SBA, Yaro, Tim Berry, Newsweek–Round-up of Interesting Links

Written on September 23, 2007 by Amanda M. Gladden

While a lot of researchers have in the past suggested that gender accounts for the differences in the level of success observed between male and female entrepreneurs, I came across the results of a study released last week, that found something a bit different. The study commissioned by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, found that gender alone does not affect a company’s performance.

Are Male and Female Entrepreneurs Really That Different?, is the study authored by Erin Kepler and Scott Shane, who are professors of entrepreneurial studies at Case Western Reserve University. Here are a few of the differences they found when other factors like motivation, expectations and preferences are controlled for:

Women were less likely than men to purchase their business.

Women were more likely to have positive revenues, but men were more likely to own an employer firm.

Female owners were more likely to prefer low risk/return businesses.

Men spent slightly more time on their new ventures than women.

Male owners were more likely to start a business to make money, had higher expectations for their business, and did more research to identify business opportunities.

Male entrepreneurs were more likely to found technologically intensive businesses, businesses that lose their competitive advantage more quickly, and businesses that have a less geographically localized customer base.

Take a look at the full study on the SBA’s Office of Advocacy’s website, here

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Tim Berry posted on his Up and Running blog If You Dread Planning Your Startup, Don’t Start It in which he makes the excellent point that we should not be intimidated at the thought of planning a business and if we are intimidated, then it should be a clue :

If thinking through the core elements of your business, or for that matter the details of your business, isn’t interesting, then get a clue. You’re not really looking forward to it. Do you not want to do it?……….if you dread the planning of your next vacation, stay home. If you dread the planning of your new startup, don’t start it.

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Yaro Starak asked Is eBay The Biggest Untapped Online Money Making Opportunity?

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Newsweek posted a short article about sites like prosper.com and circlelending.com, Is Peer to Peer Lending for You?

Stay tuned for an article on this blog on how to create a listing on Prosper that gets you funding for your business.