Crowdfunding For Women Entrepreneurs Can Help Overcome Obstacles

By Lelia Hall


When it comes to business, the statistics show that women tend to lag behind in most areas. However, this is not always the case, even if the statistics may not show much success in most business areas, crowdfunding for women is one area that our sisters seem to be outperforming their male counterparts. The success of ladies in running the campaigns to raise capital for business in more natural than you may think. It does not require any magic to know that females are better in communication and expression than men, and these are the primary traits required to succeed in this capital raising method.

The Wall Street Journal statistics are clearly what any upcoming and prospective female entrepreneur will not want to look at. Only 17% the board seats belong to women in the Fortune 500 companies. Of all the venture-backed firms, only 8% of CEOs are females and 30% of companies are owned by women.

However, there is positive news. One research pointed out that ladies have up to 13% chance of succeeding in crowdfunding than males. This can be a very powerful source for the seed capital necessary for the business success. It is a funding method through which an entrepreneur tap into a crowd made of known and unknown individuals with diverse backgrounds each contributing a small amount towards the business capital.

In this method of funding, the entrepreneur gets the opportunity to pitch to a large group of individuals, with completely different backgrounds. Each then contributes towards the capital for the business.

There are two major alternatives in achieving this, a social network or a virtual network. Some sites have come up to dominate the virtual network area. These are the Indiegogo, Kickstarter, and the RocketHub. In these sites, all entrepreneurs are given equal opportunities regardless of gender. The good news for the ladies is that there are sites that target women as the niche. Plum Alley, for instance, is run by women for women.

This comes with many advantages. The ladies are in the position to share ideas and get mentored in addition to getting the much-needed capital for startups or business growth. They pay experts from across different industries to educate, motivate, and act as a role model for the upcoming female entrepreneurs.

On average, males are more likely to excel in business bitching than females. The females are more conservative and may not make ridiculous projections or exhibit bravado as their male colleagues, and thus needs an alternative playing field.

It also comes as an alternative source of capital that is better as compared to pitching in a room full of intimidating male audience (business angel) where the ladies are likely to feel intimidated and less successful. In this manner, they get to tell their story in a way that captures the emotion of the targeted investor and thus can easily succeed. In this method, you get to use your network of colleagues, friends, family members, and vendors as a powerful marketing force.




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