Both men and women today are capable of starting and running highly successful businesses. However, despite the success of both male and female-run businesses, there are many differences between the two, beginning with the reason men and women start businesses to the management style to the ultimate goals of the business.
While these differences between male and female-run businesses certainly don’t always apply to every business, several studies, including studies from the SBA, have reported significant differences inherent in many of the businesses operating today.
1. Men and Women Often Start Businesses for Different Reasons
The primary reason men typically start a business is to make money, while women usually seek to start a business in order to improve the balance between their work and family lives. And while men will spend a significant amount of time focusing on their business and seeking to grow it, women are more concerned with maintaining that healthy balance, and do not consider more wealth to be the driving factor.
2. Women-Owned Businesses are More Empathetic and Family-Friendly
Female-owned businesses tend to offer employee benefits that are more family-friendly, along with a focus on a work environment that fosters positive morale and improvements in productivity. Men will focus more on the bottom line, which can cause problems in the workplace if employee needs and expectations aren’t adequately fulfilled.
3. Men Delegate Work Responsibilities More than Women
Men seem to have no problem assigning tasks on a consistent basis, and will often do so without concern for giving employees excessive workloads. Women who have spent considerable time working in the home and raising a family before starting a business are used to doing a multitude of tasks themselves, and find it harder by nature to give up some of the workload.
4. Men Sacrifice Time With Family More Than Women
As mentioned above, women typically start their own business in order to have a healthier balance between work and family time. However, they will also sacrifice much of their own “me” time in order to attend to the needs of both business and family. On the other hand, men tend to sacrifice family time for the needs of business.
5. Men Take More Financial Risks Than Women
Research has shown that men are willing to be more risky with finances, while women are more conservative.
None of these differences between male and female run businesses show that one is any better than the other. Rather, it showcases that men and women both have equal ambition and skill at running a business, but also different goals.
Looking for a business partner who brings incredible passion and payment processing solutions that will help you grow your business? Click here to find out more.