Women entrepreneurs pessimistic or realistic about growth?

Over a third of women business owners (36.7%) are forecasting 10% revenue growth in 2009/10 according to findings of a major report on UK entrepreneurship. But female entrepreneurs are a lot more cautious than men when it comes to assessing their prospects.

According to the annual Entrepreneurship UK report released by accountants Deloitte’s, 42% of men expect to see turnover increase by between 50-200% over the next three years.

This compares to just over 32% of women who anticipate similar growth over the same period.

Debbie Griffiths of Deloitte says:

Expectations amongst women entrepreneurs are relatively guarded at this point, a sentiment that is only heightened when compared with the confidence displayed of their male counterparts.

When it comes to how growth is likely to be achieved, men and women also differ significantly.

Female business owners say entry into new markets (32%) and increased productivity (29%) will be the key drivers to boost business over the next few years.

Male entrepreneurs consider these areas less important (20% and 17% respectively).

Optimism is a byword for entrepreneurship, but hard-nosed realism is a must too.

The question is are women less confident in the prospects for their business, or are they simply avoiding the bravado of the alpha-male to look at the commercial climate with realistic eyes?

[Picture credit: Dyanna licenced from Flickr]