Women Entrepreneurs: Understanding Their Motives

Motivations of women entrepreneurs have diversified and developed over the last century. Looking back on what inspired Madam C.J. Walker to be one of the first women entrepreneurs in 1905 has not changed for those that have come after her. If anything, the passion and determination has grown, even for reasons outside of the professional accolades. When you consider a woman’s desire for entrepreneurship, the more obvious reasons come to mind:

• Work/Life balance

• Being their own boss

• Equality

• Working on something they are passionate about

• Following the path of a role model

• The list goes on.

While these are all substantial reasons to start a business, often we forget that there are motives less visible and talked about. One of the most common decisions to go the entrepreneurial route is to provide an income for themselves or their loved ones. We can look at this as a business endeavor but, the motives behind an “income” can vary to a point that it is more than just a job; it’s for survival.

Women are resilient, determined, and leaders in our society. COVID-19 has put in perspective the number of women that are struggling and in life threatening situations that they are trying to escape from. Opening a small part-time business to earn a bit of money could be the difference a woman has to put food on the table, save enough money to leave her abuser and start new, or to simply survive.

We understand the difficulty in ever being able to determine the depths of one’s motives from a single business loans meeting. However, the act of being more aware of the reasons a woman wants to access business financing, outside the “norm” of what we typically think, is where the conversation can start.