Female Business Founders are Much Less Likely Than Their Male Counterparts to Ask for Business Help, According to New Research
September 12 2023 - 8:00AM
Female business founders are much less likely than their male
counterparts to ask for business help, according to new research
released today.
The study, commissioned by freelance marketplace, Fiverr and
not-for-profit incubator, Virgin StartUp, polled 500 UK founders
who have set-up a business in the past five years and found that
the majority (86%) of UK new business founders are unlikely to
outsource tasks in the early stages of launching their business,
choosing to juggle everything single-handedly. Among those who
didn't outsource, twice as many women than men said they didn’t
know how to go about outsourcing business tasks such as accounting,
branding, marketing and web design or simply chose to do it
themselves. (15% of women compared with 7% of men).
Meanwhile, when it comes to asking for business advice, 25% more
female founders over 45 are more likely to seek support compared to
male founders over 45 and in general younger generations, both male
and female, are more comfortable asking for help.
In work the data says that there are still gender differences
when it comes to views and needs, whereas outside of work the
concerns are more similar than they are different. In fact, the
same number of men and women agree that balancing work-life
responsibilities is the main challenge when founding a start-up.
The second and the third most common challenges are the development
of a marketable product/service and limited industry
connections/network respectively.
The research was commissioned ahead of a new competition from
Fiverr and Virgin StartUp have launched this study ahead of the
Female Founders Competition they are running together to address
some of these challenges by awarding female founders with £22,000
Fiverr Credits to spend on Fiverr to support their businesses,
alongside mentoring and business advice from a selection of top
female business leaders and entrepreneurs.
"As we move towards a more equitable and diverse business
landscape, it is crucial to understand and address the barriers
that impede entrepreneurs, especially women, from fully realising
their potential. Collaboration and support are key to driving
entrepreneurial success," says Gali Arnon, Fiverr CMO. “One way
Fiverr and Virgin StartUp are partnering together to address these
barriers is through our Female Founders Competition where we will
provide four inspirational female entrepreneurs with a total of
£22,000 Fiverr Credits to spend on freelance support to build their
business.”
Andy Fishburn, Managing Director at Virgin StartUp, comments:
“Getting the right support and advice is crucial to the success of
any new start-up and we know that women founders are more likely to
face barriers when it comes to accessing the right support and
funding. That’s why Virgin StartUp is committed to its 50/50 pledge
to equally fund women and male founders who apply for a Start Up
Loan. We’re pleased to be partnering with Fiverr on this
competition to reach more female founders and offer them the
support they need to thrive.”
To find out more about the Female Founders Competition, visit
fiverr.com
For more information about Fiverr, please contact:
ArchetypeCharlotte Sextoncharlotte.sexton@archetype.co
For more information about Virgin StartUp, please contact:
Kate CashmorePR and Communications Manager07800
746814kate.cashmore@virgin.com
Competition Terms & ConditionsContest opens
for entries from 00:01 am 07.09.23 and closes for entries on 23:59
pm 26.09.23. 18+ UK resident female founders/cofounders eligible
only (except employees or contractors of Fiverr or VSU, see full
T&Cs for detail). Fiverr account required. Applicants must be
available 21.11.23 to present to a live audience in person in
London as the final stage of the Contest (applicant to cover own
expenses). To receive a prize, each Finalist and the Winner will be
required to sign a written affidavit of consent that their names
and any other details and content provided by them for the contest
will be used by the Promoters for promotional purposes. See
https://www.fiverr.com/cp/vsu-female-founders-competition for
details and full T&Cs. Promoter: Fiverr International Ltd in
collaboration with Virgin Start Up Limited.
About FiverrFiverr’s mission is to
revolutionize how the world works together. We exist to democratize
access to talent and to provide talent with access to opportunities
so anyone can grow their business, brand, or dreams. From small
businesses to Fortune 500, over 4 million customers worldwide
worked with freelance talent on Fiverr in the past year, ensuring
their workforces remain flexible, adaptive, and agile. With Fiverr
Business Solutions, large companies can find the right talent and
tools, tailored to their needs to help them thrive and grow. On
Fiverr, you can find over 600 skills, ranging from programming to
3D design, digital marketing to content creation, from video
animation to architecture.
Don’t get left behind - come be a part of the future of work by
visiting fiverr.com, read our blog, and follow us on Twitter,
Instagram, and Facebook.
About Virgin
StartUp Virgin StartUp is the not-for-profit home of
entrepreneurship at the Virgin Group.
Founded in 2013 by Sir Richard
Branson, Virgin StartUp helps early-stage founders start and grow
the businesses that they’re passionate about by providing founders
with business advice, access to funding, mentoring, training and
more, including scale-up and investment readiness programmes. Home
to a community of thousands of founders, through its programmes,
Masterclasses and events, Virgin StartUp provides founders with the
support and opportunities they need to build better
businesses.
As a national Business Support Partner
of the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans Scheme, Virgin
StartUp provides access to funding between £500 - £25,000 to help
founders start or scale early-stage businesses in the UK. Since
launching in late 2013, Virgin StartUp has already distributed more
than £70million to 5,000 early-stage founders around the country.
In June 2023, Virgin StartUp announced it was tripling its delivery
over the next two years and will distribute up to £36million in
Start Up Loans to founders across the UK before summer
2025.
For more information, please go to
www.virginstartup.org
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/530d9f21-2bd4-4eda-be07-78c64b4a4b9b
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