Work - WAH Business Archive 06-07

Women Entrepreneurs:

08 Mar 2007

Women Entrepreneurs: Bringing home the bacon, but still doing the dishes

Women who run their own business feel empowered and do not see themselves working for another individual again, according to the results from a survey aimed at female entrepreneurs conducted by Intuit, a leading provider of financial management software. But despite their sense of empowerment, these female entrepreneurs still have to do the housework when their business day is over.

In fact, 82.3% of respondents said they were expected to cook the evening meal for their family, and 72.8% said they were still in charge of doing the laundry, compared to only 10.8% who said that their partners look after the children and cook the dinner. This is surprising considering 40% of women responded that their business is the only source of income in the household.

Furthermore, the survey reveals that women who own their own business have had to make sacrifices in their personal lives, with 58.3% of the women surveyed admitting to working harder on their business than seeing their friends, and a further 18.5% work harder on their businesses than their marriage.

The survey, carried out in February 2007, polls the answers of just under 750 women who run their own businesses, the majority of whom (65%) fell into the 35-45 age bracket. They are just as likely to be ?kitchen table tycoons?, running their business from home, as those who run larger operations from dedicated offices away from the family home. 34% of respondents said that they started up their own business to gain greater
control over their life, and 34.7% wanted to become their own boss. These women are the new face of British Business as Pippa Kitaruth from financial management software provider Intuit explains:

?Being your own boss is becoming an increasingly attractive option for many women, especially new mums. Managing your businesses money can be a daunting task, especially when you are trying to juggle your new business as well as family life. We?re seeing more women take control of their business finances with our QuickBooks software. For less than the cost of a flip chart, women can have a straightforward way of managing their money, giving them time and energy to succeed in both their professional as well as personal life.?

Prowess, the UK?s leading women?s enterprise organisation, supports the growth of women's business ownership through the development of an effective women-friendly business support infrastructure and enterprise culture. It achieve this by raising awareness, providing capacity building support to organisations which provide enterprise support services and by lobbying and advocacy at national, regional, European and local levels.

Erika Watson, executive director of Prowess concludes: ?Starting your own business can be a really empowering experience for many women and the research demonstrates that women often start a business to gain greater control over their lives and to work more flexibly. Prowess is the UK association of organisations who support women to start and grow businesses - our members, who are located around the country, are able to offer local women-friendly advice to suit their needs.?

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