The Realities Behind the Dream: Challenges Women Face in Business Ownership
The Realities Behind the Dream: Challenges Women Face in Business Ownership
By Kat Dancey
The journey of building a business or climbing the leadership ladder is rarely linear—especially for women. From navigating societal expectations to overcoming internal doubts, the path is often filled with unique challenges that require resilience, clarity, and confidence. These challenges are often rooted in societal norms, structural inequalities, and internalised beliefs that can shape how women lead, grow, and sustain their businesses But with the right mindset and tools, those challenges can become stepping stones to personal and professional empowerment.
Common Challenges Women Face in Business
The Confidence Conundrum: - Female business owners, especially when starting out struggle with confidence to succeed.
Balancing Roles: Many women juggle multiple roles—entrepreneur, leader, caregiver, partner—which can lead to burnout.
Visibility & Voice: Women often hesitate to speak up, pitch boldly, or promote their work, fearing judgment or rejection.
Access to Networks & Capital: Female founders still face barriers in accessing funding and influential networks.
Perfectionism & People-Pleasing: These traits can slow decision-making and dilute leadership impact.
The Confidence Conundrum
Confidence isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a business essential. Yet many women report struggling with imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and the fear of being “found out.” These feelings can be amplified in male-dominated industries or high-pressure environments.
Even highly capable women often battle with self-doubt. The pressure to be perfect, prove oneself, and avoid failure can lead to imposter syndrome—feeling like a fraud despite evidence of success.
Why it matters:
Low confidence can affect pricing, pitching, visibility, and decision-making.
Strategies:
Practice self-validation: Celebrate wins, however small.
Surround yourself with mentors and peers who reflect your value back to you.
Use affirmations and mindset work to reframe limiting beliefs.
Tip: Practice evidence-based confidence. Keep a “wins” journal to track achievements, positive feedback, and moments of courage. Reflecting on these regularly helps reinforce your capabilities and quiet the inner critic.
Tip: Set boundaries and delegate. You don’t have to do it all. Learn to say no with grace and yes with intention.
2. Work-Life Integration and Emotional Load
Women often carry the emotional and logistical load of home life alongside their business responsibilities. This can lead to burnout, guilt, and difficulty setting boundaries.
Why it matters:
Sustainable success requires energy, clarity, and emotional wellbeing.
Strategies:
Set clear boundaries around work time and personal time.
Delegate both at home and in business.
Prioritise self-care as a business strategy, not a luxury.
Tip: Create physical and psychological boundaries.
Use separate devices or spaces for work and personal life.
Set “office hours” and stick to them—even if you work from home.
Communicate boundaries clearly to clients, team members, and family.
3. Visibility and Voice
Many women struggle with promoting themselves and their work, fearing they’ll be seen as “too much” or “not enough.” This can lead to under-marketing, missed opportunities, and slower growth.
Why it matters:
Visibility drives trust, credibility, and client attraction.
Strategies:
Reframe visibility as service: your work helps others.
Create a personal brand that feels authentic and aligned.
Use storytelling to connect with your audience emotionally.
Tips: Align your business with your life. Choose clients, project, goals that energise and motivate you – not drain you.
4. Female Finance Gap
In the UK, female-founded businesses received an average of £1.05 million in early-stage funding in 2024, compared to £6.2 million for male-founded businesses—a 5.9x disparity [1].
Even having a male co-founder increased the average funding to £4.12 million, suggesting that women may still need male representation to access higher investment levels [1].
Underlying Causes of Financial Bias
Investor Bias: The venture capital industry remains male-dominated, and unconscious bias often leads investors to perceive female founders as less competent or ambitious [3].
Pattern Matching: Investors tend to fund founders who resemble previously successful entrepreneurs—typically male—reinforcing gender stereotypes [3].
Pitch Framing Bias: Women are more likely to be asked risk-focused (prevention-oriented) questions during pitches, while men are asked growth-focused (promotion-oriented) ones, influencing investor perception and funding outcomes [3].
Sector Disparities: Women are more represented in consumer-facing sectors like education and healthcare, which typically attract less capital than male-dominated sectors like AI and cybersecurity [2].
Strategies
Build Financial Literacy and Confidence
Understanding your numbers is key. Learn to read financial statements, forecast cash flow, and speak confidently about your business model.
Leverage Alternative Funding Sources
If traditional Venture Capital routes are biased, explore other options:
• Crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter or iFundWomen.
• Grants for women-led businesses.
• Angel investors focused on diversity.
• Peer-to-peer lending and community investment models.
Join Women-Focused Networks
Connect with communities that support female founders, such as:
Female Founders Fund
SheEO
Women in Business Network (WIBN)
Enterprise Nation
Refine Your Pitch for Impact
Practice pitching with a focus on scalability, market opportunity, and return on investment. Address risk proactively and highlight your leadership strengths.
Tips:
Take short courses in finance for entrepreneurs or work with a financial coach to strengthen your pitch – seek out local training providers.
Create a funding strategy that includes multiple sources and aligns with your business values.
These networks often provide mentorship, funding opportunities, and visibility.
Record your pitch and review it with a coach or peer group. Use storytelling to connect emotionally and strategically.
5: Perfectionism and People-Pleasing
Many women in business struggle with perfectionism and people-pleasing. While these behaviours may seem harmless or even admirable, they can quietly sabotage leadership, slow decision-making, and dilute visibility.
Perfectionism leads to overthinking, procrastination, and fear of failure. People-pleasing results in blurred boundaries, burnout, and a loss of authentic voice. Together, they create a cycle of self-silencing and second-guessing that holds women back from stepping fully into their power.
Why It Matters
Leadership requires clarity, decisiveness, and authenticity. When women are stuck in perfectionism or constantly trying to meet others’ expectations, they lose time, energy, and confidence. Breaking free from these patterns allows for bold action, empowered visibility, and sustainable success.
Strategies
Redefine What “Perfect” Means. Perfection is subjective—and often unattainable.
Practice Decisive Action. Perfectionism delays decision.
Set Boundaries That Honour Your Energy. People-pleasing often stems from unclear boundaries.
Tips:
Ask: “Is this good enough to move forward?” instead of “Is this perfect?”
Set time limits for decision-making.
Say no with clarity and kindness: “That doesn’t work for me right now.”
Create a “Yes Filter”: only say yes if it aligns with your goals, values, or energy.
Remember: every yes to someone else is a no to something else.
Mindset Shifts for Growth
From Comparison to Celebration: Instead of comparing your journey to others, celebrate your unique path and progress.
From Fear to Curiosity: Reframe fear as a signal for growth. Ask, “What can I learn from this?”
From Hustle to Harmony: Success doesn’t have to mean exhaustion. Align your business with your values and energy.
Tip: Schedule regular mindset check-ins. Ask yourself: “Is this decision aligned with my long-term vision and values?”
Top Tips for Personal Development
Invest in Coaching or Mentorship: A trusted guide can help you see blind spots, challenge limiting beliefs, and accelerate growth.
Build a Personal Development Plan: Identify key skills you want to develop—leadership, communication, emotional intelligence—and set goals around them.
Create a Morning Routine: Start your day with intention—whether it’s journaling, meditation, or movement—to build mental clarity and emotional resilience.
Read Widely & Often: Books, podcasts, and articles can offer fresh perspectives and fuel your growth mindset.
Surround Yourself with Growth-Minded Women: Join communities, masterminds, or networking groups that uplift and inspire.
Tip: Celebrate progress, not perfection. Growth is a journey, not a destination.
Making the Business Journey Smoother
Automate & Systemise: Free up mental space by streamlining repetitive tasks.
Track Your Energy: Notice when you’re most productive and schedule key tasks accordingly.
Celebrate Milestones: Recognise achievements—big and small—to stay motivated and inspired.
Tip: Use quarterly reviews to reflect, reset, and realign. What worked? What didn’t? What’s next?
When All Is Said and Done
Being a woman in business is both a challenge and a privilege. The road may be winding, but with confidence, clarity, and community, it becomes a powerful journey of self-discovery and impact. You don’t have to do it alone—and you don’t have to do it perfectly. You just have to keep moving forward.
References
[1] The State of the Gender Funding Gap in 2024 - Startups.co.uk
[2] Women in VC & Startup Funding: Statistics & Trends (2025 Report)