Female entrepreneurship grows 30% in 12 months, but still faces challenges

According to Sebrae’s National Female Entrepreneurship Coordinator, Renata Malheiros, traditionally the number of individual micro-entrepreneurs or women who undertake on their own is large because women are burdened with regard to family care and housework. The survey also points out that over four consecutive quarters the proportion of women who generate at least one job has increased significantly, while the percentage of male employers has grown by only 8%. Brazil has 1.3 million female employers in a universe of 10.3 million business owners, according to the survey.

“The growth in the number of female employers reflects the strength of female entrepreneurship. We are coming from a context of economic crisis, and we need to say that, yes, we are moving forward, that it is important to employ more employees, because this generates more income for people, however, there are still important obstacles for women entrepreneurs. So here we need to talk about the division of tasks, we need to talk about daycare centers, so that women can actually dedicate themselves to their full potential in business”, she emphasizes.

Data from the Instituto Rede Mulher Empreendedora (IRME) point out that although most women entrepreneurs work alone, when they employ, they tend to hire more women. Among those that employ at least one employee, 44% have an all-female staff and 28% have a mostly female team.

Women in leadership positions

Having women in leadership is one of the main challenges today and companies still have a long way to go. Although they represent about half of the population, women occupy only 37.4% of corporate leadership positions. The data are from the survey “Gender statistics: social indicators of women in Brazil”, released by the IBGE.

After a career dedicated to developing business for multinational companies, economist Deise Nicoletto felt the need to apply her experience to a niche that would generate, at the same time, financial sustainability and solve a social problem. Today, as CEO and Executive Director of Impact Hub Brasília, the businesswoman points out that female leadership is essential to establish gender equality within a company and thus contribute to equality in society.

“It is important to have women in leadership positions for us to bring equality to the environment in which we are involved, that everyone can hold positions in the same way, regardless of gender. Bring the balance of sensitivity and the ecosystemic view of women. Because the man is much more rational and the woman has this thing more of the system of understanding, involving. So that balance is really important,” she explains.

With the aim of promoting female entrepreneurship, the National Congress has been working on projects to encourage female entrepreneurship, aimed at promoting women’s easier access to lines of credit, financial education, technical assistance and differentiated guarantee systems. For Senator Soraya Thronicke (União-MS), it is necessary to increasingly facilitate market opening and female entrepreneurship.

“It is not easy for any Brazilian to access credit to undertake. Unfortunately, with women it is even worse, we do need to turn our attention to women, mainly because today we know that most Brazilian households have a woman as breadwinner. But many do not find this field easy to undertake. We need to make their lives easier because women, when they have the conditions, they thrive,” she says.