Why a female focus is important

What do Redefine55 and Starling Bank have in common? They are all businesses that seek to solve some of the biggest challenges that our society in the UK faces. Anything else? They are all female founded businesses. Is this just a coincidence? In my view no. Research shows us that female entrepreneurs are more likely to look to address issues for the underserved customer which is why their businesses are in high growth sectors. So why are female entrepreneurs so under represented within our client portfolios? I think that the answer is pretty complex but the key issue in my view is the lack of effective networks, i.e. access to firms like KPMG. I rarely (if ever) get speculative website queries from women but I get daily requests for help for personal tax advice from men. This is why I am focusing on female entrepreneurs in whatever guise they take - female founders, senior execs, family business owners, private equity execs, family offices and venture capitalists- to rebalance our client book and ensure that it is fit for the future. After all it won’t be long before I am one of those underserved customers…

The Rose Review highlighted a number of?barriers for female entrepreneurs in the UK such as disproportionate childcare responsibilities, lack of networks, lack of confidence and a lower risk appetite. These were pre-COVID findings and depending upon the research that you read these barriers have either increased or decreased as a result of the pandemic. Again, lack of network is highlighted as a key barrier for female entrepreneurs so at KPMG we wanted to do something about it.

So how do we help women build a community that supports them on every stage of their entrepreneurial journey when they are typically so time-poor? Whilst in-person breakfasts, lunches, dinners and seminars are great, but as Christine Armstrong 's research shows, face-to-face time is at an all time premium so we need to make it count. We will host in-person events but these will be quality rather than quantity.?

We therefore decided to launch our virtual Female Entrepreneurs community at 毕马威（英国） of fab advisors who understand the challenges and opportunities of being a female entrepreneur and want to help them on their wealth creation journey. We asked for help and have entered into a partnership with FFinc , a network with a mission to empower women with their wealth. We have invited female entrepreneurs from start up/scale up businesses to those getting ready to exit as well as those who are pondering what next.

Our rules of engagement are still evolving but at the moment they are:

• be willing to ask for help as well as offer it either through sharing your networks or your own experiences.?

Our aim? To create a community that guides, supports and educates - is the place to go when you need a steer in the right direction or simply a listening ear - but most importantly joins together all of our networks into one brilliant network who all want to support female entrepreneurs and are willing to make introductions.

If you would like to know more about our female entrepreneurs community or would like to join, please do get in touch.