Vive la différence
Women aren’t exactly over-represented at EMC. In fact there are just two of us – Julie, the person who holds everything together at our Eastbourne head office, and me, the new kid on the block!
The men assure me that it isn’t by design that I am the sole EMC consultant who wears a dress… at least, in public! But neither, I contend, has this come about entirely by accident. For the plain fact is that women have, by and large, been happy in the past to leave entrepreneurship to men. Ergo, far more men than women have wanted to join EMC.
Fortunately, all that is changing. Women are now starting to embrace entrepreneurship in ever-increasing numbers. According to the DTI’s Women and Equality Unit, female self-employment doubled between 1979 and 2004, from 3.12 per cent to 6.5 per cent. And Barclays Bank has predicted that by 2010, more women than men will be setting up their own businesses in major areas of industry.
They’re starting to realise that the best way to combine motherhood with making money is to work for themselves.
They may not all make it as big as Julie Pankhurst, who set up Friends Reunited in 1999 when she was expecting her first child and sold it a couple of years ago for £175 million. But the London School of Economics reckons that so-called ‘Kitchen Table Tycoons’ are already running businesses with annual sales of around £4.5 billion.
I have set up and sold successful businesses of my own, and know the benefits that accrue from being your own boss… and not just the financial ones. Being able to take the kids to school, for example, or go to their carol concert.
Hopefully, therefore, it won’t be too long before more women are pushing to join me at EMC.
But does it really matter to a client whether the EMC consultant who goes into his (or her) business is a man or a woman? I guess not, providing he or she has the necessary experience and expertise to carry out the role for which the client is paying. After all, EMC has done pretty well under its almost exclusively male line-up.
However, I think we have to recognise that women are different to men… and I don’t mean in the obvious ways. I know I’m generalising here, but by and large I believe women interact on an entirely different level to men. They are more sensitive, more people-centred, and not hampered by the alpha-male need to impress.
They are also economically powerful, spending 50 per cent more than men, making 80 per cent of the purchasing decisions, and recommending ten times more than men. Women don’t just buy brands; they join them. That makes them a pretty potent force.
So perhaps getting a female slant on a business proposition might not be such a bad idea. I’m far removed from a burn-your-bra feminist and I’m not one for positive discrimination, believing that men and women should be judged equally on their merits. But, if you accept that we are different, there’s certainly no harm in adding a feminine perspective to the decision-making process.
I’m currently operating as interim CEO of a children’s fashion and yoga movement company which is on the cusp of a major expansion. I firmly believe that being female and a mother helps me to connect not only with the objectives of the founder but also with those who will ultimately buy the product.
Together we make a pretty good team. Vive la différence!
April 2008