Women in business braved Covid-19

A RECENT study by Lionesses of Africa, a network of women entrepreneurs, focused on the resilience of women entrepreneurs during Covid-19 and has shown that 90% of the entrepreneurs say job creation is the main consideration for starting their business ventures.

The study further disclosed how women entrepreneurs contribute significantly to human-capital development, with 80% reported to have provided employee training in the past 12 months.

In partnership with New York University, the study ran from November to April and 913 women entrepreneurs across all nine provinces were engaged via an online survey. Seventy-six percent of these respondents have children.

The pandemic also showed how only a small share of women could access government Covid-19 business assistance or secure external financing when needed.

Regardless of the setbacks, there is optimism that many women-owned businesses were at the forefront of protecting jobs during the pandemic, with many going to great lengths of looking after their staff, and more than two-thirds reducing their own salaries or stopped paying themselves a salary altogether.

“The majority of respondents anticipate that their businesses will recover from the impact of Covid-19 within two years. They anticipate growth in revenues and are either actively recruiting new staff or planning for near-term hires. Women-led businesses with a digital presence demonstrated greater resilience during Covid-19.

“Responses reveal that South Africa’s women entrepreneurs who are employers engage in many preferential-hiring practices. Most commonly, 87% indicate preferential-hiring practices for women, young people (80%), and historically disadvantaged South Africans (75%). Thirty-six percent noted preferential hiring for people with disabilities,” the study said.

Dr Linda Zuze, research director at Lioness Data, said the survey uncovered how women-owned businesses that have made the most of their sales through an app or online marketplace were particularly confident about their capacity to create jobs in the next twelve months.

“It is also important to note the contribution that women entrepreneurs bring. The survey revealed also that women entrepreneurs tended to hire their first employee early in the life of their business and 67% (of them) within the first year. These entrepreneurs also had plans to create additional jobs in the future. Over onethird stated that their current staffing levels were inadequate for their needs and 41% were actively recruiting,” said Zuze.

Asked what they hope to achieve with this study, Zuze said, “We hope to show that business confidence levels are remarkably high among South African women entrepreneurs. These women are already contributing to job creation and are supporting other entrepreneurs as well. They have a track record of protecting and retaining their workforce. They are optimistic about the ability of their businesses to recover from the pandemic and they expect to increase the number of jobs in their businesses in the future”.