Women & Entrepreneurship: Three common obstacles when starting and growing a business
Welcome to SMB Matters, I am Lisa Reeves, the Chief Product Officer at TriNet. This episode of SMB Matters celebrates Women’s History month. The theme for International Women's Day 2025 is "Accelerate Action," emphasizing the need to take swift and decisive steps to achieve gender equality and address systemic barriers that impede women's advancement. Today, I’ll be talking about women and entrepreneurship.
First a few stats…
Based on the “2025 Wells Fargo Impact of Women Owned Businesses,” authored by Ventureneer, CoreWoman, and WIPP Education Institute, in 2024 39.2% of all businesses were woman-owned, they employed 12.9 million workers (or just under 10% of all employees at US companies) and generated $3.3 trillion in annual revenue (or around 6% of total revenue nationwide). While woman-owned businesses represent nearly 40% of all enterprises in the US, their impact on employment and revenue trail their male counterparts. Nevertheless, these numbers illustrate the power they wield on the economy and their influence on the entrepreneurial ecosystem. I have sat on multiple sides of the table – as a venture capitalist, as an entrepreneur, and now as an operator, so I’d like to address some of the common challenges female founders face when it comes to building their businesses. While opportunities and challenges vary by region and industry, there are three common obstacles when starting and growing a business that I would like to address today.
Access to funding is a significant barrier for most start-up founders. Woman-only founded businesses received less than 3% of venture capital funding in 2023, according to Forbes. And according to a study from the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School, women make up only 11% of investing partners at VC firms. The same study concluded that the fundamental structure of the historically male dominated VC industry, has led to a significant overrepresentation of men as VCs and entrepreneurs. More women, however, are raising venture funds and moving into senior partner roles at existing funds.
Business lines of credit and Small Business Administration (or SBA) loans and government programs are another source of capital. Under the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) there is a venture capital program with $10 billion in funding. The SSBCI provides funds to states, territories, and tribal governments to create tailored programs that support small businesses and entrepreneurs, including through venture capital and equity investments. For example, in Colorado the funds are administered by the Colorado Venture Capital Authority (VCA), a state-established entity designed to boost entrepreneurship and economic growth in Colorado by providing access to venture capital for startups and early-stage businesses. The VCA’s investments often target key sectors such as aerospace, defense, cleantech, and businesses led by underrepresented founders (such as women, minorities, veterans). It doesn’t directly fund businesses; instead, it acts as a limited partner, committing capital to venture funds that then invest in promising startups. These funds focus on pre-seed, seed, and early-stage companies, aiming to fill gaps where private venture capital is scarce—like rural regions or urban enterprise zones with higher unemployment. Programs like VCA vary by state, but information can easily be accessed on-line.
Another key challenge woman entrepreneurs face is networking and mentoring. It is critical that women build connections to mentors, peers, industry leaders and other entrepreneurs. Accelerators can be helpful. One example is the University of Southern California and Techstars Catalyst program, which offers programs and initiatives to support and empower founders, including women, in tech and entrepreneurship. Over the course of the program, participants gain access to a curriculum designed to help propel their businesses forward, and networking opportunities with speakers and mentors, providing them a valuable community to help them succeed.
The third challenge that I’ve observed, and one that could apply to both female and male entrepreneurs is confidence and an appetite for risk taking. One of the best ways to build that confidence is to tackle a problem and build a company based on a problem or limitation that the entrepreneur has personally experienced. That depth of experience provides confidence, and in many cases, credibility. Storytelling is a critical skill in fundraising, and real-life experience can help build confidence and the ability to embrace measured risk. Risk taking can be managed by reframing the risk as an opportunity and a chance to learn, grow, and win. It is important for a founder to surround herself with a network that understands the challenges and can help navigate decisions. Finally, embrace failure as feedback for the next try!
As this month ends, I celebrate the powerful impact of woman-owned businesses on our economy and communities, recognizing their resilience, innovation, and leadership.
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