Female Business Founders are Much Less Likely Than Their Male Counterparts to Ask for Business Help, According to New Research

Twice as many women as men are uncertain about how to go about outsourcing business tasks such as accounting, branding, marketing and web design. Fiverr and Virgin StartUp are partnering to give away more than £25,000 in resources to female founders.

LONDON, UK, September 5, 2023 - Female business founders are much less likely than their male counterparts to ask for business help, according to new research released today.

The study, commissioned by freelance marketplace Fiverr, and not-for-profit incubator Virgin StartUp, polled 500 UK founders who have set up a business in the past five years and found that the majority (86%) of UK new business founders are unlikely to outsource tasks in the early stages of launching their business, choosing to juggle everything single-handedly. Among those who didn't outsource, twice as many women than men said they didn't know how to go about outsourcing business tasks such as accounting, branding, marketing and web design or simply chose to do it themselves. (15% of women compared with 7% of men).

Meanwhile, when it comes to asking for business advice, 25% more female founders over 45 are more likely to seek support compared to male founders over 45 and, in general, younger generations, both male and female, are more comfortable asking for help.

If in the work context the data says that there are still gender differences in views and needs, outside work the concerns are instead similar. In fact, the same number of men and women agree that balancing work-life responsibilities is the main challenge when founding a start-up. The second and the third challenges are the development of a marketable product/service and limited industry connections/network respectively.

The research was commissioned ahead of a new competition from Fiverr and Virgin StartUp have launched this study ahead of the Female Founders Competition they are running together to address some of these challenges by awarding female founders with £22,000 Fiverr Credits to spend on Fiverr to support their businesses, alongside mentoring and business advice from a selection of top female business leaders and entrepreneurs.

"As we move towards a more equitable and diverse business landscape, it is crucial to understand and address the barriers that impede entrepreneurs, especially women, from fully realising their potential. Collaboration and support are key to driving entrepreneurial success." says Gali Arnon, Fiverr CMO. "One way Fiverr and Virgin StartUp are partnering together to address these barriers is through our Female Founders Competition where we will provide four inspirational female entrepreneurs with a total of £22,000 Fiverr Credits to spend on freelance support to build their business".

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