Two in five UK female founders (39%) say running a business in 2025 has been tougher than last year
Over half are working longer hours and one in four are juggling a second job to stay afloat
Optimism endures despite the setbacks, with two-thirds (67%) of women entrepreneurs expecting their revenues to rise in the year ahead
The new report from Tide and everywoman uncovers the pressures and powerful resilience driving female entrepreneurs across the UK
London, 17th November 2025 - Female business owners across the UK are working longer hours and taking on second jobs, with 39% saying 2025 has been tougher than last year[1], a groundbreaking report from Tide, the UK’s leading business management platform, and everywoman, the global organisation dedicated to advancing women’s careers, has revealed.
The ‘Female Business Owners Index 2025’ report exposes an uncomfortable truth about modern entrepreneurship. While 23% of female business owners have taken on a second job to sustain their ventures, over half (54%) are working longer hours.
The report paints a picture of a challenging year for women-led enterprises, with the most common setbacks including falling consumer spending, affecting 36% of companies, inflation (27%) and political uncertainty (21%).
Yet female entrepreneurs across the UK are displaying remarkable resilience in the face of economic headwinds and 67% expect their revenues to grow over the next year. Nearly a fifth (17%) of female business owners believe their revenue growth could be transformational, predicting a 50-100% increase in the year ahead.
Rather than waiting for economic conditions to improve, female founders are taking bold action now.
Two in five (44%) plan to enter new markets in the next year and 30% will invest in digitisation, both outpacing male business owners' forecasts (33% and 23%, respectively). Meanwhile, over a quarter of women business owners plan to expand their teams in the next year (28%) and a fifth (21%) will invest in upskilling and training.
However, access to finance remains a major hurdle with only 2p in every £1 of UK equity investment going to female-founded businesses[2]. One in three (28%) respondents cited limited access to finance (e.g. loans or investment capital) as a barrier to growth, while 36% are calling for more grants and targeted tax relief to help them scale.
Beyond money, confidence remains a barrier. A quarter of women (25%) entrepreneurs say a lack of self-confidence has held them back, while a further quarter (23%) cite gaps in operational or financial knowledge.
Through its Women in Business programme, Tide has spent the past three years equipping female entrepreneurs with actionable tips, expert insights, masterclasses and events designed to help them start, scale and succeed. This sustained investment in practical support and visibility has directly contributed to Tide being on track to meet its pledge of helping to launch 200,000 female-led businesses by the end of 2027.
To address these challenges highlighted by the reports, Tide and everywoman have embarked on a year-long high-impact programme aimed at unlocking new opportunities for female founders ready to take their businesses to the next level and providing them with the tools and confidence they need for growth.
At this year’s Tide everywoman Entrepreneur Awards, a £20,000 grant will be awarded to one exceptional female-founded SME, recognising and supporting the next generation of women business leaders with direct funding to accelerate their growth.
Click here to read the full ‘Female Business Owners Index 2025’ report.
George Schmidt, Tide UK/Europe CEO, said: “This report shows the fortitude of women entrepreneurs across the UK - working longer hours, taking on second jobs, yet still pushing for growth.
“At Tide, we’re committed to championing female founders and breaking down the barriers that hold them back. The unwavering optimism we’ve seen in this research is remarkable, and we want to help turn that energy into opportunity. Through our Women in Business programme and partnerships like everywoman, we’re supporting more women to start, scale and thrive.”
Nicole Goodwin, joint managing director of AllBright everywoman, said: “Tough times reveal true grit, and female founders have it in abundance. Their ambition and optimism in the face of hardship isn't naive, it's strategic. Women-led businesses are proving themselves as an unstoppable force for growth and innovation across the UK."
The Tide everywoman Entrepreneur Awards, in association with BGF, will take place on 2nd December at The Londoner, Leicester Square. To find out more about the finalists and book your place at the awards ceremony, visit www.everywoman.com/entrepreneur-awards
ENDS
Notes to editors
1. Survey of 1,415 UK business founders, with a split of 833 women and 582 men.
2. British Business Bank: Small Business Equity Tracker 2024.
For more information, please contact Sarah Robinson at sarah@ltprglobal.com or on +44 7545 895404 or Lloyd Purnell, PR and Communications Lead at Tide at lloyd.purnell@tide.co
About everywoman - Changing the world of work for women
everywoman is a global learning and development organisation that drives positive change by empowering women to achieve their professional potential. Established in 1999, everywoman works with leading corporations and organisations across 130 countries, improving productivity and performance through its membership offering and unique tailored blend of products and services which unlock female potential and powers businesses to accelerate their gender inclusion goals. The everywomanNetwork includes over 45,000 members who benefit from over 2,000 dedicated learning and development resources and 21,000 annually attending group classes. As part of its portfolio, everywoman’s cross-industry awards and forums have created thousands of female role models and male allies, and inspired generations of future leaders. For more information visit www.everywoman.com
About Tide:
Launched in 2017, Tide is the leading business management platform in the UK. Tide helps small businesses save time and money by not only offering business accounts and related admin services, but also a comprehensive set of highly usable and connected administrative solutions from invoicing to accounting and adjacent commercial services such as web-site building.
Tide has nearly 800,000 SME members in the UK (14% market share) and more than
800,000 SMEs in India. Tide launched in Germany in May 2024 and France in September 2025. Tide has also been recognised with the Great Place to Work certification three years in a row. Tide has been funded by Anthemis, the Apax Digital Funds, Augmentum Fintech, Creandum, Salica Investments, Latitude, LocalGlobe, SBI Group, Speedinvest and TPG, amongst others. It employs more than 2,500 Tideans worldwide. Tide’s long-term ambition is to be the leading business management platform globally.
