Women continue to fight every day to overcome the additional barriers that arise when starting a business, in order to eliminate the gender gap in the business world once and for all.
Despite the fact that the profile of an entrepreneur is still very much linked to the male gender, Spain is crowned as the European country with the most equality within this sector, since there are 9 women for every 10 male entrepreneurs, according to government data.
Specifically, the situation in the islands is also relatively favorable compared to the rest of the country, since the gender gap between entrepreneurs last January stood at 4.63% at the autonomous community level, only behind Galicia and Asturias, as indicated by the statistics of the Observatory of Equality and Employment on its website.
In addition, the data reflects that women continue to be a more evident minority in the province of Las Palmas, with 5.23% compared to 3.93% in terms of gender gap in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
However, the difficulties in starting a business continue to be a reality, whether due to a lack of role models, visibility, resources or causes such as motherhood. Impediments that have not managed to stop thousands of women like Vanessa, Mercedes or Cova, who with great effort have achieved success in Lanzarote.
Vanessa Farraz, business mentor
Vanessa Farraz studied Business Administration and, after living in Madrid, Oxford, Rotterdam and Brussels, and working at the European Commission, she decided that she wanted to fulfill her dream of being a businesswoman in her homeland, in Lanzarote.
In 2011 she created Naturalmente, the first organic store on the island, but over the years she realized that her true vocation was to help in the management of businesses, so she created an entrepreneur mentoring program.
However, Vanessa emphasizes how difficult it is to start a business today as a woman and living on an island like Lanzarote, since family reconciliation and customs taxes leave women from Lanzarote in a situation of considerable inferiority.
"Women have a harder time starting a business than men because we continue to carry most of the weight of household chores," explains the business mentor. "The first year I had to take my baby to the store every day, I even breastfed her while I charged because I had no one to leave her with."
Farraz admits that prioritizing the care of her daughter slowed down the growth process of Naturalmente, turning this stage into one of the most difficult of her life, since motherhood was very demanding as she did not have enough resources, money and family help.
To this is added the complicated customs regime of the Canary Islands, considerably increasing shipping prices by up to 12 euros more. This translates into the fact that for many women it is almost impossible to sell in the Peninsula due to the high costs, as well as import products, since many companies directly prefer not to ship to the islands.
"We have many handicaps in the Canary Islands at the product and sales level, which puts us in a very unfavorable position compared to the rest of Spanish businesses," says the businesswoman. "In addition, if you create a business in non-capital islands like Lanzarote, starting a business becomes an act of pure courage and conviction."
However, Vanessa continues to make a positive assessment of her experience, since the personal and professional benefits in terms of learning, freedom and time management are immense.
Mercedes Pérez, general manager of EPC Canarias
Mercedes Pérez from Madrid arrived in Lanzarote 16 years ago and, after realizing that she could not reconcile family life with her work, she decided to start her own business and create EPC Canarias, a company that rents professional film equipment for large national and international productions such as, for example, Exodus.
"I worked for the parent company EPC Madrid and was offered to lead a specific international project in the Canary Islands," says Mercedes. "There I saw the opportunity, not only to carry out that specific project, but to create a company in the islands that would provide the service on a constant basis."
Until then, no company in the sector could respond to the rental service, so productions had to bring their material from the place of origin. This added value, together with Mercedes' effort and the help of the Lanzarote Business Incubator of the Chamber of Commerce, have made EPC Canarias a constantly growing company, with increases of up to 20% in turnover after the reactivation of the sector due to the pandemic.
Mercedes points out that the key to succeeding in such a masculinized sector is perseverance and desire, as well as a well-defined action plan.
"I have the feeling that women have to demonstrate our value more strongly in this type of sector, but that extra effort is worth it," reflects the director. "There are many opportunities in the Canary Islands, what is needed is conviction."
Cova Bertrand, trainer and coach
Cova Bertrand is an Asturian based in Lanzarote who did not waste time during the pandemic. After training in business sciences and marketing at different universities in Spain, London and Holland, she decided to move to the island and start giving sales training.
"People told me that if I wanted to succeed I had to leave Lanzarote," says Bertrand. "I believe that the possibilities on the island are endless and the limitations are set by oneself, because with digitization today it is easier to expand the market from here, especially at the service level."
After creating the CB Sales School, the first in Lanzarote, she realized that her unusual teaching systems could give her real benefits, so in the middle of the pandemic she created CoVa Method. It is a methodology in the form of a physical and online game that helps companies connect with values and emotions, promotes collective intelligence and helps to know what emotions they want to reflect in the client or in their own team, which translates into higher income.
Such has been its success since then that the CoVa Method is already used in companies in Mozambique and Australia, a service with exponential growth that invoices between 25% and 30% more each year and that already has its eyes set on the Dutch market.
However, the young Asturian insists that it has not been a bed of roses either. During the process she has had to apply for several grants, such as the internationalization aid from PROEXCA, immerse herself in business accelerators, make an effort to get many contacts and combine motherhood with entrepreneurship.
“I started to undertake when my daughter was only one year old, so I had to juggle motherhood with my work”, explains Bertrand. "I had no help to take care of her, so I ask all organizations, offices and coworking spaces to create spaces where we can leave our children while we work. That would encourage entrepreneurship among women."
She also points out the importance of surrounding yourself with women who understand you. Cova is part of different communities, such as Mujeres Extraordinarias, formed by 700 women who talk through an application about their jobs, difficulties and opportunities. The coach maintains that it is vitally important to feel support during the entrepreneurship process.
