Three ways to help women-led businesses recover from the pandemic downturn

Economies need to be rebuilt quickly and start-ups redefined to offer the support female entrepreneurs need to thrive
With support and finance networks often targeted at men, businesswomen need more gender-neutral tools and resources

Kawal Preet

Published: 9:15am, 11 Jan 2021

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There is little doubt that the Covid-19 economic downturn has adversely affected women, many in small businesses and start-ups across the region. Women’s jobs are almost twice as vulnerable as men’s in the pandemic because of shouldering the burden for increased child care or distance learning.

Covid-19 might have turned back the clock on women’s workforce participation and entrepreneurship – for instance, the number of women participating in the US workforce in October 2020 was the same as in 1988 – but the truth is that many new ideas and businesses are being created, too. Workplace flexibility has created more diverse talent pools and new opportunities for women-led businesses.

In this time of enormous challenge and great change, we have to snap into action to ensure support for small business is targeted and gender-responsive. Our response must account for the unique challenges faced by women-led businesses. There are three basic steps to help women-run businesses recover from the “she-cession”.

First, we must quickly rebuild our economies. Governments around the world are injecting financial stimulus into their economies to help businesses get back on the path to recovery.

We need to get start-ups and small to medium-sized businesses into recovery mode; they are the engines that keep our economies running. The downturn has taken its toll, though. More than 80 per cent of female entrepreneurs in the Asia-Pacific have been affected by Covid-19, with 77 per cent selling fewer products and services.

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Yet, on the upside, if we promote the value of women-led business and female entrepreneurs, we have the potential to transform economies if we move quickly from strategy to action. McKinsey forecasts an additional US$13 trillion could be added to global GDP in 2030, but only if we take action now to advance gender equality.

Innovation is emerging in response to Covid-19. With many companies embracing working from home, 2020 has accelerated digital adoption and greater use of technology by women. In fact, these tumultuous times could provide the greatest opportunity for innovation-led growth.

The second step is to redefine what future start-ups look like to offer the support women entrepreneurs need to thrive. For women to compete in this recovery, we must reduce the internet user gender gap further and leverage e-commerce to tap new markets. Women-owned businesses still have difficulty accessing the full potential of e-commerce. Globally, only 15 per cent of firms that export are led by women.

Participating successfully in cross-border e-commerce requires strong connectivity in both logistics support and technology. Digital differentiation is critical for female entrepreneurs, and Asia is at the very centre of how we reimagine this transformation.

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There is an urgent need to build digital capacity for women entrepreneurs, from online payments to customer services and customs processes. Research shows that engaging women-owned businesses in cross-border e-commerce not only delivers productivity gains of 6 per cent to 15 per cent, it also doubles their participation in these markets.

We can connect women to programmes and policies that empower the next generation of entrepreneurs, helping them access markets and grow. We can support women-led firms by identifying and implementing the best solutions so they can compete in home markets and in cross-border e-commerce. Remaining agile and flexible are keys to survival.

In such a rapidly changing business environment, the third step towards recovery is rethinking everything that has gone before. The gendered nature of entrepreneurship means support and finance networks are often targeted at men, so we need more gender-neutral tools and resources for women entrepreneurs.

Organisations such as the Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship and the Impact Investment Exchange are great examples of support and business connections. They exist not solely to overcome challenges women face in securing funding but also to figure out how best to grow their business and reach velocity of scale.

The exciting thing is that women’s economic power is still growing. Women-owned companies account for more than 40 per cent of registered businesses worldwide, while female consumers are expected to spend more than US$40 trillion globally this year.

The next step is helping entrepreneurs prioritise support and collaboration to protect and promote their competitiveness on the world stage. Gender diversity in business is good for families, communities and economies.

We know women have juggled multiple roles during the pandemic. As we reimagine and rebuild business models for recovery, we have to rethink ways to remove gender disparities and barriers to work. We must work together to increase the economic participation of women in the workforce and in entrepreneurship. We simply cannot afford to wait.

Kawal Preet is president, Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region, at FedEx Express

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