Best Practices for Women’s Entrepreneurship

A new series of studies from the National Women’s Business Council offers suggestions on best practices for supporting women entrepreneurs. The reports are based on a series of roundtables hosted by Project Tsunami, an international forum devoted to promoting women’s entrepreneurship. The roundtables brought together entrepreneurs, investors, and other experts on women-owned businesses. Three primary sets of recommendations emerged from these discussions:

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Centralized Information: Information on key business issues, such as accessing exports markets, is hard to find because resources are so dispersed. Efforts to centralize these sources are needed.
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“The Missing Middle:” Most support programs focus on the front and back ends of the entrepreneurial spectrum. Brand new start-ups can receive lots of support, and a whole host of private support efforts are available for high-growth “gazelle” businesses. But, what about those in the middle of this spectrum (i.e. successful firms enjoying moderate growth or operating in sectors not considered “hot” by equity investors)? New programs to support women-owned businesses in this “missing middle” are needed.
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Entrepreneurial Frameworks: Much of the thinking about entrepreneurship—which is embodied in support efforts—is very male-dominated. For example, men dominate the institutional venture capital field. This dominance may serve to discourage women entrepreneurs, and a major effort to educate both investors and entrepreneurs is needed.

To learn more about the reports, visit the National Women’s Business Center at
http://www.nwbc.gov/NewsCenter/documents/tsunami_nwbc_press_release_12-14-04.pdf
To learn more about Project Tsunami, visit http://www.projecttsunami.org/

(Thanks to the National Dialogue for Entrepreneurship for passing this along- Russ)