On Point International is a proudly female owned and managed business. We have been successfully managing brands for over 10 years. Over the years, our clients have awarded us an opportunity to work with a wide variety of products, services and brands that are each either male or female owned. All successful, owing to a beautiful balance of the sexes, their strengths and weaknesses used to the advantage of their respective companies. But, in our experience, the scale is still not yet balanced between the amount of female vs male business owners and we wish to see more woman owned businesses rise in all industries, worldwide.   Math, the only subject that counts When diving deeper, the statistics are hopeful with a positive trajectory forecasted. As a business founded in South Africa back in 2010, we are proud of the recent growth of female business owners in South Africa. Moving up one place from 2020 to rank thirty-seventh in 2021, with a score of 54.9. Women’s advancement still remains hampered by less supportive entrepreneurial conditions compared with other global economies such as the US, which ranked first, with a score of 69.9; New Zealand, ranked second, with a score of 69.8; and Canada in third, with a score of 68.6.   According to Mastercard, South Africa moved up two places on the Women Business Owner benchmark to rank forty-fourth, with 21.9% of all businesses owned by women in 2021 versus 21.1% in 2020. Botswana (38.5%) ranks first in the world with the highest percentage of women business owners, followed by Uganda (38.4%) and Ghana (37.2%). “The fact that women entrepreneurial activity rates in South Africa grew in a year when many other economies did not, together with the fact that female necessity-driven entrepreneurship surpassed that of males, indicates their strong will, resilience and determination to survive.”   As a global business, it is in our best interests to understand the worldwide market and the statistics here are staggering. In the UK, the Gender Index recorded 145,200 new companies founded by women in 2021. This data is according to statistics provided by MNAI, which also provided data for 2022’s Rose Review into female entrepreneurship, authored by NatWest chief executive Alison Rose. This data identified that just under 17% of all active companies are led by women, but they only managed to attract less than 12% of 1.3m investments made in UK firms. There are now almost 1.5 million woman self-employed which represents an increase of around 300 000 since before the economic downturn.   40%, of US businesses are women-owned. Women started 1,821 net new businesses every day last year and 64% of new women-owned businesses were started by women of colour in 2021.   “The only thing that ever sat its way to success was a hen” We wanted to understand what the challenges for woman in business are and whether it’s a global issue or isolated to specific regions; unfortunately, its universally similar:
  • Fear of failure; although this can be said for men as well, the expectation that woman would fail adds a further layer of pressure to either succeed or not to launch at all. This fear is toxic and when not operating from a place of confidence, it’s inevitable that the business will fail.
  • Limited funding; of the 17% woman owned businesses, they only managed to attract less than 12% of 1.3m investments made in UK firms. Woman are not taken as seriously as men. According to data taken from the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy,36% of all businesses in the United States are owned by women, all of whom are the primary source of income for over 40% of households in the US. 9% of these businesses are categorized as “small businesses,” as they have less than the 500 employees required to be considered a big business. Traditional lenders such as banks have a history of denying anything out of the ordinary including business loans to woman. Most recently, we are noticing a select few banks globally looking to change this narrative such as Mercantile Credit bank in Uganda and NBC offering a 90% acceptance rate to woman business owners in the US.
  • Inadequate support system, lack of networks and mentors; In business no man is an island however woman seem to struggle to find and meet a committed support system. These resources are often expensive, forcing woman to either do it alone or close their businesses.
  • Gender inequality; Laws, cultures, religion, and politics are built upon a patriarchal foundation. Women must work their way up in the masculine world while facing stigma and discrimination. Although laws and policies have attempted to create a favourable business environment for everyone, the actual changes have not yet been implemented.
  • Balancing responsibilities including juggling childcare and growing a business; It’s not only single parents who struggle with work-life balance. Woman are naturally expected to choose between having a family or their career and its often more difficult when trying to juggle both. Woman are expected to carry the burden of personal and professional commitments and with the gender pay-gap being male dominated as the higher income earners, it’s the logical route for woman to be the household executives rather than climbing the corporate ladder or owning the ladder entirely.
  • Unfavourable business environment; Religion hinders women from owning businesses. In some countries, women may be required to have a male partner to do deals, negotiate, and be the face of the business.
  • Psychological barriers and bias against woman; Some female leaders experience outright sexism. According to a Telegraph poll, two-thirds of 750 female founders felt they were not taken seriously when pitching to investors, and felt they were treated differently to their male counterparts.
When you want something done, ask a woman When deciding to open your own business, whether male or female; it’s vital that you establish not only what your passion is but what your strengths and weaknesses are. We were curious to find out if there was any merit behind the unequal gender pay gap. We asked ourselves, are men naturally better leaders and CEO’s? Instead we found countless surveys, studies and business focused psychology papers on why woman are better business owners.  
  • They’re more emotionally intelligent.
  • They have more experience facing tougher barriers.
  • They’re better at multitasking.
  • They make their employees feel valued.
  • They’re better calculated risk takers, But they’re not afraid to take risks.
  • They’re less ego-driven.
  • They value general well-being and life outside work.
  • They’re collaborators.
  • They’re thrifty.
  • They’re usually better educated.
  • They value business longevity.
  • People want to see women succeed.
  • They’re better negotiators and apply the win/win strategy
  • They value creativity and out of the box thinking
  Nothing’s sexier than a model, a tight business model With all of this considered, we thought it best to share a list of business models to guide you, our future female business owners. Each of these models are the ideal foundation to launch your business in confidence, regardless of your current challenges or circumstance.

·         Retailer model

·         Manufacturer model

·         Fee-for-service model

·         Subscription model

·         Bundling model

·         Leasing model

·         Franchise model

·         Distribution model

·         Freemium model

·         Advertising or affiliate marketing model

·         Razor blades model

  Your boots were made for walking, so lace them up and strut. We welcome and encourage strong female leadership and woman business owners to move forward with their decision to launch their business this year. No longer are the odds stacked against us, on the contrary, all the cheesy motivational tag lines are true. The glass ceiling is cracked, break through. Take a seat at the table or design it yourself in red. Whatever your mantra; “If you are committed to creating value and if you aren’t afraid of hard times; obstacles become utterly unimportant. A nuisance perhaps; but with no real power. The world respects creation; people will get out of your way.” -Candice Carpenter, founder of iVillage.com Nobody ever sat on Oprah’s couch without a story, what’s yours? Be Bold, Be Brave, Be On Point.