The Boss of You

Taking a gander at the “Official Web Site of Denmark” last night while I dreamt of our end of summer vacation, I saw this relevant piece of news:

“Women who start their own company are more likely to have success than men, according to new figures from the capital region’s agency EVU offering advice to entrepreneurs.

Twice as many men as women start their own business, but just as many women as men are still in business after the first four years of business, according to EVU.”

There are a couple of things in these introductory stats that piqued my interest. For starters, in the research I’ve done on female entrepreneurs in Canada women are actually starting businesses at rates three times those of their male counterparts, whereas it would seem in Denmark women are still outpaced by men. That said, the fact that after four years of business the numbers even out, indicating that women’s businesses are more stable, holds true in Canada where female run businesses take the lead in terms of longevity and stability. This stability/longevity stat is a very interesting one to me, as we are bombarded with messages about how unstable our economy is these days, and I can’t help but wonder if many women don’t take matters into their own hands to find stability and a sense of control. I know it is one of the factors that motivated me.

I guess I also have to admit that the thoughts this news story brought up, and part of what really drives this whole project for me is a real need to prove to the world at large that business isn’t necessarily what it is cracked up to be. That is, the models that are held up in the business section of the newspaper or in some of those gawd-awful business-centric rags that seem to infiltrate our mail, aren’t telling the whole story. And, obviously, I really feel like part of the story that is being overlooked is the narrative that is very normal for women who start businesses. I’d love to know more about what the reasons each of these business owners in Denmark say, have for going into business. If there is a match between those who have realistic expectations and those whose businesses stand the test of time. While those seemingly reasonable dreams of being able to support yourself, a small staff and do what you love every day may not seem remarkable enough to make the front page of the Business section, I do think that collectively there is something really powerful in these trends.

The one bit that bugs me about this news story is the ending: “EVU figures also show that women entrepreneurs do not have the same expectations and demands for high earnings as men. They are often satisfied with lower earnings if they can have a more flexible daily life by going solo.” While I’ll admit that to some degree that statement includes me — both Lauren and I could almost certainly command higher salaries if we went back into the sector and were willing to work for someone else — I’m increasingly uncomfortable with this reality. While I don’t value money at all costs, by any means, I do worry to some degree that as women we’re selling ourselves short. Anyone else have any thoughts on that? I’d love to hear them.