Today, there are over 200,000,000 women business owners around the world. Many of these entrepreneurs are not doing business as usual, nor are they simply leaning in. Rather, they are tapping into feminine capital—the unique skills and sensibilities that they have cultivated as women—to create enviable successes.

Drawing on four decades of award-winning research, Feminine Capital reveals how women are harnessing different approaches to doing business. Barbara Orser and Catherine Elliott detail the pillars of feminine capital and offer new insight into the ways that gender can influence entrepreneurial decision-making. They find that leveraging feminine capital can help women to create distinctive brands, build new markets, and drive profits—all while leveling the playing field in business. In doing so, women are changing our social and economic landscape, one venture at a time.

Dispelling myths and misperceptions that can undermine women-owned ventures, this book takes a fresh look at how female entrepreneurs can leverage their skills, knowledge, and values. Case studies of women entrepreneurs bring key concepts and lessons to life, while learning aids, diagnostic tools, and checklists help readers to construct innovative business models, refine start-up plans, and hone growth strategies.

At a philosophical level, this book explores three questions:

What is feminine capital?
How is feminine capital transforming entrepreneurship?
How does entrepreneurship inform feminism?

"Women are creating jobs, products, and services, and are investing earnings in their families, firms, and communities. In doing so, they are changing the landscape of venture creation around the world, one venture at a time."

- Barbara Orser and Catherine Elliott, authors of Feminine Capital

This book takes a fresh look at the intersection between entrepreneurship and feminism, and how female entrepreneurs are infusing new values in business practice. Stories and scenarios are used to explain concepts and theories that are presented throughout the book. “Reflections” are questions intended to link these ideas with personal perspectives and experiences. Drawing on four decades of research that examines entrepreneurship, the book consolidates the most important lessons learned. These insights will help current and future entrepreneurs to challenge dated assumptions and to recognize their own unique talents and skills.

Barbara and Catherine's words....

"In conversations with, and studies of, thousands of women business owners, we learned that entrepreneurs embrace a continuum of perspectives about how gender has an impact on the ways that they do business. For some, they perceive that being female has no influence on their business practice. For others, it’s all about being female. Women are making the conscious decision to not let others’ perceptions about aspirations and behavior limit their commercial success."

"Underlying the way in which some women do business is a sense of determination and passionate belief in the importance of their enterprises."

"A common ambition of many women entrepreneurs is the desire to empower others. Entrepreneurship is seen as a mechanism for creating opportunity, economic self-sufficiency, and equity-based outcomes. These feminist entrepreneurs are change agents who employ entrepreneurship to improve women’s quality of life and well-being."

About the Authors

Barbara Orser is Vice Dean (Career Development) of the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management. She is Founding Chair of the Canadian Taskforce for Women's Business Growth and has been named one of the Women Executive Network's 100 Most Power Women in Canada.

Catherine Elliott is Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management, where she teaches Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Management.

Find out more about the book….

Find out more about Feminine Capital and the work of Barbara Orser and Catherine Elliott, visit the website http://femininecapital.wix.com/femininecapital or contact them via email info@FeminineCapital.com

Why LoA loves it….

This is a really interesting read for both established entrepreneurs and those looking to start out on their first business ventures. It is particularly useful when trying to define an entrepreneurial leadership style for yourself in the marketplace, and to understand how issues around gender can influence the way your business grows and develops in relation to others in the marketplace. At a practical level, it helps women business owners to recognise how they can leverage their feminine capital through opportunity identification, start-up and enterprise growth. It also provides a better understanding of why some business ventures grow and others do not, and how to develop business models that will leverage personal entrepreneurial strengths and provide a mechanism for managing both business and personal life, with fulfilment in both spheres. A very interesting take on addressing so many of the challenges facing women entrepreneurs in today’s increasingly competitive and stressful business world. --- Melanie Hawken, founder and editor-in-chief of Lionesses of Africa