Andrew Maren, founder and CEO of fintech ProfitShare Partners, is an avid driver of inclusivity in business. “The only way a country’s economy thrives is where a concerted effort is made to ensure nobody is left out. This means everyone – regardless of race, gender, age – gets a fair opportunity at success.”
“Women are still not well represented in top positions,” he says. “However, ProfitShare Partners has assisted many female entrepreneurs – or fempreneurs – to access finance and get started on their path to prosperity.
With International Women’s Day being celebrated on 8 March 2022, each of us can help women in business by taking simple actions.
Mentor a woman in business
Whether it’s helping a woman to get a promotion or sharing your experience as an entrepreneur, we can all make a difference to women in business. Taking the time to guide a female colleague can be all she needs to run her own successful business.
Support fempreneurs on social media
Share the importance of having a social media profile with women in business. Then help her company get ahead by writing reviews when her service has been good; and encouraging other satisfied users to do the same.
On Twitter, it costs you nothing to re-tweet a positive comment instead of just “liking” it. Your tweet could be what makes another user engage with a business.
Support female-owned stores or services
To find out which businesses you can support, follow hashtags like #womenownedbusiness and #womenowned to connect with female founders and businesses. By finding out what each business offers, you could well find your next supplier online. Your support may be what enables a female owner to access finance.
Invest in women’s ideas
Businesses need to be funded. Unfortunately, women receive less than half of the average investment amount of male-owned companies. Often, their funding tends to be short-term and have higher interest rates, making it more likely for women to have to self-finance their companies.
To help support female entrepreneurs, donate to organisations that help women-owned businesses or invest in publicly traded companies.
Share your network and resources
There are many opportunities to give women in business a helping hand. If you see a female-owned business that is not well known, add it to your event’s list. Better still, invite the fempreneur to be your keynote speaker.
“Women-owned businesses are essential to our economy and society,” Maren says, “and we all need to support them.
“ProfitShare Partners has found success of these businesses to be excellent, but they deal with overwhelming challenges. On International Women’s Day – and every other day – support female-owned businesses. You’ll be boosting South Africa’s economy and society.”