The #HackThePayGap event has just taken place in the US, an initiative from the Presidential Innovation Fellows with the White House Council on Women and Girls and Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. Some interesting discussions emerged about the gender pay gap and its impact on women starting businesses. It’s a well-known fact that women tend to start businesses with half the capital of their male counterparts, and instead use more capital directly from their personal savings or by incurring credit card debt. Women also typically receive less venture capital funding for their businesses. What’s the impact of all this? Well, globally women are starting businesses at half the rate of men, predominantly due to the funding gap. But another interesting and perhaps more surprising trend emerged from the discussions at the event. Women entrepreneurs also tend to pay themselves considerably less than their male counterparts. It would appear that long entrenched views on what it is like to be paid as a woman in the corporate world reach beyond the boardroom and into the entrepreneurial space, when women should be empowered to pay themselves at an equitable rate. As a result, the gender pay gap continues to grow. Surely it’s time to reverse this trend?

Earlier this month, researchers from 12 countries attended the annual Diana Project International Research Conference, dedicated to advancing the understanding of women entrepreneurs and their businesses. At this year’s event, the focus was on two themes: gender and family business, and gender and innovation. One of the recurring questions at the conference concerned the definition of success for women entrepreneurs, and whether it makes sense to use strictly economic measures such as revenue growth or job creation, or whether there is indeed a need to expand traditional thinking around this issue. For instance: If a woman organises her business to focus at least as much on growing a successful family as growing a larger business – is that success? If a woman really enjoys performing the work of the business – delivering the product or service herself and choosing not to become an employer – is that a successful entrepreneurial outcome? Additionally, if a woman’s aspirations are to grow a much larger company, does she have access to the resources, particularly those of capital and network, to build that type of company successfully? Often, the definitions of success are based on very traditional building blocks, and yet in the women’s entrepreneurship space, there are very personal decisions being made on how women are choosing to design and integrate their entrepreneurial and personal lives. 

Women’s entrepreneurship is at an all-time high, with an estimated 200 million female-led companies worldwide - and that figure is growing. Consumer-driven startups account for 68 percent of those led by women entrepreneurs, suggesting that their success directly correlates to their ability to build genuine and sustainable relationships with consumers. Women business founders who take the time to listen to, understand, and care about consumer opinions as part of their core business beliefs are better equipped to adapt with the market. When female entrepreneurs decide to build something, they do it with exceptional clarity about what their consumers want and need. There are three key lessons that can be learned when it comes to building superior consumer-driven companies. Firstly, set a vision for the company that will resonate with your chosen consumer market segment, based on a deep understanding of what those consumers want and need. Secondly, develop your brand story and tell it repeatedly to your consumer audience in all aspects of the business, getting respected sector influencers to speak on behalf of your brand and get your story across. Thirdly, be authentic and talk about the brand from a personal development perspective as the founding entrepreneur. Consumer driven businesses know the importance of listening to those consumers and speaking their language, responding to key needs, and providing solutions in creative ways. 

A recent study published by Sahil Raina, an assistant finance professor at the University of Alberta in the US, shows some interesting findings when it comes to identifying a gender gap in performance among VC-financed startups. It would appear that venture capital-financed startups with female founders have a better shot at a successful exit if the investment firms that back their first rounds have at least one female partner. Raina combed through CrunchBase, the startup data tracking site, to compare how tech companies stacked up to ones headed by men. Raina’s initial findings were on par with most statistics: male-led firms either went public or were sold at higher rates than female-led firms. Only 17 percent of female founders had successful exits, compared to 27 percent of male founders. Raina found something else particularly interesting. When a venture capital firm had all-male partners and invested in a female-led startup’s first round, that female-led startup had only 15 percent chance of a successful exit. If a male-led startup was in a similar scenario, its odds of a successful exit were around 40 percent. But if a first-round VC firm had at least one female partner, startups led by either gender had a similar shot at a solid exit, with odds around 40 percent. Currently, female VCs make up only 9 percent of all partners at firms. Fascinating stuff! 

How often do we hear of successful entrepreneurs sharing their stories of their early startup days, when self-belief in their businesses, products, innovations and service solutions was the only thing that kept them going when surrounded by naysayers. The fact is that self-belief is one of the most powerful traits of an entrepreneur, after all when things get tough it is essential to believe in the reasons for starting out on such a journey into the unknown, and the belief in the business idea is what keeps you going during such times. There will always be those around you that will say your idea won’t work, or the market is not ready for your product or innovation, or you should go back to a ‘safe and secure’ 9-5 job instead of trying to launch a business. But self belief is a powerful antidote to all of those extraneous pressures, and the trick is to just keep selling that idea to all those who will listen, keep pushing until something gives, and keep believing that if the idea is strong enough and unique enough, then you can make it work as a business. 

How often do we sit around with friends, acquaintances, family members, work colleagues and listen to lots of discussion around people’s ideas for ‘the next big thing’, a product or business idea that could make a million or change the world as we know it? Yet how many of those ideas never make it past the talking or brainstorming phase? The fact is that anyone can have an idea, but the trick lies in turning that idea into a reality. To take a ‘paper tiger’ of an idea and make it the foundation for a new innovation, business concept or game-changing social change model, takes entrepreneurial spark, drive and not least of all, a can-do attitude to making things happen, no matter how many challenges may seem to stand in the way. That’s the difference between those people who simply have ideas and those entrepreneurs who turn them into reality. In the words of Virgin founder, Richard Branson - “Virgin started with one simple idea, which developed into many new ideas, which grew in turn to foster some wider ideas in all sorts of sectors and markets. Had we not believed in our simple idea and acted upon it, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”

The latest edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report has just been published by Babson College and Baruch College which again looks at trends amongst entrepreneurs in 62 economies. There are some interesting findings emerging from the women entrepreneurs questioned in the study, particularly when it comes to funding businesses, especially in the startup phase. For example, women reported using half as much funding to start companies as men, which suggests that women might have few resources to use at launch or that they felt they didn’t need additional resources to start. About 57% of launch costs come from entrepreneurs themselves. Interestingly, while bank loans for entrepreneurs don’t grab the headlines in the way that VC deals or great crowdfunding campaigns do, they remain crucial for many startups. Additional startup funding was most likely to come from banks, at 36%, followed by family or private equity/venture capital (both at 24%), government (22%), employers or colleagues (16%), friends (15%), and crowdfunding (12%). Fascinating reading for any women thinking of starting a business and looking at finance options. 

Have you noticed how many great business ideas, products and companies start out as a result of happy accidents? Take for example the fabled unicorn business, Slack, which today is valued at over US$ 1 billion. It’s founders originally had an idea to build a computer game called Glitch, but because the development team was spread out in different locations, it caused a real challenge for everyone to collaborate and swap information and assets efficiently and in real-time, but not by resorting to endless emails. The solution was for the development team to create a brand new tool that would change the way they worked, and Slack an innovative new approach to group messaging and information sharing, was invented - and a groundbreaking new commercial tool was born. Entrepreneurs have the ability to see opportunity where others simply see challenges, and to turn those happy accidents into exciting and ground-breaking business ideas and companies. It’s what differentiates them from everyone else!

An interesting report has just been published which gives an insight into the impact being made by global social enterprises, not just in terms of doing business differently, but by innovatively making an impact on the world by finding solutions to key social, economic and environmental challenges. The State of Social Enterprise Report 2015, supported by Santander, is the most comprehensive research undertaken into the state of the sector. Although with a UK focus, it has learnings that are relevant around the rest of the globe. The report shows that social enterprises are thriving, outperforming their mainstream SME counterparts in nearly every area of business: turnover growth, workforce growth, job creation, innovation, business optimism, and start-up rates.The findings also show that in a time of public sector austerity and globally networked markets, social enterprises are providing real answers to the significant social and environmental problems we face. With social enterprises, success means more social good. It’s a new way of doing business that harnesses people’s experience, expertise and passion to make a difference as a means of creating game-changing ideas that can make the world a better and more sustainable place. 

Let’s be honest, the life of an entrepreneur is not for everyone, particularly not for those who like the idea of the typical 9-5 job existence, where working hours are clearly set out in contracts and career paths are well trodden. For most entrepreneurs, it’s a passion and a drive to create and build something, to find solutions to challenges and problems in the world, to push the boundaries and to innovate - it’s a lifestyle. There is a great quote by the entrepreneur Niklas Zennstrom, founder of Skype and Kazaa, who speaks about exactly this, he says: “If you want to be an entrepreneur, its not a job, it’s a lifestyle. It defines you. Forget about vacations, about going home at 6pm – last thing at night you’ll send emails, first thing in the morning you’ll read emails, and you’ll wake up in the middle of the night. But its hugely rewarding as you’re fulfilling something for yourself.” Remember this when you are sitting up in bed in the middle of the night with your laptop, brainstorming new business ideas via Skype or WhatsApp, and sending emails to other entrepreneurs around the world who are just like you - all whilst so called ‘normal’ people are still sleeping. That’s the lifestyle of the entrepreneur!

It’s a typical human reaction in life, finding it hard to say no, and that is particularly the case in business. There is the feeling that we are going to disappoint someone or lose out on an opportunity if we say we can’t fulfil a last-minute assignment or order, or can’t make that impossible deadline, or can’t fit that unscheduled client appointment into the diary at a moment’s notice. So what happens as entrepreneurs? Well, we often end up saying yes and putting everyone else’s needs ahead of our own, whilst at the same time putting unnecessary and unwanted pressure on ourselves and our businesses. So the lesson to learn is when to say no in business - and let’s be honest, that’s hard when first starting out. Ask yourself these key questions before committing to a response to a request. Firstly, do I have what it takes to meet the request (time, resources, money)? Secondly, is saying yes to this request going to add value to my business? Thirdly, is it a good use of my limited time or could I make a greater difference to my business by doing something else? If the answer to each of these questions is yes, then make the commitment, otherwise you need to be firm and just say no. In the beginning, this will be a hard lesson to learn, but like all lessons it will become easier over time and will become part of your greater mindfulness as an entrepreneur. 

In the entrepreneurial community, there’s lots of talk at networking events, in coffee shops and at pitch sessions about crowdfunding - and, there’s no doubt it has boomed over the past few years. In fact the crowdfunding industry was worth over £3.2bn in 2015. Crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo are now central to many startup business plans. The ability to pitch a business plan online and receive funding, in return for either equity or rewards, is an enticing idea for entrepreneurs that need investment - but crowdfunding is not easy money - it’s actually hard work. There are significant costs and responsibilities involved and success is far from guaranteed. Research and preparation are critical, and pitches need to be perfected before they go live online. Choosing the right crowdfunding platform is also key, as is ensuring that a third of your investors are already lined up from a pool of friends, family and investors; a third coming from the platform; and the balance from your customer and partner network. So, here are 5 tips for ensuring greater success in crowdfunding: Do your research carefully and identify the right crowdfunding platform for you; Start identifying potential pools of investors; Create a powerful pitch proposition and get the message right; Be clear about what you want the funding for; and Do the hard leg-work with potential investors before you launch your campaign.

The latest 2016 BNP Paribas Global Entrepreneur Report survey (which polls 2,600 multimillionaire entrepreneurs in 18 countries) reveals the emergence of a new generation of entrepreneurs under 35 years old. These ‘Millennipreneurs’ take a very different approach to business, in terms of their ambitions, results and leadership style, creating more companies with larger headcounts and higher target profits. They certainly tend to be interested in the new economy, but are also equally active in many traditional sectors including retail and professional services such as law and accounting. The survey interestingly points to the fact that women have been more successful than their male counterparts over the past year, and they are also very ambitious, with 89% of women entrepreneurs surveyed expecting growing or stable profits in the next 12 months. The top three wealth creation sectors identified for these women were Retail (16.5%), Professional services (11.2%), and Fashion (6.0%). When asked which sectors they would choose if they were to switch businesses, the top 3 were E-Commerce (9.3%), Travel, Hospitality and Leisure (8.6%), and Social Media (6.3%). The most fascinating differentiator from the women surveyed came with the question on their top 3 criteria for success. Coming out tops was Making a profit on their initial investment (35.2%); next was Passing the business on to the next generation (12.3%); and third was Making a social impact (11.2%).

There is an increasing interest in the topic of the ‘mompreneur’ and the recent research report LABOR AFTER LABOR published by Kauffman as part of its Series on Entrepreneurship and Motherhood, makes for interesting reading. The report found that a quarter of new entrepreneurs are between the ages of twenty and thirty-four, and nearly three-quarters of mothers of newborns are also in this age range. Women are increasingly considering entrepreneurship and motherhood at the same time in their lives. When mothers do choose to start businesses, they have different motivations than their male counterparts do, citing flexibility and work-life balance as motivating factors for them to become entrepreneurs. Autonomy and flexibility are huge motivating factors for those women who become entrepreneurs, offering them greater freedom to care for children whilst at the same time, providing the opportunity to build businesses, create products, and find new and innovative ways to solve societal problems through social entrepreneurship. One interesting aspect of the study found that entrepreneurship appeals to mothers because it offers them flexibility and control over their work hours, but not a reduction in the hours worked in the business. Ultimately, while entrepreneurship may promise autonomy and flexibility that appeals to mothers, the research suggests that in reality work-life balance is no easier to achieve for mother entrepreneurs than those who are employees or their male counterparts, and that the key to success is a strong support system. 

Ask any woman Solopreneur what they love about starting and running a business on their own and they will undoubtedly talk about the ability to follow their passion, to make decisions that determine their own future, to take control of their lives, and to make a tangible difference through their own efforts. All of these things and more fall into the ‘pro’ column when looking at the reasons we choose the challenging path of becoming Solopreneurs. Yet let’s be honest, it’s not all sunshine and roses when it comes to launching and running a business on our own. For example, there is no-one else to do the essential yet often mundane tasks that are part of being an entrepreneur; there is no-one around in the office or workshop with the same goals and aspirations to bounce ideas off during the day; the burden of decision-making falls completely on the shoulders of the entrepreneur; and the task of maintaining cash-flow, sales, client relationships and regular income is a constant challenge. So weighing up the pros and cons of choosing the Solopreneur life is essential before embarking on that path - yet talk to many Solopreneurs and they wouldn’t have it any other way. 

For many entrepreneurs starting out, there is the inevitable sense of romanticism around the notion of becoming the ‘next big thing’, or inventing the next multi-million dollar life-changing app, and becoming an overnight business success. However, the reality is somewhat different and there are very few startups that actually manage to achieve their goals and realise their ambitions overnight. Entrepreneurship tends to be more of a marathon than a sprint, with ambitious and passionate business builders knowing they are in for the long-haul before they achieve the large scale success they are hoping for. They are not on their own - so many of the most successful businesses today that we know as household names and which have become an integral part of our daily lives took years to build. While the media may make us feel as if successful businesses are born overnight, ultimately most of those overnight successes took 5, 10 or 20 years to build. Look at the story of Facebook, today one of the fasting scaling businesses in the world, yet founder Mark Zuckerberg had a series of businesses prior to starting Facebook that didn’t take off, and it wasn’t until Facebook’s fourth and fifth year that it started to achieve stellar success. These kind of long timelines are the norm rather than the exception for most entrepreneurs, and overnight success tends to be more of a myth than a reality. For most of us, the entrepreneurial journey to success will be a long one, but all the more interesting for it.

Here’s a term you are going to be hearing a lot more of over the coming months and years in Africa - the ‘gig economy’, otherwise known as the sharing economy or the on-demand economy. Remember when the word ‘gig’ was associated with musicians looking for an opportunity to perform somewhere? Well, not any more. Today, the gig economy is associated with the rise of businesses such as Uber and Airbnb, companies started to facilitate the exchange of goods and services between a wide variety of individuals using a technology platform. As these sharing-based companies continue growing and expanding their offerings to meet the demands of their clients, they are also hiring more independent contractors - and this is where the ‘gigs’ come in. There are plenty of people out there, particularly Gen Xers and Millennials, who are either ready to leave the “9-5” grind or are looking to supplement their income by working gigs alongside their existing jobs. More and more people are looking to find work as independent contractors in the shared economy, and they’re reporting pretty high levels of satisfaction with the work, according to the report“From ‘Gig’ to Career.” The flexibility is a plus for many, as is the independence that comes with self-employment. So, as the ‘gig economy’ explodes elsewhere in the world, it is only a matter of time before it makes a huge impact here in Africa too. Think about that when you next take an Uber ride.

The rest of the world is waking up rapidly to something we already know - Africa represents one of the most exciting marketplaces right now, particularly when it comes to reaching millennials. Four out of ten of the fastest growing global economies over the past year can be found in Africa. The continent’s population of 1.1 billion is set to grow to 2.3 billion by 2050, and it’s getting younger, with 50% being 19 years or younger. These statistics point to vast marketing opportunities for companies and brands that are looking to make their mark and tap into an increasingly important and influential consumer base. On the flip-side, it is also a great opportunity for these optimistic, ambitious, creative young millennials to start entrepreneurial ventures of their own, producing new and exciting tech solutions to challenges they know all too well on the ground, or designing and producing new products that are African centric but with a global approach. Something else to be explored is the opportunity for collaboration between these independent, free-thinking African millennials and their global counterparts, after all increased connectivity brings the world a whole lot closer and makes collaboration a much more exciting prospect. 

There is a growing movement on the part of global consumers to make purchasing decisions based on the sustainability of the products, brands and companies behind their production. In the past year, sales of consumer goods from brands with a demonstrated commitment to sustainability have grown more than 4% globally, while those without grew less than 1%. The bottom line is that consumers are increasingly making better and more considered choices of the brands and products they buy, willing to pay more for sustainable products where the backstory is known and the environmental and social impact is informed. In fact, according to the really interesting study ‘The Sustainability Imperative’ published by Nielsen late last year, sixty-six percent of consumers say they are willing to pay more for sustainable brands, up from 55% in 2014 and 50% in 2013. Its obvious that consumers are increasingly motivated in their buying decisions by appeals to protect the planet or to improve the living and working conditions of people across the globe. As consumers are trying to be more responsible global citizens, they are expecting the same of the companies and brands they are buying from. Many ethical, sustainable and socially responsible brands here in Africa, particularly those launched by women with a strong backstory, can maximise the opportunity to connect with this powerful buying sentiment. 

Women entrepreneurs in Africa undoubtedly face challenges when it comes to establishing and growing successful businesses, from getting access to vital markets and funding, to knowing how to launch and market new products and services to key consumer segments. However, mentoring has a vital role to play in empowering women to gain the skills and confidence they need to succeed. Research shows that mentoring of women entrepreneurs, not just at the startup phase but throughout the business journey, helps to boost confidence and boost business performance. But the impact of mentorship doesn’t just stop there. Women mentees frequently go on to share their knowledge with other entrepreneurs, passing on the knowledge they are gaining with fellow women entrepreneurs in their networks and communities. Many go on to become mentors themselves later in their lives. So, ultimately, mentoring has the power to make a huge difference to the success of women entrepreneurs and their businesses on the African continent.