hands

success
Lonely
at the top
UK businesswomen are becoming
increasingly ambitious, recent
research shows, but reaching
the top comes with a particular
problem – isolation. Help is available
if you know where to look, says
Haines Watts’ Vikki Wynne.
“42% of female
business owners
are aiming for
20% plus growth
next year”
A
new wave of female leaders,
both in political and private
spheres, in recent years has
helped to raise the profile
of women in business. And they are
continuing to set their sights high,
a recent study has shown.
Of the 500 UK business owners 1
surveyed for the Haines Watts study,
For Love or Money? The Secret Life of
the Business Owner, women were shown
to be striving harder. It showed that 31%
aimed for growth of more than 20% in
2016, compared to just 22% of men. And
in 2017, 42% of women say they will aim
for 20%+, compared to a quarter (25%)
of men.
Family comes first
Deciding your own hours may be a big
attraction to women in running their own
company. But psychological testing of
business owners conducted by Haines
Watts recently 2 seemed to show that
running a small business actually means
spending less time with your family. This is
most apparent when you compare gender
scores, as females scored 93 compared
to 75 for male business owners. Female
business owners seem to suffer a far
greater negative effect on their mental
health than their male counterparts,
scoring 90 compared to 61.
Motivations in the balance
Like male business owners, women
strongly agree that their long hours are
“all about the money” and that it “keeps
them going”, the survey showed. “Rather
than being about wealth, money is a way
of demonstrating success and providing
financial security for their families,”
says Vikki.
But there is loneliness at the top. For
Love or Money revealed a high number
of female business leaders are unsure of
who to turn to for advice and support.
“Psychological testing also revealed that
women (scoring 85 out of a 100) strongly
agreed that it can be ‘very lonely’ and
they ‘don’t know where to turn for help’,”
she says.
“Thankfully there is a diverse range
of groups and networks to help women
in business get the support they need.
Having supportive advisers working with
your business is also key,” says Vikki.
1 Haines Watts’ For Love or Money? The Secret Life of the
Business Owner 2016 study – based on interviews with
owners of companies with a turnover of £1 million-£50
million, 10-249 employees, and at least two years old,
across all UK regions and major industries.
2 Haines Watts used psychological testing to assess 100
business owners who met certain criteria (turnover,
staff number and age) for non-conscious reactions
and instinctive feelings. People were given scores of
between 1 and 100, with 1-44 denoting disagreement,
and 56-100 denoting agreement.
14 magazine | Issue 47 | hwca.com