Pandemic prompted women to start their own businesses

FURLOUGH and job losses have spurred on women to launch their own businesses during the pandemic, polling has shown.

Research by Yougov, commissioned by The Telegraph and Natwest, surveyed more than a hundred women sole traders who started a business during the pandemic.

It found that 80 per cent felt happier than they had beforehand, with 77 per cent feeling confident about their chances of success in the coming year.

Almost 80 per cent said the move left them freer to make decisions and enjoy a more flexible work-life balance.

While almost a third set up their own business after losing their jobs, and 12 per cent after being put on furlough, almost half (44 per cent) said they had made an active decision to pursue a different path for their career.

Vicky Silverthorn took the opportunity in the pandemic to launch her own business using her personal savings while her job running a home organising business was on hold during lock- down. She says she “kept reading that female entrepreneurs were going to come into their own.

“At first I thought, ‘Give us a break.’ Then I took up the challenge.”

With her business partner, Kay Ali, she launched an antibacterial agent called Labology 3 Super Antibacterial Sanitiser Spray, made from hypochlorous acid – a sanitising water spray gentle enough to use on children and sensitive skin.

“I put the word out about our new product among my existing black book of contacts and asked ‘If I send you this, will you share the love?’”

“They said yes. In the first three weeks sales hit the roof.”

The Telegraph launched the Women Mean Business campaign in March 2018, with an open letter from 200 female founders and leaders calling on the Government to act to close the funding gap that is a barrier to women from starting their own business.

It prompted the Government to commission an independent review into the challenges facing women starting their own enterprises, led by Alison Rose, now chief executive of Natwest Group.

This year’s Women Mean Business Live summit will happen tomorrow as a virtual event.