According to research conducted by American Express in 2019, ‘‘the number of women-owned businesses grew by 21% between 2014 and 2019’’. While there is still a long way to go to find equal opportunities and recognition, facts like this show that now more than ever, women are gaining more space in the entrepreneurial landscape.

While the entrepreneurial ecosystem is difficult and there are numerous deterrents for women against its advancement, throughout history, some women have faced the fear of failure, the absence of alternative sources of income, and achieved great things.

Let's take a look at the story of 4 women who have succeeded as entrepreneurs.

Melanie Perkins, Canva

With almost no business experience, few resources, and even as a teenager, Melanie Perkins and her boyfriend Cliff Obrecht launched an online school yearbook design firm for students to "collaborate and design their profile pages and articles." However, this was just the tip of the iceberg, she had a bigger dream, she wanted to create a one-stop-shop design site.

After getting in touch with the right person and years of building connections and networking, in 2012 she was finally able to launch the Canva design platform, which provides simplified tools for creating vector designs, posters, and banners.

In October 2019, the company was valued as a $ 3.2 billion business. Every month, more than 30 million people use Canva, and it is a fact that 500 companies around the world already use the platform.

Naomi Hirabayashi and Marah Lidey, Shine

Two brains are better than one, and these two women who were coworkers and friends and trusted each other and were motivated to start a personal and professional counseling help desk. 

They thought about how supportive their relationship was for them and how it might change the lives of others who may need advice and attention to find solutions to problems or just to feel encouraged in daily basics.

Focusing on making daily well-being more accessible and determined to reinvent the health and well-being of the Millennial generation through messaging technology, Shine was launched in 2016 and in less than 2 years it had attracted more than 2 million users in 189 countries.

JK Rowling, Harry Potter Sequel

For a writer to become an entrepreneur, specific challenges are required, and JK Rowling met them all. The beginning was not easy at all, she was struggling with many problems in her life, and she was "as poor as you can be in England without being homeless".

However, it was during the darkest times that Rowling began to write her first novel, this being the beginning of everything. After 12 rejections from different publishers, the 13th accepted the book, and in 1997, it took just a couple of weeks for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to become a worldwide sensation.

Seven books later, the Harry Potter sequels had sold around 450 million copies in 78 languages ​​worldwide and spawned eight successful film adaptations.

In less than ten years since the publication of her first book, Rowling had become the most successful literary author of all time.

The world of entrepreneurship is not easy, but neither is life. Over the years, women have shown that they can achieve great things and make a positive global impact.

Would you like to become an enterprising woman? Check out our blog: 5 Success Tips for Young Entrepreneurs where we share some tips to become an entrepreneur.

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