According to a recent Forbes piece, the challenge of making it as a woman or minority entrepreneur isn’t so much a matter of the market, or the niche, or even the right attitude, but rather the lack of access to enough capital – both in the financial sense and in “social capital”.
Another piece mentions that women are starting businesses at twice the rate of men, and even may out-earn them, but that even so, only a small amount of venture capital is invested in women-owned businesses.
Becoming a successful entrepreneur calls for more than just a great product or service and the capital to get it off the ground. It also takes a great amount of business knowledge, skills, mentors, and strategy in order to stay the course over the long run and turn a good idea into a viable business. And that’s where organizations such as SVN can be a big help. But what about those who can’t afford the cost of services and courses?
To try to level the playing field a bit, the Social Venture Network (SVN) is taking a page from the success of crowdfunding in order to underwrite scholarships and support services for mission-driven women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color.
SVN wants some help to “triple the triple bottom line”:
“… one study by Emory University showed that women-led social enterprises generated an average of 15% more revenue than their male-led counterparts. The problem? They’re 40% less likely to receive funding in the first place. This trend applies to minority-owned firms too: entrepreneurs of color receive less than half the equity investments that non-minority businesses do.” – SVN
If you’d like to help SVN to create a more inclusive business community, as well as a more just and sustainable world, head over to Indiegogo and kick in a few bucks to their campaign.