2021 Edition: COVID-19 Devastated Female Tech Entrepreneurs Confirmed

While the Women in Cloud team knew the COVID-19 pandemic would have a unique effect on professional women, we didn’t expect female entrepreneurs to predict and face such disproportionate losses. Now, the results are in for our second COVID-19 Impact Survey, which has shown that our respondents weren’t far off from the truth; the pandemic has hit them hard, and the effects aren’t just financial.

Women Entrepreneurs See Heavy Losses

So far, 75% of respondents have lost more than $10,000 in revenue and opportunities. This tracks with last year’s report, where 100% of respondents predicted they’d lose at least $10,000 due to pandemic-related shutdowns.

The impacts in 2021 have been pretty consistent with the projections made in our last survey. But by some metrics, projected damages have deceased.? For instance, in the second survey, the majority of respondents lost $50,000 to $100,000 to date. So far, this is less severe than respondents originally predicted, believing that between $500,000 to $1 million in losses would occur over 24 months. But we’ve yet to see what the next few months will bring.

But accounting for lost opportunities is a whole other issue. Half of our latest respondents estimated an opportunity loss of $50,000 to $100,000 per company. Meanwhile, in the first survey, respondents believed that by 2022, their opportunity losses could fall between $1 million to $5 million per company.

We also found that the same business areas related to revenue loss in 2020 remained relevant in 2021. That is, respondents are still reporting that their losses stem from significant disruption, project cancellation or postponement, lost income, and pipeline or investment freezing. Likewise, the same additional costs were reported in 2020 and 2021, including utility and tax payments, implementing work-from-home procedures, technology services, and paid sick leave.

Businesses Operations Must Adapt to Stay Afloat?

Similar to last year’s survey, many women entrepreneurs have to change how they run their businesses to stay afloat during the pandemic. One of our most startling discoveries was that 25% of respondents had to downsize their businesses. Compare that to last year’s survey, where 19% anticipated that they would need to downsize.

We also saw that business communications still haven’t returned to normal. 30% of respondents said they’re still attending digital events over the next three months. Compare that to last year, where 31% of respondents said they were doing the same. It looks like some operations are still digital.

But operational restrictions also affect professional travel. 50% of respondents said they wouldn’t travel in the next three months. Last year, 63% said they wouldn’t travel over the same period of time. So, the pandemic is still restricting how businesses move.

Finally, we asked how women entrepreneurs are handling paid time off. In the second survey, over 62% of respondents offered paid sick days or time off. This metric has significantly changed from last year, where less than 25% of businesses offered paid leave for employees.

What About COVID’s Psychological Toll?

Of course, COVID-19 has a deeper impact than finances and operations. The pandemic has also had a massive psychological effect on people around the world. Women entrepreneurs are no different. In fact, 82.5% of respondents indicate higher stress and anxiety levels during the pandemic.

That’s a big jump from last year’s results, where 78% gave the same response, meaning more respondents are suffering this year. Unfortunately, this year the pandemic had a stronger effect on our respondents — 68% noted a negative or somewhat negative emotional impact on themselves or their team. Compare that to last year, where 49% of respondents gave the same response.

Unsurprisingly, it looks like the psychological toll of COVID is also tied in with financial and operational disruption. We found that higher levels of stress and anxiety correlated with greater financial loss or operational disruption. Respondents who reported greater levels of stress and anxiety in 2020 and 2021 faced greater losses and disruption.?

How You Can Help

While there are plenty of reasons to be concerned about this data, we can’t lose hope. Women in Cloud has found that we can all work together to improve economic development, burst through hurdles, and address gender-related gaps in the business world. Here are a few things you can do to become an economic ignitor:

1. Become an Advisor: If you can help female founders flourish, signup for the 7-Day Get Introduced Challenge before October 3rd to become an influential advisor.
2. Help an Entrepreneur: The top request from women in our network is to get a warm introduction to someone who can change their career trajectory. If that’s you, get involved in the Women in Cloud Get Introduced Platform.
3. Explore B2B Solutions by Women: The Women in Cloud solutions marketplace is a curated list of great B2B solutions — developed by women. Browse or recommend the list to find the right solution for your company, network, or partners.

If we all chip in, we can increase access for women to succeed in business. Ready? Come join the Women in Cloud movement to get started.