Business Women Are Doing It For Themselves
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3:18pm UK, Sunday December 11, 2011
Research for on-line insurance broker Simply Business found a 12% increase in female-run start-ups this year, with women now accounting for 37% of all start-up businesses, up from 33% last year.
The report is based on data from 117,000 start-up business quote requests since the begin of the year.
Creative and service-driven businesses are among the most popular, with cleaners, beauticians and hairdressers claiming the top three spots.
Cake-makers and market traders also feature in the top 10 though, suggesting female entrepreneurs are cashing in on an emerging trend for thrift in the economic downturn.
It’s confidence – you can be a successful mum, you can be a successful wife, and be successful in your career as well – it all comes down to being exceptionally organised, and being really focused.
Michelle Mone, co-owner of designer lingerie firm Ultimo
Melissa Morgan started out selling her cupcakes from a market stall in Greenwich.
She sold so many that in April this year she opened her first shop in Brixton, and now employs seven staff.
She had no start-up grant, no bank loans, and no previous experience of the catering industry – hers is a business built on cupcakes and determination.
She told Sky News: “Every single cupcake we sold went into building this shop with no start-up money.
“I rocked up to Greenwich market one day with my cakes, laid out my market stall and oh my goodness when I sold those three dozen cupcakes I was on top of the world.
“Now we make thousands and thousands and thousands of cakes each week, so it’s been quite a trajectory over the last 12 months, I’ll tell you that much.
“I think it’s that exhaustion that you feel when you are running a business: no one cares what you are doing, and people say: ‘Oh you cannot really do that, oh this is going to happen, you have got to worry about that’ – take it on board, make sure you are doing everything right legally, make sure your customers like what you are doing and just keep doing it.”
Michelle Mone runs a multi-million pound international lingerie firm
With unemployment rising and the downturn hitting women disproportionately hard, it seems female entrepreneurs are opting to do it for themselves, bringing a distinctly female approach to business.
Melissa said: “Well, I would not like to state that women can be a bit stubborn at times, but I know I can.
“My stubbornness and my determination to prove to everyone that I could do this spurned me on. I wanted to show people that you can come from nothing and begin from absolutely nothing and build your own business off your own back.
“I also have passion, and I think that when women are passionate about something – whether it be a hobby, a business, or someone they love – it doesn’t matter, that passion is going drive them and I think that is a uniquely female trait.”
Michelle Mone left school at 15 with no qualifications after growing up in the east end of Glasgow.
She now co-owns multi-million pound designer lingerie firm Ultimo.
She told Sky News: “It’s confidence – you can be a successful mum, you can be a successful wife, and be successful in your career as well – it all comes down to being exceptionally organised, and being really focused.
“I run my house like a business because I’m not there when I should be there so it’s the only way that I can make sure that it runs really successfully without me, but you know I think women have great qualities and once women get their confidence there is nothing stopping us.”
source : news.sky.com
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Submited at Monday, December 12th, 2011 at 12:00 am on Business by madison
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