{"id":7931,"date":"2019-12-22T10:33:03","date_gmt":"2019-12-22T14:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=7931"},"modified":"2019-12-22T16:46:47","modified_gmt":"2019-12-22T20:46:47","slug":"female-entrepreneurs-heres-how-you-can-attract-financing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=7931","title":{"rendered":"Female Entrepreneurs, Here’s How You Can Attract Financing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>The number of female entrepreneurs is on the rise around the world.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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Women-owned businesses in the United States, for example, are surging, according to the 2019 State of Women-Owned Business Report<\/a> from American Express. Between 2014 and this year, the number of such enterprises climbed 21 percent, to nearly 13 million.<\/p>\n

By contrast, the number of businesses overall in the United States increased just 9 percent. Companies owned by women of color grew even more, by 43 percent.<\/p>\n

Ireland and the rest of Europe have seen a burst in female entrepreneurship as well, said Joanne Hession, founder of The Entrepreneurs Academy<\/a>, based in Dublin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s generally acknowledged, however, that women get a fraction<\/a> of venture capital globally<\/a>, and that those who are black, Hispanic or Asian get significantly less.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoney is the biggest stumbling block for female-led start-ups,\u201d said Suzanne Norris, a partner at Victress Capital<\/a>, a Boston-based firm that invests in companies with female founders and gender-diverse teams.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cPeople invest in people who look like them,\u201d said Nathalie Molina Ni\u00f1o, author of \u201cLeapfrog: The New Revolution for Women Entrepreneurs\u201d<\/a> and chief executive of <\/strong>O\u00b3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Still, leadership and financing experts say there are ways women can attract money to their start-ups.<\/p>\n

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Sanyin Siang, Photo courtesy of Ms. Siang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Show your value.<\/strong> Half the challenge is seeing things through the lens of potential funders. Step into their shoes when you\u2019re asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s your background? What have you done that shows your credibility to succeed in this business?\u201d said Sanyin Siang, executive director of the Fuqua\/Coach K Leadership and Ethics Center at Duke University and author of \u201cThe Launch Book: Motivational Stories to Launch Your Idea, Business or Next Career.\u201d <\/a>\u201cDon\u2019t get defensive,\u201d she added. \u201cLead them to your point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Create an inner peer circle.<\/strong> Start a \u201cMastermind\u201d group of six to eight women with diversity in terms of ethnicity and industries, Ms. Molina Ni\u00f1o said. Commit to six to nine months of meetings. Come up with two or three concrete things to do each month, so you have accountability, which is imperative in the initial stages of entrepreneurship because that is a period full of unknowns, self-doubt and, in many cases, loneliness. To recruit your group, use every tool available: Facebook, LinkedIn, your school, your place of worship, your neighborhood bulletin boards, your chamber of commerce.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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