Access to finance for growth

So it’s official – according to the recent Women’s Enterprise Task Force (WETF) report, woman-led businesses are not charged more by banks for finance and may, in some circumstances, even pay less. We’re seen as ‘lower risk’; better at making repayments and business planning; and we’re more likely to get our finance from banks full stop. Encouraging news for start-ups especially as only 28% of the self-employed are women.

However, it’s also been recognised that we’re less likely to access venture capital and equity funding, useful for when you want to grow your business. In our experience, which doesn’t reflect the findings of the Task Force report, it isn't so much that women ‘lack the confidence’ to apply for funding. The problem is that typically the nature of their businesses and their ambitions to grow, means that equity finance is not appropriate for many women.

And according to the Quarterly Survey of Small Business in Britain report, 48% of women-led small businesses are content to remain the same size – and that growth isn’t on the agenda. So isn’t the issue about supporting enterprising women's growth ambitions and enabling access to the right finance?

At Enterprising Women, we run a woman-specific access to finance programme which can help you to access the right finance which is appropriate for your business, whether debt or equity.