Breaking the Glass Ceiling ....

Sandra O’Malley, marketing manager at accountancy firm Graham Paul, says that according to government figures one million women are running their own businesses in the UK, yet many still find it difficult to access advice, resources and funding.

The potential for women to seize the initiative, to establish and grow businesses which may transform both their own – and their families' – lives has become very clear in the last few years. Take for instance, the fantastic example that Anita Roddick gave women in the UK, that a simple cosmetics idea could become a multi million pound franchise operation. The real recognition of women as wealth creators has perhaps been rather slower in coming, but given the right opportunities and support, women can help transform the UK economy and help to achieve greater economic growth.

The latest government research shows that the number of women starting up their own business is on the increase:

	The number of self-employed women has more than doubled from 339,000 in 1979 to 818,000 in 2001. And;
	The gap between self-employed men and women is narrowing. Whereas women represented about 19% of all self-employed in 1979, they now account for nearly 30%.

But the statistics reveal a mixed picture about the gender gap:

	Only 4.3% of women compared to 11% of men are involved in starting-up new businesses. A man is, therefore, two and a half times more likely to be an entrepreneur than a woman.
	And, while women now make up one third of all business start-ups in the UK, this is still considerably lower than in the USA –where women make up almost half of business start-ups.

The fact remains that too few women make the leap and set up in business. The evidence shows that women still have to overcome more hurdles than men in becoming entrepreneurs, including discrimination, lack of confidence, and a difficulty in finding financial and other support.

Graham Paul is all too aware that access to good business advice and finance is crucial for all entrepreneurs, men and women alike. Getting the right sort of advice and finance for a business can make the difference between profit and loss and even survival and failure. What should count is having the idea or vision, having the skill and the ability to sell that idea and to persuade backers on the one hand and consumers on the other that an enterprise will work.

Women-owned businesses are also more likely to stay in business. According to the Small Business Federation, nearly three-quarters of women-owned businesses established in 1991 were still in operation three years later, compared with two-thirds of all UK small businesses.

Graham Paul believes in equal pay and opportunities for women and puts this into practice. Despite significant advances, women-owned businesses face significant obstacles, including limited access to capital, difficulty in competing for government contracts and lack of information about where to get financial assistance. Our goal at Graham Paul has been to change that and to create a resource for women to access business development and start-up advice easily. We identified several reasons why they make good leaders and managers. For starters, statistics show that more than half of women business owners (53 percent) emphasise intuition or "right-brain" instead of "left-brain," which emphasises analysis, the processing of information methodically, and developing procedures. Intuitive processes often allow someone to see opportunities that aren't readily apparent and to know if they are right without the use of reason and analysis. In addition, women don't hesitate to gather information from business advisors and associates. The advantage here is the shared knowledge that is gathered through interpersonal interactions and liaisons.

By making it a priority to know the challenges women face in business Graham Paul have carved a niche in the world of business advice and consultancy. We know that in the business world women are heard differently or sometimes not at all. We also know that the growth statistics of women starting and running businesses is increasing dramatically year on year, yet they receive the least amount of available financing and advice.

By understanding the requirements of women and supplying the resources they need to make an informed decision, we have been able to share in some great business successes and we believe that there is certainly an opportunity for other companies to think about how they break their own glass ceiling.