"Leading the thinking on women's business based on international research and trends"

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·       Companies with Gender-diverse management teams are outperforming their industry average (as seen in the above graphic)

·       Companies with more women in the board have shown stronger-than-average performance

·       Women-led Businesses have the ability to outperform

·     Companies whose products or services benefit women may outperform the market

We have reflected on why women-focused businesses are underserved by VCs and why this means that investors interested in this segment may be missing out on opportunities.



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A Case Study

Looking back over 20 years, it seems to me it’s really Asian businesses that are my role models. They’ve always fostered a different business environment. And they’ve succeeded against some formidable odds.

Many never made it to university, let alone business school. They had few networks. They often found it difficult to get financial support. Banks were reluctant to lend because they didn’t ‘tick all the boxes’ and had ‘no track records’.

But, for Asian entrepreneurs, business was a matter of survival. Failure was simply never an option. Whatever the challenges – of culture, tradition, language, access or inclusion – they had a can-do mentality. It made them resourceful, determined to grow and succeed.

Their ingredients were scarcely a secret – work hard, work smart and never lose sight of the customer. Cash and capital were king. If they were able to borrow money, they honoured their debts.

Family values were important.  They used these to build communities. If they weren’t plugged into privileged or influential networks (at least when they were poor), they created their own and ended-up with supportive structures and enabling environments.  They looked out for the underdog, treated people with respect. And business just followed.

When success is not negotiable, you just think outside the box. There are no limits. There’s no-one to blame, so you shoulder all the responsibility and you become accountable to one and all.

One of the problems entrepreneurs face today, though, is that they still often have to rely on capital providers and deal with fund influencers who’ve never run businesses themselves.  Yet these individuals can determine the business destiny of others. How sad is that? Well, it would be, if there was no way to think outside the box. But there is- Trapezia

Gita Patel, FCA
Fund Manager, Trapezia
www.trapeziacapital.co.uk