Women entrepreneurs may not be as risk averse as people think

There is a common theory backed up by a host of academic studies that women entrepreneurs are naturally predisposed to being risk averse, and certainly more so than their male counterparts. So it was interesting to read another study recently that somewhat bucks this trend. KPMG’s study on ‘Women Entrepreneurs: Passion, Purpose and Perseverance’, found that most women entrepreneurs it questioned (55 percent) say they embrace risk-taking. In fact they rank it third among the factors that are critical to their success (64 percent), and fifth among traits critical for CEOs and founders to possess (57 percent). The key take-out from this report seems to point to the fact that if you’re going to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be able to look uncertainty straight in the eye, embrace it and not be paralysed by it. In fact, for many women entrepreneurs, taking risks may be a precursor to future growth.