Women entrepreneurs in the Northern region of the country are leaving their mark on the business landscape, however, they have the lowest percentages of use of digital tools in companies founded by women (61.2% compared to 73% at the national level). In addition, it is the area with the highest proportion of companies without legal status: 26.5% of companies founded by women, compared to 23.5% in the South and 13.6% in the Center. This according to the Radiography of Entrepreneurship in Mexico (REM): Women 2023 edition.
During the presentation of the study by the Association of Entrepreneurs of Mexico (ASEM), carried out in collaboration with the Tecnológico de Monterrey and with the support of EY and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Juana Ramírez, president of the ASEM board of directors, said that “the study seeks to outline the profile of women entrepreneurs in the country, in order to implement more and better public policies that support business management from a perspective of equity and equal opportunities.”
Ramírez explained that the main motivation of women to undertake at the national level It is the lack of economic resources, since 35.2% of entrepreneurs affirm that they opened their company due to the absence of employment, the need to generate income and increase their income.
This is what companies founded by women look like in Mexico
With respect to the income generated by companies, the study details that the main source of income, both men and women own their company, although, while the above applies to 64.2% of founders, the percentage drops to 54.9% in the case of women. Almost half of the entrepreneurs (45.1%) have another source of income in addition to their companies.
“The contribution of women in companies is also reflected in the trends shared by turnover levels and the presence of female employees. Companies with a turnover of up to 4 million pesos annually have 38% women within their team; This percentage increases along with billing, since companies that bill more than 250 million pesos reported that 47.1% of their staff are women,” says the executive report of the ASEM investigation.
Although women’s entrepreneurship in Mexico is advancing steadily, data that reveals gender disparity in business creation is still worrying, for example, that companies founded by men have a higher billing than those founded by women.
This stands out in companies that have a turnover of more than 50 million pesos per year, where the proportion is 5.1% among companies founded by men, while in companies founded by women it is 1.3%. However, companies founded by women reach profitability faster.
The companies, with up to three years in operation founded by women, reached the cost effectiveness in an average time of 10.8 months, 10% faster than companies founded by men (12 months); and 50% faster than the general average time (21.6 months).
Money reaches men twice
With respect to investment From angel investors, companies founded by men receive more than twice as much capital as those founded only by women.
In the area of digitalization and the adoption of technology, highlights that 16.0% of computer and technology companies are founded by men; while women found 0.8% of these. Regarding the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), it is present both in companies founded by them and by them (15.9% in the case of men’s companies and 13.5% in women’s companies).
Furthermore, the lack of access to digital tools for business management (mainly administrative and sales management software) affects women entrepreneurs doubly, since they could help them counteract the lack of time availability, one of the main reasons for failure of their companies. This is exacerbated for the 38.8% of companies founded by women in the Northern region that do not have access to any digital tools.
“There is significant work to do from business networks, academia and government to reduce the gender inequalities present in entrepreneurship. We make the results of this study available to jointly promote better conditions for women to undertake and do business in Mexico,” concluded Juana Ramírez.
The study is available free of charge for consultation, in executive report and infographic format, on the site asem.mx/investigacion.