Interestingly, women’s entrepreneurship still lags behind their male counterparts in all but seven countries in the world. The fact is, if women’s labor participation were closer to that of men, it would contribute a trillion dollars to GDP in emerging economies. Women led businesses are key to this opportunity. On the flip side, what is really interesting about this trend is that women are increasingly seeing entrepreneurship as a compelling alternative to the corporate world - particularly millennials. They see that entrepreneurial activity creates real growth and prosperity — and importantly, solutions to address lingering social problems. And today’s trends show that women will be a driving force of entrepreneurial growth in the future. Smart companies around the world are watching this trend closely. In the US, Coca-Cola sees 5 million women entrepreneurs entering its global supply chain by 2020. WalMart is harnessing the power of women entrepreneurs to innovate compelling new products. In fact, all companies should realize that in the war for talent, women are increasingly seeing entrepreneurship as a compelling alternative if a career path appears stunted. So, goodbye glass ceiling, and hello entrepreneurship!

Here’s an interesting development for women entrepreneurs in the funding space. The global crowdfunding industry raised over 30 billion dollars in 2015, and is tipped to potentially overtake VC funding in 2016 - an interesting shift. Several studies have shown that men get far more venture capital funding than women, in fact, it’s around 12 to 1, but there is better news for women entrepreneurs when it comes to crowdfunding. Women outperform men on crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo. In fact, 65% of all women-led tech startups reached their funding goal on Kickstarter versus just 30 percent of men-led tech startups. And, 37% of all women-led ventures were funded compared to 32 percent of male-led ventures. So, why exactly are women so successful at crowdfunding? The answer is simple: women use words better - they tell compelling stories! The bottom line is that language has a massive impact on how successful a crowdfunding bid is, and women just use it more powerfully. The way women write their pitches simply makes them better crowdfunders. Women understand the power of their backstory, and are telling those stories in a compelling way that resonates with potential investors. Crowdfunding is democratising access to entrepreneurship and capital, and ensuring that women are on a completely level playing field with men for the first time.

As we enter the second half of what has been officially designated as The Decade of the African Woman Entrepreneur, we need to make it count! The good thing is that a number of trends are emerging that are tipped to drive women’s entrepreneurship in 2016 on the African continent. A key trend is the rise and rise of women’s entrepreneurship in Africa. Today, Africa is THE continent of female entrepreneurs, and in fact, Africa leads the world in female entrepreneurship. 50% of all enterprises in Africa are women owned, according to the World Bank, and 25% of Africa’s women have set up their own businesses from scratch - that’s the highest rate on the planet! Uganda, for example, has the highest per capita rate of women’s entrepreneurship anywhere in the world. And, this trend is set to rise on the back of a new-found confidence amongst women on the Continent. It’s clear that women’s entrepreneurship in Africa has reached a tipping point and can certainly no longer be seen as a passing fad, raising the odd eyebrow and resulting in the occasional eye-catching global newspaper headline. It’s a fundamental economic force that will reshape the economies of not just Africa, but indeed the world.

In the life of any entrepreneur, there will be those tough moments when things don’t quite go according to plan, or there has to be a strategy adjustment because of challenges in the marketplace, or a product adjustment because of increased competition. At times like these, there is a need for outside motivation and inspiration, and often the greatest sources of motivation come from other passionate, hard working entrepreneurs who have been where you are now. It is important to surround yourself with people who have similarly big dreams and lots of experience to match, so build your team and your community with people who push you to grow and think outside the box. When you know you have to be on your toes to keep up, you will work harder and think bigger. That same passion will ignite in you during the toughest of business times. 

There’s always lots of talk about whether successful entrepreneurs are born or made, but the 2016 BNP Paribas Global Entrepreneur Report reveals some interesting new information on this theory. The new generation of entrepreneurs under 35 years old, dubbed the ‘Millennipreneurs’, those business starters from ‘Generation Y’, born between 1980 and 1995, also known as Millennials, would appear to be definitely influenced by the entrepreneurial journeys of their families. Among the successful business owning millennials studied in this research, some 78% come from families with a history of running their own businesses. As a group, each has already established on average 7.7 companies, compared with an average of 3.5 among the 50-and-over Baby Boomers. However, their approach to business differs from that of previous generations in terms of their ambitions, results and leadership style. So, it would appear that the answer is the majority of successful millennial entrepreneurs are definitely born and not made.

We love starting the week out with a great new global survey on entrepreneurship and some eyebrow raising findings - and this week, that comes in the form of the 2016 BNP Paribas Global Entrepreneur Report. The Scorpio Partnership consultancy surveyed about 2,600 high and “ultra-high” net worth entrepreneurs from 18 countries, and it appears from the findings that successful women entrepreneurs are not only matching their male counterparts in several ways, but they’re actually outperforming them. The researchers found that almost 90% of women entrepreneurs expected their companies’ gross profits to increase or remain stable in the next year. More specifically, 61% expected profits to rise, compared to an average of 58% among all entrepreneurs. Commenting on the findings, Sofia Merlo, co-CEO of BNP Paribas Wealth Management, said of the women entrepreneurs surveyed: “They are more ambitious and have been more successful than their male counterparts.” To illustrate that “more successful” comment, she points to the report’s revenue data. Companies helmed by women entrepreneurs had 13% higher revenues than those run by men, and finished 9% above the average for all entrepreneurs surveyed. Let’s hope this is a trend that continues for years to come!

Admitting that you don’t know everything, and never will, is one of the most important lessons to learn as an entrepreneur, and its also key to growth. And, here’s the interesting thing - self development is one of those areas in which women outshine men, according to Zenger Folkman, the global authority in strengths-based leadership development research. Importantly, women are more open to sharing knowledge and experience - they tend to be more open to sharing the secrets of their success and the journey they personally took to get to the top - unlike their male counterparts. As women entrepreneurs, we can all learn a lot from other trailblazing women, and we are hard-wired to learn. Women intrinsically love to listen, we enjoy reading and absorbing useful information from the plethora of business books and publications that are available to us, and we are open to attending professional development training programmes that will help us on our business journeys. As we progress, it’s essential that we also learn to seek outside counsel from mentors, sponsors and advisors, and participate in peer advisory groups, in order to develop to our full potential as successful business founders.

According to a special new report published this week by the Wharton Social Impact Initiative and the African Leadership Network, entrepreneurs are spurring Africa’s rise. Many African nations face significant challenges, including finding solutions to addressing poverty and unemployment, but the continent is also home to many of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and entrepreneurs who are spurring Africa’s growth in unique and dynamic ways. So, what is driving leading African entrepreneurs’ optimism, tenacity and success in launching and growing businesses across the continent? Five key themes emerged in the report following indepth conversations with business leaders and entrepreneurs alike: Firstly, members of the Diaspora are returning home to make a difference and making contributions to the continent’s ongoing development; Secondly, more and more people around the world are recognizing the African opportunity and are being part of the success story; Thirdly, there is more of a willingness to understand, respect and harness cultural differences to make positive change happen; Fourthly, innovative entrepreneurs are creating brands that are both world class and distinctively African, and the world is loving them; and Finally, seizing the opportunities presented by the digital revolution to create effective solutions to key challenges and to make positive change happen. Combine these strategies with traditional business acumen, smarts, and drive and it is proof positive that entrepreneurs can do well and do good across the continent at the same time, helping to transform African economies and the lives of millions.

Yesterday's International Women's Day saw leaders from across the world pledging to take action as champions of gender parity. The 2016 theme for the day was “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”. Events happened across the planet, media was buzzing, hashtags were trending, and generally there was a great deal of excitement about the day. But, as with so many of these events, the big worry is we wake up the next morning and go back to the status quo. Here's why the world cannot afford for this to be the case. Simply put, the cost of not reaching parity is just too high. McKinsey Global Institute has put a price on it. They found that if women were to participate in the economy identically to men, they could add as much as $28 trillion, or 26 percent to annual global GDP in 2025. This is roughly the combined size of the economies of the United States and China today. So, there is a very real economic imperative for yesterday's talk to increase the economic participation of women to be turned into action. Women need to be equal partners in society and in the economy. The world cannot afford for it not to be so.

A UK report released yesterday by Coutts and the Centre for Entrepreneurs (CFE) provides a really interesting insight into how serial entrepreneurship is beneficial to the health of an economy. Serial entrepreneurs bring with them a wealth of experience, knowledge, contacts and capital that are key ingredients in any successful business. By encouraging more first-time founders to do it a second time, you can expect to see more start-ups and higher survival rates, along with improved economic growth, job creation, living standards and innovation. The report makes the interesting observation that millennials are widely challenging the notion that entrepreneurs hang up their boots and retire after just one business. Entrepreneurs are starting businesses younger and have faster expectations to sell - these factors together with longer life expectancy means we are starting to see a new breed of serial entrepreneurs. Instead of starting businesses from scratch, more of these seasoned business owners are now investing in and mentoring a portfolio of companies. There is huge untapped potential for serial entrepreneurship and the role of experience seems invaluable to success. Unlocking that further could provide significant economic benefits. 

If you're in the throws of launching a startup you'll know what I mean by this -- for most entrepreneurs your business is started from a place of love. You invest so much of yourself into the new venture -- your passion, commitment, and dare I say your love! It's an all consuming relationship. It's your baby! And, just like any relationship those early giddy days slowly start to be clouded and replaced by every day tedium, the ups and downs, the rocky road, the knocks and bruises that go hand-in-hand with being an entrepreneur. So, this is why it is so important to hold on to the things that influenced you to startup in the first place. It's a good idea to find a quiet moment every day to reflect on this question: Why do I do what I do? And, hopefully you fall in love with your business all over again.

We’ve all been there - in the early startup days of a business when you are so keen to get customers onto your books that you will jump through hoops to firstly get them to notice you in the marketplace and then secondly to sign them up and get them on board. We want those customers to love us and our products, and stay with us for the long term to give us some stability. But the reality is that finding those customers who are a real fit for your business and where there can be a positive ‘win win’ relationship that goes beyond the initial order, is harder than it looks. Not everyone is going to love you and your business first time around, and that’s ok - not every potential client is meant to be. You wont be the right fit for everyone and not every client is the right fit for you either. The trick is to keep focusing on what you do best and what makes your business unique, and keep working to find those customers who just get it!

When the whole trend towards social investing first started, women were viewed predominantly as beneficiaries of that investment rather than those making sustainable social investment decisions. But, things are beginning to change. The advent of gender lens investing, a more women centric approach to building investment portfolios with a high social impact, puts capital behind women in a much more systematic way. Today, instead of women simply being the beneficiaries of social investment, they are also the decisionmakers who are building innovative and effective ecosystems for social investing in women-run initiatives that have high social impact potential. This should make complete sense, given that female investors have been shown to display more positive attitudes towards social investing than their male counterparts. A recent US survey found that half of the wealthy women interviewed expressed an interest in social and environmental investing while only one-third of wealthy men did. In the same survey, 65% of women thought social, political and environmental impacts were important, as compared to just 52% of men. Ultimately, social investors realise that focusing initiatives like microfinance lending for women owned enterprises turns out to be the most effective way to make whole communities more prosperous. 

For many startups who are bootstrapping their way to success, one of the biggest hurdles to overcome is access to finance, particularly in the early days. When the business magazines and networking hubs talk about ‘closing a round of financing from a venture capital firm or a group of angel investors’, it sounds a lot sexier than securing money from your mom, dad, extended family members or friends. But the reality is that when you are just starting out, this highly personal and trust-filled approach can be just as effective in getting a company off the ground and running. Many a globally successful entrepreneur has started out in just this way. If a young startup company uses these initial funds responsibly, it could be the only funds they need to raise for quite a while. This means not diluting the company’s shareholding structure and having to meet the expectations of external investors, but instead, leaving the power in the hands of the founders when the time comes to consider a future business expansion requiring outside financing.

There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence that supports the idea that women who are open to sharing their knowledge and abilities with others in a real spirit of entrepreneurial collaboration, are more likely to achieve the best results, and a number of scientific studies have backed this idea up. Knowing when to delegate tasks and when to tap the expertise an networks of others is a crucial business skill. It can help women to run their businesses more efficiently and effectively, and enable them to gain a competitive edge over others playing in a similar marketplace. In contrast, constantly trying to be a jack of all trades and micro-manage all aspects of a business can have disastrous consequences in the long-term for any business, as well as causing potentially unmanageable levels of stress and pressure. The best business leaders tend to be those who know how to put a good team together of collaborators and who then go on to make full use of everyone’s talents.

There was an interesting article published this weekend featuring insights on the importance of social and emotional intelligence for entrepreneurs by Simon Baron-Cohen, professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. The article reinforced something that we already intrinsically know, that women entrepreneurs possess a whole range of skills and strengths that make them excellent leaders and decision makers, and one factor that sets them apart is their superior social and emotional intelligence. This can help women entrepreneurs in business in a number of ways - it can help in building strong interpersonal relationships that benefit their businesses; it helps in building trust and growing influence; it certainly helps in building positive and creative working environments; and it undoubtedly is a key success factor when responding to customer needs and desires. Ultimately, it’s good for business, good for brand building, and certainly good for the bottom line.

Networking events for women entrepreneurs are important as they can open up opportunities for collaboration, information and experience sharing, and of course doing business. Yet, managing and cultivating impactful business networking relationships can be challenging for many. Kathey Porter, the co-author of a great book that is well worth a read, “50 Billion Dollar Boss: African American Women Sharing Stories of Success in Entrepreneurship and Leadership.” has some great insights on this subject. She believes that to create a network that will help grow your net worth, you should follow these 6 key steps: Strive to build relationships that are more than just transactional; Stay engaged and in touch with your network; Understand that every kick can be a boost; Be consistent and deliberate when using social media; Be more interested than interesting; Pay attention to industry trends, and know what is now but focus on what is next. These all make common sense, but when used as a checklist for getting the most out of your valuable networking activities, they can help you to achieve the impact you are looking for.

There’s lots of talk right now about Millennials surpassing previous generations in terms of their entrepreneurial attitudes, but the fact is that the full force of this generation’s entrepreneurial impact will only really be felt in a few years’ time. So in the meantime, where are the other new entrepreneurs going to come from? Well, look no further than the baby boomers. A new Gallup Survey suggests that baby boomers (those aged between 55 and 64) are twice as likely to be planning to start a business within a year than Millennials. In fact, the percentage of entrepreneurs as a whole in this age bracket has risen steadily over the past 15 years. The reason for this rise? Well it could be that access to capital might be less of a hurdle for a greater number of entrepreneurial baby boomers than for their Millennial counterparts. Interesting!

For many women in Africa, entrepreneurship is not just a route to financial independence, it’s also a means of building confidence and fulfilling potential. Yet, if these women are to be given the opportunity to build businesses that can generate not just a living for themselves, but also create jobs and opportunities for others, then they need to have greater access to mentors who have successfully been on the journey before them. Both mentoring and technology have been extolled as powerful tools for women’s empowerment within development circles. By combining them together, it’s possible to create access to mentor networks from around the world that can help to widen the possibilities for growth and success for women entrepreneurs in Africa. The exponential rise of mobile technology and access to the internet on the continent means that global women mentors are able to share their experience and business insights, open up vital business networks in new markets, and just provide support when needed. 

Here's an interesting statistic to start the day. Did you know that Africa is the leading continent for female entrepreneurs? 25% of women have set up their own businesses here, the highest rate on the planet! This is music to our ears at Lionesses of Africa! But, what is making Africa such a pro-entrepreneurship environment for women? Well, according to the latest Marketing Mobile Survey undertaken by MMA France, its all down to digital technology. Women on the African continent are capitalizing on digital technology in a big way in order to find innovative solutions to many of the challenges that exist here. The internet and mobiles are often at the heart of business development for African women. These two channels are enabling businesses to launch at low cost, get products and services to market quickly, and importantly, and open up their contacts beyond just the people present in their immediate areas. Platforms such as Facebook also offer a springboard for women who are looking to establish their businesses and brands, and to sell their products outside of their local market. Women entrepreneurs are helping to drive an exciting new digital Africa that is open for business.