Starting
a corporate is not an easy task for anyone. It requires motivation,
discipline, tenacity and confidence, both in the business project to be
developed and in one's own abilities to create and run a successful company,
among other essential skills.
However, according to a report prepared by the
Strategic Observatory of the Pacific Alliance (OEAP), women face particular
challenges when undertaking entrepreneurship. For example, while 50% of
men in Mexico feel they have the necessary skills to undertake, only
41% of women believe they are suitable to start their own
business.
Other factors identified by the OEAP are the impact caused by
the family, insufficient work experience, the models proposed to follow and the
lack of contact networks. In addition, there is the educational
backwardness, the insecurity regarding their own abilities, the lack of
motivation, the typecasting of social roles and the perception of risks. Regarding
the challenges of the context, we found an objective difficulty to access
financing and the fight against stereotypes.
The authors of the report Entrepreneurship and Gender in
Latin America - 2017 find significant differences between the
entrepreneurship of men and women in the Latin American region. While 27%
of the female entrepreneurs surveyed said they felt discriminated against
because of their gender , only 4% of the men claimed to
have suffered this obstacle when doing business.
Women want to undertake
The OEAP report also indicates that the motivations that women
in Mexico have to undertake have changed. Before, we women threw ourselves
out of necessity and because we did not find in our work the opportunities to
grow or the flexibility that we were looking for.
However, now 81% of the Mexican women who start do so for the
simple reason that we believe we are capable of creating and developing a
company. This means that, more in addition more, women
are no longer self-employed out of necessity , but rather
we aspire to found scalable businesses because we want to and can. Even
almost half of the Mexican women consider that entrepreneurship is a good
option for professional life and for development.
Women want to undertake, we only require some specific tools and
support to face the obstacles.