Home businesses might look small, but they are having a big impact on national and global economies.
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor reported that in 2012, an estimated 126 million women were starting or running new businesses in 67 economies around the world.
And these businesswomen aren’t dilly-dallying with their expansion plans. A predicted seven million female entrepreneurs and five million female-established businesses planned to grow from start-ups to small enterprises hiring at least six employees over the next five years, according to the same report.
Developing nations are reaping benefits in particular from these small and medium enterprises. Countries like Kenya, for example, owe 80 per cent of all employment to small and medium businesses (SME). And in the US, more than half of the 9.72 million new jobs to be created in the SME sector by 2018 would be created by women entrepreneurs, according to the Harvard Business Review.
Developed economies, like the UK, are also benefitting from ‘the mum economy’, which generated a revenue of £7.2bn (Dh37.2bn)in 2014, supporting 204,000 jobs, according to the economic think tank Development Economics. By 2025, the revenue is expected to hit £9.5bn with an additional 13,000 employees.
But the way mothers influence economies is not just in their numbers but also in their approach towards running a business.
The Harvard Business Review highlighted a greater tendency in women entrepreneurs to reinvest in human resources, calling it a gender dividend driving family, community and the nation’s wellbeing. Women reinvested 90 cents of every additional dollar of income in their families’ education, health, nutrition as opposed to men who only re-invested 30 to 40 per cent.
And this willingness to spread a company’s success across the economy, instead of being limited to a few pockets is being recognised by almost every country.
Goldman Sachs and the World Bank announced a $600 million (Dh2.2bn) fund for women entrepreneurs last year, stating “we have seen, firsthand, that investing in women leads to economic growth and job creation.”
Mona Tavassoli, CEO and Founder of Mompreneurs Middle East, has seen this phenomenon first-hand. Her company focusses on offering mothers mentorship for their business ideas through various channels.
She told Gulf News: “Women entrepneurs care more about having a social impact and are focussed on financial growth that makes a difference. It’s not only about the numbers, they care about the development and growth of the community. Relationship is very important to them.”
Mompreneurs is a B2B platform offering support to businessowners through not just professional mentorship, fund raising activities as well as educational initiatives but also a focus on holistic wellbeing.
“We also focus on the wellbeing of a mother, not just as a businesswoman, talking about what they need to do to take care of themselves. When they are happy, you can see the happiness in their families as well.”
