The Voice - Summer 2021 - 57

OSPE HUB EXCHANGE
Written by: Judith Pineault. Curated questions by: OSPE's Kingston Exchange Hub Members - Ashley Hosier, P.Eng.,
Harkiran Kaur and David Carnegie, P.Eng.
Engineers Becoming
Entrepreneurs
What areas of entrepreneurship are women
often underrepresented? Are there types of
entrepreneurship where women may be equally
represented or overrepresented?
Here are some Statistics and Research Findings: According
to Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), " Women
entrepreneurs are becoming a driving force in the Canadian
economy. About 50% of all businesses started today are started
by women. However, small and medium-sized businesses owned
by women earn less than half the revenue of comparable maleowned
businesses. Part of this is a function of industry vertical:
the consumer services sector accounts for over half (54.4%) of
early-stage female businesses, followed by business services at
28.2%.1
Although start-ups are evenly gender represented, 55.6%
of female enterprises are micro businesses (under 20 FTE).2
Statistics on Venture Capital (VC) allocation vary from sourceto-source,
however, at the high end only 10% of VC is awarded to
female founders and at the low end only 3%.
Judith Pineault Consulting specializes in assisting female-led
technical start-ups and scale-ups. Of the total number of women
aspiring to entrepreneurial ventures, general conjecture suggests
that women gravitate more to lifestyle and socially impactful
enterprises. It is often a challenge to identify qualified women
founders for STEM accelerator programs.
What support currently exists for female engineers looking
to become entrepreneurs? What supports would you
like to see developed to help female engineers explore
entrepreneurship opportunities?
There is an abundance of incubator and accelerator programs
offered through universities, economic development organizations
and private venture entities. Perhaps due to awareness around
women's under-representation in STEM professions, many
offer cohorts dedicated to female lead enterprises. However, my
experience has led me to conclude that many of these programs
are branded for women, but very few are structured for women.
The tech start-up phenomena of the last decades, exemplified
by " move fast and break things, " highly speculative IPOs,
unicorns, celebrity founders and pitch-games, drips of machismo,
and is highly unappealing to most women aspirant entrepreneurs.
Indeed, I can not think of a more inferior selection mechanism for
venture success than " the Lion's Den. "
Women generally have different approaches and priorities
around business ventures. The programs available for women in
STEM need to change substantively, not just superficially. We
need to develop the feminist canvas.
What is a key indicator of success and how do you know
when you have " succeeded " ?
The commonly used key performance indicators (KPIs) for
venture success are: IP security, expediential growth, export
readiness/success, successful VC rounds, successful IPO and
more. I would posit that other indicators should have equal weight:
* Sustainability: Financially, Socially, Environmentally &
Culturally. It is no longer good enough to " create no harm, " it is
necessary to create societal good.
* More quality, less quantity!
You have succeeded when you have a sustainable business that
contributes positively to all stakeholders. If it makes you and
those associated with it " feel good " so much the better.
How do you know that an idea is a viable business?
Creating a Business Plan is essential. However, I would add that
it is not about the plan, it is about the process. Here is BDC's
recommended Business Plan template.3
Your business plan should include:
1. Business overview: A brief description of your company
and where it stands in the marketplace;
2. Sales & marketing plan: The sales & marketing strategies
that will be used to target your customers;
3. Operating plan: A description of the physical aspect of
your business operations;
4. Human resources plan: Details on your key staff, HR
policies & procedures;
5. Action plan: The planned actions of the business over the
next 2 to 3 years;
6. Executive summary: A summary of the reasons you are
seeking financing, together with a summary of your
business operations;
7. Financial appendix: The facts and figures that back up
what you say in your plan
June 2021 THE VOICE
57

The Voice - Summer 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Voice - Summer 2021