Canadian women are starting more businesses than ever before, but for a majority of Canada’s current and aspiring women entrepreneurs, the desire to own their own business may be less about the money and more about personal priorities.
According to an RBC survey, conducted by Ipsos-Reid, while 36% of men planning to open a business plan to do so to become wealthy, only 23% of women planning to open a business do so for the same reason. As well, access to a more flexible working schedule is a greater motivator for women entrepreneurs (63%) than men (51%). However, the majority of women and men entrepreneurs (69 and 64% respectively) seem to be equally driven by a love for what they do or hope to do.
“Women in Canada are turning to self-employment and pursuing their career dreams at unprecedented levels,” said Kris Depencier, RBC Royal Bank’s national manager, small business, in a release. “Since 1981 the number of women entrepreneurs has increased by over 200%. For a large portion of these women, building a business is not only a labour of love, but also a way to balance work and family obligations.”
The RBC survey found male and female entrepreneurs are fairly similar when it comes to starting up and running a business, but there were a few notable differences in addition to those listed above. Women are less likely than men (51% versus 59%) to start a business because they want to be their own boss. Additionally, women are more likely to employ a spouse (43 versus 37%) or a child (16 versus 10%) and to be first-time business owners (73% versus 65%).
While career motivations between men and women may differ in some cases, the RBC study discovered surprisingly little difference in the challenges experienced by existing entrepreneurs regardless of their gender. For instance, virtually equal amounts of male and female entrepreneurs listed their three main challenges faced when starting up a business as finding clients (56% for men/57% for women); keeping a steady workload (38% for men/37% for women) and working long hours (34% for both genders).
“Women are choosing to become entrepreneurs in increasing numbers in all major industries and are responsible for starting the majority of all new businesses in Canada,” added Depencier. In fact, firms run by women collectively contribute about $18 billion to the Canadian economy.”
Women entrepreneurs motivated less by money, more by personal priorities: survey
Building a business seen as a way to balance work, family obligations
- By: IE Staff
- November 23, 2005 October 31, 2019
- 11:10