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Earlier this week we discussed the advantages of franchising versus entrepreneurship. We’d like to continue this discussion, just from a different angle. A leading American university has conducted a very insightful study on the effect of gender stereotypes in molding entrepreneurial opportunities, and the study supports our feeling that franchising offers women (and men) the best path to successful business ownership.

Baylor University’s Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice Journal published a paper called “The Role of Gender Stereotypes in Perceptions of Entrepreneurs and Intentions to Become an Entrepreneur”. Four researchers collaborated on the study which aimed to find out how gender perceptions are thrust into the field of entrepreneurship and shape the opportunities available for men and women.

This highly academic study found that a majority of entrepreneurs see entrepreneurship as a masculine profession mastered by people who possess typically male attributes like aggressiveness and independence. Because of the huge gap between men and women as entrepreneurs across the world, the authors of the study present the hypothesis that entrepreneurship is essentially a masculine field.

Their findings are certainly notable. The authors find that a majority of both sexes see entrepreneurship as a masculine field and those who found themselves to be more masculine had higher entrepreneurial intentions.  They also found that women, but not men, find entrepreneurship to possess both masculine and feminine traits.

There are some interesting implications to this study. For one, while many women might aspire to be the next Martha Stewart, the perception that the world of entrepreneurship is a male domain may hinder their ability to get financial backing or capital, especially from other men. While many women have broken through the glass ceiling, this study shows that many gender stereotypes continue to linger.

That said, for women who want to own their own business, a franchise offers a very convenient way to cut through the stereotypes and the bias. If you can cover the franchise fee, the keys to the business will be yours and it will be your work ethic and your drive that will determine the success of your business, not your gender. There are a number of franchisors that are outwardly seeking women. If you’d like to learn about franchise opportunities for women, Franchise Direct is an invaluable resource on this and all matters pertaining to franchising.

Can humans be born with the hard-wiring to be successful at franchising? Is it a genetic intelligence that makes some people more successful than others at running a small business? These are some of the questions that tantalize us. We were fascinated to read a recent article explaining why women are natural born franchisees.

Allbusiness.com recently ran an interview with Mary Ellen Sheets, who started her franchising career way back in 1989 with Two Men and a Truck. Sheets explains the secret to her success in franchising in this article, which seems to come down in some part to her gender. As author Carrie Brenner says:

Women are natural networkers, a skill that’s fundamental to becoming a successful franchisee. Being the new business owner in town, explains Sheets, means going out into the community to introduce yourself and attending events. Women tend to be good at networking within the business community and sustaining support systems with both men and women. Women with a nurturing side tend to excel at customer service — something on which a franchise’s success often depends.

An ability to manage people is also listed as a talent that many women bring to franchising. But before you female franchisees out there lose the run of yourself, Nikki Sells, a franchisee with Tasti D-Lite , lists one area that women franchisees can improve: finance. “Know how much money you have to invest, make sure your credit is really good, and make sure that you’ve got enough cash upfront to invest in the startup fees you need,” she says.

What do you think readers: are genetic predispositions towards franchising only exaggerating stereotypes or are they rooted in something real?

In this week’s Franchise Update, we are bringing you news on the IFA’s upcoming MinorityFran seminars, as well as news on the latest addition to Franchise Direct’s online family: Franchise Direct Canada!

Click here to download this week’s Franchise Update, or watch in the player below:

The IFA have announced details of their upcoming franchise seminars aimed at minority groups. MinorityFran will hold an informative seminar in St. Louis on June 17th. Details can be found on the IFA website.

Franchise Direct are excited to announced the launch of their newest franchise opportunities website for franchise opportunities in Canada. Franchise Direct Canada, will provide an online portal for the franchise community in Canada.

Thanks for watching!

We’ve all witnessed the rapid and remarkable rise of Twitter and Facebook over the last year or so. Social media has quickly become part of the fabric of our lives, but it’s also bringing franchisors and franchisees together.

And as analysts crunch the numbers, an interesting portrait of social media use is beginning to emerge, especially where women are concerned. A recent study by women’s blog network Blogher has said that of the 79 million women online, 42 million participate in some form of social media once a week (this totals about 53% of women). This is groundbreaking information for franchisors looking to develop a better strategy to target female entrepreneurs.

There is more relevant info. The study claims that more 64% of women prefer blogs to sites like Facobbok for information and 55% looks to blogs over social media for opinion sharing.

“Social media continues to be a growing phenomenon, and bloggers, in particular, represent a highly engaged and influential segment of social media users for brand marketers looking to connect to consumers online.” said Susan Wright, President of Compass Partners LLC. “Bloggers have a broad reach in the social media population and the survey demonstrates that women who blog are the most actively engaged social media participants — constantly seeking out new ideas and ways to share their opinions about those ideas.”

Blogher surveyed nearly 3,000 women for this study. Blogger Paul Segreto outlined the ramifications of this study for franchisors on his franchiseEssentials blog recently, and his post resonated with us:

As more and more women explore franchising as a career alternative, choosing to control their own destiny, franchisors must market directly to this rapidly-growing group of opportunity seekers. Joining the force of today’s more sophisticated, educated and technologically advanced transitioning corporate executives, women will use social media to explore and investigate franchise opportunities.

There are abundant signs that people looking to control their futures are turning to franchising. Franchisors trying to target those women need to take a serious look at mastering social media, be it via blogs or Facebook. Read the study from Blogher to learn more.

It’s time to introduce a new kind of entrepreneur: the Mompreneur. She is a woman who, on top of tackling the challenges of raising children and keeping a house in order, is out there starting a business. It’s not as impossible as it sounds, as one franchising Mompreneur is currently proving.

Lisa Druxman is a mother of two and the founder of Stroller Strides, the fitness franchise for new mothers. It’s an innovative franchise concept that takes a lot of work, as Lisa told the Young Entrepreneur blog, when she outlined her daily schedule:

Wake up at 4:30 or 5:00 and grab coffee that has been pre-set and ready. Get on my computer and work on emails from about 5:00 – 6:30 when my kids wake up. I will do the mom thing and get their breakfast, pack my son’s lunch, get them dressed, etc. My son will go to school and then I will take Rachel to Stroller Strides class 3 days per week. My nanny meets me after class and I head right to the house to work. These traditional work hours are when I schedule my meetings, phone calls, etc. I work until about 4:00 when my son comes home from school. I then do the mommy thing again until they go to bed. Luckily, my kids go to bed early (about 7:00). I then work from 7:00 – 10ish and go to bed and it starts all over again.

But by the sound of it, Lisa is not phased by the commitment of running a franchise. She has a lot of interesting things to say to women who are looking to start their own business or open a fitness franchise. She has organically developed Stroller Strides into a thriving business and has this advice to offer to other women:

I hope that all women follow their dreams. I’ve learned that truly anything is possible. The only thing that separates us is those who think about their ideas and those who actually move on those ideas. Go for it. There’s nothing wrong with failure. You just brush yourself off, pick yourself up and go for it again. Approach life as if the net will always appear when you take a leap!