52% more entrepreneurial women applying for business funding
365 Business Finance, a direct financial provider working with small to medium sized companies, is marking this year’s International Women’s Day by launching the #SheLeads campaign – to run throughout the month of March – which follows successful and motivational business women.
Coinciding with this celebration of female business owners, the London-based lender reveals it has witnessed a 52% year-on-year increase in the number of women applying for business funding.
With female entrepreneurship on the rise, it is surprising that a recent review shows women are still less likely to believe they possess entrepreneurial skills – with only 39% of women being confident in their capabilities to start a business, compared to 55% of men.
It has been cited that women do not lack ability, yet only one in three UK entrepreneurs is female. Female-led businesses are 44% of the size of male-led businesses on average, and SMEs run by men are five times more likely to scale up to a turnover of £1m than SMEs headed up by women. In addition, the biggest barrier women face when starting and growing a business is claimed to be investment and funding.
Managing director of 365 Business Finance, Andrew Raphaely, said, “Our aim with the launch of this campaign is to raise awareness of the funding available to all business owners, with merchant cash advances being one of the many ways to help grow a successful business.
“We believe in supporting International Women’s Day and already have many inspirational female customers. Any entrepreneur that has been established for six months or more can benefit from the type of loan that we offer – which is paid off each month as a percentage of a business owner’s takings via credit or debit card.
“The best thing about our job is enabling others to succeed in business, and we take great pride in seeing the growth of companies that are able to do just that with the funding we provide.”
For further information on the #SheLeads campaign, and to watch a series of films created to empower women in business, go to: www.365businessfinance.co.uk/she-leads. A new insightful video will be released each week for the remainder of the month, following the first summary film launched on International Women’s Day itself, on Sunday 08 March.
British author and speaker Penny Power OBE is among the women featured in the #SheLeads campaign, speaking to 365 Business Finance about her own personal experiences of running a company, along with providing some top tips for the female business owners of tomorrow.