[...] MaRS Blog – Innovation and Commercialization in Canada » Blog Archive » Women entrepreneurs: How d… blog.marsdd.com/2009/10/07/women-entrepreneurs-how-do-you-grow – view page – cached In the current economic strain, many women are pursuing the opportunity to become their own boss and have entered the realm of entrepreneurship. Women entrepreneurs will have an experience… (Read more)In the current economic strain, many women are pursuing the opportunity to become their own boss and have entered the realm of entrepreneurship. Women entrepreneurs will have an experience different than their male counterparts. Research has shown that female-owned businesses are smaller, less profitable and less likely to grow. (Read less) — From the page [...]

Interesting comments but I think that there are businesses created by women in the fashion and food industry that are performing better than the same types of companies created by men. I think you would have to study each business sector and maybe the stats might not look so aweful. It is pretty difficult to grow large companies created by women in other male-dominated business sectors for sure. I have my own consulting business (BioLaunch Inc.) and I would like to grow the company but it is hard to also keep the quality up if you hire more consultants and create a huge organization. I think women tend to create companies they know will be successful in their chosen business sector and maybe this effects the stats. I’ll read the articles to confirm. As an alumni of Rotman it is great to see this type of initiative.

Do we know if the smaller companies with less growth are less SUCCESSFUL? And how do we define successful?

Perhaps that is difference with female-led ventures, as Stephanie notes: women have a different idea of what a successful business looks like?

I think you have to differentiate among women entrepreneurs. I would say there are involuntary entrepreneurs, i.e. women who are out of work and in the meantime run their own business from at home, such as consulting work, or accounting or legal work, etc. They would happily go back to a employed position if offered. Then there are life-style entrepreneurs, who made the decision to rather control their own lives, don’t want to work the long hours or don’t want to be available to a company’s schedule, but rather their own. And then there are the entrepreneurs who can’t imagine doing anything else as this is their true calling, and they are ambitious and want to grow their business. They are every bit as creative and savvy and successful as their male counterparts, but sometimes lack access to the right resources and networks.
Does that make sense?