Enterprising Women.

Women bosses are still facing significant barriers to taking their businesses to the next levels, according to a major survey.

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Businesses owned and run by women represent about 15pc of the UK business base, with more than 700,000 currently contributing approximately £75bn to the economy.

However, a study of 220 female business owners by the business support network Enterprising Women concluded that many felt stuck when it came to taking their businesses beyond the start-up stage to the next level of group.

But Enterprising Women, which next month will begin a series of one- day workshops in Norwich for women in business, said that unlocking the full potential of female business owners could generate an extra £323m towards the UK economy and more than 3,500 jobs over three years –outstripping the levels of job creation promised in the government’s regional growth fund.

The study found that a significant proportion (39pc) still felt they were being held back from achieving their full potential by the struggle to achieve a work/life balance.

In addition, 37pc found it difficult to achieve focus and a clear direction for future growth, nearly half (45pc) raised concerns about how marketing spend would convert to sales and 44pc said they lacked the knowledge needed to break into new markets. Sales were also highlighted as an area of real consternation, with 41pc of women surveyed not knowing how to build their sales pipeline.

A common concern for both men and women, Enterprising Women said this was made worse by the under-capitalisation of female-owned businesses – and further exacerbated by the fact that many women chose to operate in highly competitive sectors.

Bev Hurley, founder of Enterprising Women, which was set up in the East of England, said: “Publicly funded growth support is sadly limited to non-existent for the majority of SMEs.

“And despite government stating that rebalancing the economy and stimulating private enterprise, competitiveness and productivity is a priority, the growth plan does little to address the growth potential that could be unlocked from the SME economy by female entrepreneurship in this country.

“It is not all gloom and despondency though. Far from it.

“Female entrepreneurs will – and do – seek out what they need, demonstrating remarkable resourcefulness, pragmatism and 
the will to steer their businesses through the tough times as well as the good.”

Sandy Eaton, director of Enterprising Women, said: “With such substantial challenges in the areas of sales and marketing, it is disappointing that start-up training and standard information resources typically skip over these critical areas, with a cursory mention of ‘doing market research’ and the barest mention of sales.

“Access to finance did not appear to be regarded as a major barrier, being overshadowed by anxiety about unpredictable cash flow, which was reflected in high levels of uncertainty about borrowing money.

“Because Enterprising Women engages with women at every stage of the enterprise journey, we are in a unique position to understand the dynamics of female entreprenuership, and we are working to share these insights with policymakers,” she added.

Enterprising Women’s flagship Growth Programme will run in the East of England for the first time this February, with seven one-day workshops held over 14 weeks from February 7 to May 15.

For further information on costs and how to register for the 2012 Norfolk Growth Programme, please call 0800 0121 365, visit www.enterprising-women.org/norfolkgrowthprogramme or contact Sandy Eaton directly at sandy@enterprising-women.org

shaun.lowthorpe@archant.co.uk