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RISING WOMEN EXPERT
ADVICE...
I recently read that women
are topping the charts as entrepreneurs. Can you clarify this...it’s
inspiring information for your readers.
Yes, women are definitely at the helm when it comes who’s who in the world
of Canadian entrepreneurs. According to a report released by the CIBC, Women
Entrepreneurs: Leading the Charge, there has been a 50 percent increase in
the number of self-employed women in Canada in the past 15 years. There are
now 800,000 women business owners in Canada and this is expected to increase
to one million in 2010. When it comes down to women versus men, the number
of women-owned businesses is growing 60 percent faster than those run by
men. Now doesn’t that put “You’ve Come Along Way, Baby” into a whole new and
exciting perspective!
Within the CIBC report is also revealed that 70 percent of Canadian business
women are married and nearly a third of them have children under the age of
12. The current average age for Canadian business women is 41, however, the
fastest growing group of business women are those over 55. This sector, who
CIBC calls “seniorpreneurs”, are holding an annual growth rate of over 4
percent. That is double that of self-employed men in the same age group. The
CIBC calls these seniorpreneurs “a key driver of small business growth.”
According to the CIBC report, the “typical” Canadian business woman is
highly educated with nearly one in four self-employed women holding
university degrees as of 2004. This supports the fact that most of our
Canadian self-employed women are in a professional occupation. These include
natural and applied sciences, business and finance-related occupations, and
technical and professional occupations in the health sector.
Canadian women entrepreneurs are also enjoying a higher income. Currently,
one in two self-employed women are in occupations with above-average wages,
which is up from only one-third in 1989.
Another interesting detail within the CIBC report is that most women who are
currently starting their own business reside in BC, Alberta or Ontario. In
BC, the number of self-employed women rose by an annual average of 6.1
percent since 1989. In Alberta, the numbers rose by an annual average of 4.8
percent. Ontario holds 40 percent of all women-owned, small businesses in
the country, but still only ranks third in the growth rate.
The CIBC report Women Entrepreneurs: Leading the Charge is a must
read. Visit
www.cibc.com/ca/pdf/women-entrepreneurs-en.pdf
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