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Supporting women in business

Our Female Business Owners Index examines the challenges faced by women when starting and running their own business. To address this, we’re committed to welcoming 200,000 female-led UK businesses to Tide by the end of 2027. This target includes the 100,000 women we already onboarded by 2023.*

Despite record numbers of female-led companies launching in the UK each year, the process of starting a business remains difficult. We want to support entrepreneurial women in their journey and, by working with small businesses every day, we believe we’re in a strong position to do exactly that.

Commitment objectives include

We’ve committed to helping create 200,000 female-led businesses by the end of 2027 – building upon our earlier achievement in 2023

Tracking, reporting on and promoting female entrepreneurs using Tide

Organising initiatives and events to support women in opening their own businesses – both led by Tide and through our collaboration with Mastercard’s Strive programme

Delivering our Women in Business content series to inspire, inform and champion our female members

HOLLY OGORZALEKTIDE MEMBER AND FOUNDER OF HOLLY’S COOKING

I launched my food business because I love cooking. Between Brexit, the pandemic, and the cost of living - it’s been a really challenging time. I've recently started a part time job to support myself. One day, I'd love to open my own food truck so I can attend more events and markets.

Tide Female Business Owners Index

We've surveyed 458 of our female members** to learn more about the top roadblocks facing women business owners. We found many struggling with challenging economic conditions like high interest rates, as well as juggling priorities in their personal lives. We're using this data to identify how we can best support more women in starting out in business. Here’s what we found:

The impact of rising interest rates

Current conditions have forced 38% of our female members to put plans for business growth on ice – and for 40% of them, it’s difficult to plan for the long term.

The cost of doing business

Our female members continue to struggle in a tough economic landscape, particularly with factors such as inflation (38%) and rising energy costs (25%).

The greatest obstacles

Top challenges for women include difficulty accessing finance (63%) and limited knowledge of both their chosen sector (35%) and how to set up a business (35%).

Personal factors come into play, too

Low self-confidence (33%), not being taken seriously as a female business owner (26%) and lack of help with caregiving responsibilities (23%) continue to hold women back.

Positive outlook

Despite these difficulties, the future is bright: 74% of women in business expect some revenue growth in the next financial year. Their focus includes prioritising digitisation, investing in online ads, and expanding teams.

* Based on an average sample survey of Tide members.
**Survey of 1,327 Tide members took place between 27 Oct and 18 Nov 2023.

TATIANNA DONBAVANDTIDE MEMBER & PERSONAL TRAINER

As a female business owner, I’ve experienced not being taken seriously by realtors, insurers and loan providers. The rising price of studio hire due to energy costs and inflation has also been tough. Despite this, I’m hopeful about expanding my business.

Tips for starting a business

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Meet our members

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Tide | Do what you love.
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