Small business, big impact: the transformative power of women-led enterprises

Small businesses are the hearts and souls of communities. Your local barber and corner stores offer more than just transactional interactions for essential products and services. They are places where people listen to your everyday problems and foster a sense of belonging. What’s more, there’s a one in three chance that these micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), like the one I’m lunching in, are led by women.

There are more women than ever in business, yet most have only three-quarters of the legal rights that men have when it comes to career, finances and work-life balance – this is despite the fact that women-led businesses are vital for their reinvestment into household incomes and national economies and for their transformative power. The latest evidence on women-led businesses finds that they reduce poverty, drive job creation, spark innovation and contribute to safer, greener and more vibrant communities, ensuring that everyone thrives collectively. These women-led enterprises are regenerative forces – building business communities and hiring local workers. Local economies cannot succeed without them.