mankind. As a society, we have always looked for products to satisfy our needs and for ways to either buy or sell said products. In different roles and in different measures, we have always been part of a business, so it is no surprise entrepreneurs have been thriving lately.
What or Who is an Entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurs have also been around since the beginning, but only in the last years have been properly recognized. What is an entrepreneur? Or more accurately, who is an entrepreneur? According to an article in The Balance Small Business, “an entrepreneur is someone who developed an enterprise around an innovation. They manage the business and assume the risk of its success.” Basically, an entrepreneur is someone who sees a business opportunity and creates a brand.
To succeed in the entrepreneurial industry, Business News Daily recognizes five essential motivators individuals must have: autonomy, financial success, flexibility, legacy, and purpose. Along with certain relevant characteristics: action-oriented, confidence, focus, independent thinking, optimism, passion, resourceful and problem-solver, tenacity and ability to overcome hardship, and vision. If you have these motivators and are this kind of person, becoming an entrepreneur will be easier and success will be obtainable.
Female Entrepreneurs
There is a natural tendency to believe any businesslike industry is only for men to succeed. Yes, it is true that most industries–a few exceptions apply–are male-dominated, but it does not mean women can’t thrive in them. So, when you think about entrepreneurs, do you think of female or male entrepreneurs? Trust me, there are no wrong answers.
A recent research developed by Score shows in a world-wide scale 6.2% of the businesses are owned by women and 9.5% by men. The difference is not great. However, the reasoning behind their startups is where the difference lies: most women do it out of necessity while the majority of the male business-owners do it to pursue an opportunity. This necessity has led women-owned businesses in America to increase a 21%. Therefore, even if your answer to the previous question was “male entrepreneurs,” female entrepreneurs exist and are opening a path for themselves.
Female Entrepreneurs and COVID-19
2020 is proving to be completely unexpected and most resolutions will be left unresolved. As Coronavirus spread and quarantine began, many where left without a job. Others were transferred to work from home and children all over the world became homeschooled. Although entrepreneurs could continue their work from home–the majority of them already handling their businesses through digital platforms–their circumstances changed…specially for female entrepreneurs.
Most female entrepreneurs work from home in the time they have between dropping their kids off at daycare or school and picking them up. Those hours of calm and quiet are the ones they dedicate to building their brand. So, besides the common consequences every business has faced during the pandemic–loss of customers, delayed sells, among others–they have to adjust to the changes in childcare.
Although word is men are the head of the household, women are the ones who run it. Grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, and childcare are among their list of daily activities. This is why, as pointed in a recent Forbes article, most women choose entrepreneurship due to the flexibility to accommodate childcare needs. But as everything began to shut down, this flexibility disappeared. The hours these women could previously dedicate to their business are now the ones in which they become their children’s teachers. The calm and quiet was overthrown by endless noises made by their kids and partners working from home. Their entrepreneurial business had to be cast aside and only worked on in the late hours of the night when silence rules the crazy pandemic kingdom.
Resilient Entrepreneurs
The Coronavirus pandemic has affected entrepreneurs in many ways and women can attest to that. Although things are slowly beginning to go back to normal, it will be some time before these businesswomen recover the workflow they used to have. The great thing about entrepreneurs is their resilience and their unbreakable spirit. They know the risks they face when creating their own business and they are not afraid to succeed. Female entrepreneurs add the daily challenges of facing society as a woman to the entrepreneurial challenges. The effects of COVID-19 are just one more obstacle for them to overcome.
