E-Book Overview
A detailed empirical study of how small business owners finance their enterprises, this volume compares the experiences of women with those of men. The author redresses an over-reliance on subjective and anecdotal evidence of discrimination in this area with a controlled study of forty matched pairs of male/female owners and their strategies for raising finances. The research reveals the importance of adopting a theoretical framework in which the role of gender in the financing of small businesses is considered, and the practical implications for female entrepreneurs, banks and policy-makers.
E-Book Content
The Financing of Small Business
A detailed empirical study of how small business owners finance their enterprises, this volume compares the experiences of women with those of men. The author redresses an over-reliance on subjective and anecdotal evidence of discrimination in this area with a controlled study of forty matched pairs of male/female owners, and their strategies for raising finances. The book finds considerable similarities between female and male entrepreneurs in the type and amount of finance used in the business. It also uncovers some significant differences in the banking relationships and networking behaviour of the two groups. The implications of this for academics, policy makers and the financial community are also considered. Lauren Read studied for her Ph.D. at the University of Southampton. She is currently a senior policy advisor at the Confederation of British Industry, responsible for small firms policy in the SME Unit.
Routledge Studies in Small Business Edited by David Storey
1.
Small Firm Formation and Regional Economic Development Edited by Michael W.Danson
2.
Corporate Venture Capital: Bridging the Equity Gap in the Small Business Sector Kevin McNally
3.
The Quality Business: Quality Issues & Smaller Firms Julian North, Robert A.Blackburn and James Curran
4.
Enterprise and Culture Colin Gray
5.
The Financing of Small Business: A Comparative Study of Male and Female Business Owners Lauren Read
The Financing of Small Business A comparative study of male and female business owners
Lauren Read
London and New York
First published 1998 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1998 Lauren Read All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Read, Lauren, 1971– The financing of small busines: a comparative study of male and female busines owners/Lauren Read. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Small business—Finance. I. Title. HG4027.7.R397 1998 658.15’92–dc21 97–40388 CIP ISBN 0-415-16956-9 (Print Edition) ISBN 0-203-02494-X Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-20637-1 (Glassbook Format)
This book is dedicated to Mum, Dad, Lindsay and Kevin. Thank you for all your love and encouragement.
Contents
List of figures List of tables Preface Acknowledgements 1
The growth and characteristics of female entrepreneurship 1.1 Increasing numbers of women-owned businesses 1.2 Explaining the growth of female entrepreneurship 1.3 The problems faced by female entrepreneurs 1.4 Summary, research rationale and overview