It’s not a man’s world any more! With the rise of large economic giants and online businesses, women are being given the opportunity to shine and boy, are they DOING IT! It is estimated that women drive 75-80% of consumer purchases (Forbes) so it is only natural that online businesses are churning out female entrepreneurs. This venture allows women to keep flexibility in their schedule and juggle responsibilities successfully, all while contributing to the economy. Although women have a natural instinct for the consumer market, they still only run 4.2% of Fortune 500 companies. What do online business provide to women entrepreneurs that a traditional business has not been able to provide for so long?
Easily Established:
The establishment of online businesses allow individuals to overcome many obstacles that would be seen in a common traditional business setting. With the right amount of confidence, passion and support, you can become your own boss. Creating your own domain and opening up a venture that can prosper is now easier than ever. This opportunity is enabling women entrepreneurs to come forward and drive startups in sectors they excel most in, primarily fashion and beauty, but also financial accounting, blogging and media.
Women in Charge:
We’ve said it once and we will say it again, women KNOW how to run a business! Connecting with the consumer market and understanding and driving sales force are just a few of the many things women are known to be good at. If the founder is a woman, then she is in charge! There is no need to break gender roles or worry about hierarchy, she is the boss! They can use their instinct to understand customers and their needs and can better interpret the market!
Unique Cultural Aspect
When a woman starts her company, the culture in that company is very women friendly, thus attracting more female staff members. Entrepreneurship is viral, it will give confidence to others fellow female employees to try out new things, thus creating a very conducive and innovational culture.
Empathy
The traditional organizations are currently struggling with culture changes and building empathy towards employees. For women-led companies however, this comes natural. In this digital age, you need the best talent, and talented employees want more than just remuneration, they want a culture they can associate with and grow in.
Disruption
Online business can disrupt the traditional business. With great facilities of drop shipping in Canada now available, the opportunity to easily manage logistics is there. Woman Founders can show the world this can be done which drives them to excel more. They take this challenge head on.
Let us review some of the great work Women Entrepreneurs are doing online.
Aubrie Pagano: Founder and CEO of Bow & Drapes
https://www.bowanddrape.com/
It is very hard to please a woman with customized clothing, hoodies, t-shirts and caps etc. Bow and Drape gives female customers the ability to customize their clothing and make it look funky. You can choose the base, add your touch and company will customize it and send it to you. Investors have trusted her with over $4.1M in funding. Way to go.
Aslaug Magnusdottir: Co-Founder and CEO of Moda Operandi
https://www.modaoperandi.com/women
Magnusdottir is a super star of the fashion world and co-founded Moda Operandi with Lauren Santo Domingo in 2010. This company lets its customers pre-order high-end apparel and accessories directly from the fashion shows and runways. A need was there, a gap from runways to stores, which this company fulfills. So far they have raised $46 million and are a huge success.
Tracy Sun: Co-Founder, Poshmark
https://poshmark.com/
A serial entrepreneur with prior experience of working with a startup and later co-founded Est. Today, which allowed its customers to curate their own designs. Later she co-founded Poshmark, ‘which is more than just a shopping destination, it’s a vibrant community powered by millions of Seller Stylists, who not only sell their personal style, but also curate looks for their shoppers, creating the most connected shopping experience in the world.’ This is sheer case of a woman working in a startup founded by a female and then inspire to do something on her own.
Kellee Khalil: CEO and Founder, Lover.ly
https://lover.ly/
Ah, wedding planners! Every woman’s dream is to have a glorious wedding. Kelle Khalil did exactly this and have raised $7M for her company Lover.ly. This is media platform that helps users find out everything then need about wedding related chores. The tagging can be done for geographic, colour schemes or destinations and instead of searching it brings everything together. Its slogan is ‘Roll with us to get expert wedding tips and inspiration for stress-free wedding planning. Let’s get this planning party started.’
Jenn Hyman & Jenny Fleiss: Co-Founders, Rent the Runway
https://www.renttherunway.com/
Hitting the nail on the head, combining recycling with sharing and wham the company Rent The Runway is born. Every other girl has a closet full of clothes and if you can share or rent it, then it becomes AirBnb of clothes! They have raised $541M so far and have a customer base of 2.5 Million users and over 25,000 dresses to choose from. A problem solved!
Online ventures have provided women with a new avenue, where they can be themselves and build their own empire. We can do with many many more women entrepreneurs in years to come, as their viewpoint periscope is very different from the traditional one.