Member Article

How can we encourage more women into business?

Although women make up 51% of the population, they currently own only 17% of SMEs in the UK. Why this discrepancy? What can be done to encourage more women into business?

Lawrence Mallinson is the Managing Director and Owner of James White Drinks Ltd, which produces fruit and vegetable juices. His most famous brands are Beet It and Big Tom which are stocked in all major supermarkets. Lawrence is offering a talk on Entrepreneurship, and a week-long internship as prizes in the National Council of Women competition “Giving Young Women A Voice.“ Here he encourages the next generation to enter the male-dominated business world:

I firmly believe there is no reason why a woman shouldn’t be as successful at running a business as a man. After all I share an office with my wife Doe, who runs a thriving classical musical agency so I have been able to watch it being done.

Business is still an area dominated by men but there are many successful female entrepreneurs, and I’m sure the numbers will grow.

The reason men lead this field at the moment could be that fewer women really believe that they can do it. Self-belief and determination are key to making a business work and men tend to have greater confidence in their abilities (not always justifiably!). This self belief can be a huge factor in the success of a business as particularly in the early days when clear leadership is vital.

In the past taking time out of their careers to have children has always been seen as one of the things that holds women back. However this may be changing and could become a significant reason for increased women entrepreneurship.

Getting back into employed work after having a baby has always been challenging – it is extremely difficult to organize looking after small children and working in a full time job. With changes in technology and the way we work, nowadays it is much easier to get a business started from home. Starting a new business is now a realistic and more flexible alternative to going back into full time employment.

This change in circumstances will give many women an opportunity to rethink their careers and change direction. Without this natural break, it can be very hard to step out of the secure environment of a well paid job.

Taking this first step to independence is critical – though it will still take a lot of drive determination and self belief to make it a success. So it is not easier for women. But I think more will try, and hopefully more will succeed.

Starting up a new business is always a risk, it can be really scary. For years I was hovering on the brink of insolvency. I even went on my honeymoon knowing that when I came back I would have to close down my company. I did, but got rescued within a week!

Being in for the long haul has been key to our success. You have to keep going and constantly innovate and eventually the winners will come. From starting out making superb single variety apple juices we have slowly extended our range and found increasing success with vegetable juices. First with Big Tom, our spicy tomato juice ( is a tomato a vegetable?) and more recently with Beet It, our beetroot juice range.

Spotting new markets is fun but working them out can be challenging. When the sports performance research world contacted us to investigate the stamina benefits arising from nitrates found in beetroot juice, we found ourselves unexpectedly supplying beetroot juice to the England rugby team.

This led to us developing concentrated beetroot juice shots which we now supply to nearly 50 universities worldwide for research and many of the leading sports teams across the world. Our challenge now is to sell our shots to keen amateur sportsmen.

Business is hugely competitive. You have to go for it, compete hard and hopefully enjoy it. It’s important to identify your markets and be flexible.

There are key things to learn. My accountancy background gave me a sound understanding of the financial side. However, when you start a business, you feel like you are constantly throwing money over your shoulder as you plough ahead setting things up.

Being an accountant made me realise how much I was spending, and worry about it – this is why accountants do not really make natural entrepreneurs. If I hadn’t had that background, I may have been more entrepreneurial and grown faster, instead I have grown a profitable business very slowly.

A training in accountancy or business can help provide a good overview of how a business works, but I would strongly advise anyone who wants to be an entrepreneur to get experience in an entrepreneurial business. You will learn there that sales are the key to all successful businesses, and you have to make sure that these sales are profitable. The rest is important but no sales – no business!

So my principle advice to young women who are thinking about starting a business, is simply believe that you can do it. You have to be competitive and you have to be comfortable making decisions. Your decisions will determine whether the company is a success and you have to be prepared for that.

I love running my own company. I find it really fulfilling, and can’t recommend it enough. If you have the money to start (now that is a separate story) and the belief and determination to carry you through - then do it.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lawrence Mallinson .