According to The Women’s Institute, while Hong Kong is generally recognised as a positive and enabling environment to set up a new business, only 19% of high growth entrepreneurs are women.
In Hong Kong, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent 97% of all enterprises and provide 45% of all jobs. However, the ratio of male to female employers is 3.5 to 1, which equates to 58,000 self-employed women in business, compared to almost triple the amount (165,000) of self-employed men. In addition, the female-owned businesses that do exist tend to be smaller, with slower growth rates.
But despite these figures, there are many women entrepreneurs with successful stories and businesses throughout the Asia region. This article will share some of their best-practice tips for starting a business.
Women in business
Starting up is no easy task, but the road seems especially tough for women entrepreneurs, who have to grapple with a host of challenges, ranging from funding access to discriminatory cultural norms.
Singaporean sisters, Clare and Magdalene Chan founded the fashion e-commerce company Her Velvet Vase in 2007, while they were still in their teens. Since then, the company has grown significantly, expanding beyond eCommerce into physical outlets and the business-to-business space in New York.
When asked about how she faces challenges as a female entrepreneur, “I’ve come to realize that there isn’t a template for this journey. It’s double-edged because it’s terrifying that there isn’t just one template to fall back on, but the beauty of it is that you get to build your own template.”
“I’ve faced numerous challenges, right from getting investments and funding, talent and hiring to technology, finding lab space, and so on. But I’m very resilient and strong-minded. When you decide to be an entrepreneur, you need to be ready to face challenges on a daily basis.” says Singaporean Sandhya Sriram, who has established three businesses to date, including a biotech and healthcare news website and an edtech and events firm. She started her latest venture, Shiok Meats, in 2018, growing crustacean meat in a lab using stem cell technology.
“My best advice to women in business is to budget wisely. I see so many new businesses where the company has to close after a year because all the funds have already dried up,” says Vivienne Tang, Founder and Editor-in-Chief at Destination Deluxe Hong Kong.
“Luckily, today, we have co-working spaces, numerous freelancers you can source out work to, as well as social media to replace expensive marketing campaigns. Keep costs down and use all these wonderful tools available to you,” adds Vivienne.
Hong Kong-based Vivien Liu, director of Studio UNIT also agrees on budgeting wisely and keeping overheads to a minimum, “Balance overheads and efficiency, keep overheads as low as possible while maintaining optimum efficiency. Network often to seek out opportunities and possibilities. Persistence is key.”
Follow your Passion
“The key to enjoying your life is to find something you enjoy doing every day and then find a way to get paid for it,” says Eve Roth Lindsay, Founder of Savvy Style who dreamed of having her own fashion business since she was a child.
In 2000, the Hong Kong based entrepreneur started her company Savvy Style, designing clothes for businesswomen and uniforms, “Color Me Beautiful” was added in 2001 and my business morphed into an Image Consultancy. We have now trained over 125 consultants offering image, color, style, fashion and makeup consultations all over Asia .” When faced with challenges, Eve recalled her passion for her business and that kept her motivated to keep going.
Angie Tourani, the instructor at BodyTalk Hong Kong, has advice for women in startups and how to lead a profitable business in Hong Kong, “Follow your passion in your business or service, your passion for your work speaks louder than any marketing campaign and advertisement”.
Visala Wong, Photographer and Designer, v-for-visla.com in Hong Kong adds, “It starts with a dream, a passion, and a vision. Yet what lies beyond these three, is the self-commitment and courage of not easily giving up what you are about to achieve.”
Visala notes that starting up your own business is tough and women in business will need a strong mentality to overcome their doubts and fears, “Keep talking, keep believing, keep moving on. Stay open to options and opinions. Never give up, and your day and success will come.”
Fake it till you make it
Sometimes you have got to fake it till you make it,- “You don’t need to know everything before you start, you will learn so much during the process of your business growing,” says Deborah Royce of Coaching with Deborah, “Be flexible and stay aware of what your clients or customers really need from you, it may change over time, so be willing to change with it.”
There is an adage from Murphy’s law that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. So it’s important to make the most of every situation—whether it’s how you envisioned it or not. The rest of the world does not need to know that you’re not entirely sure of everything you’re doing. Keep optimistic and a positive mindset and walk into your challenges like a success. Eventually, success will follow.
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