Education Is Key to Effectively Financing Small Business Growth, Finds Scotiabank Survey

TORONTO, March 12, 2020 /3BL Media/ – Today, The Scotiabank Women InitiativeTM released a detailed research report – Financial Knowledge & Financial Confidence, Closing Gender Gaps in Financing Canadian Small Businesses – that outlines unique insights into how women entrepreneurs approach the financing and growth of a business.

The research, conducted by Scotiabank, in consultation with Dr. Barbara Orser and Dr. Allan Riding of the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, was undertaken to better understand the financial knowledge and confidence gaps of women entrepreneurs. 1000 entrepreneurs participated in the online survey conducted between October 18 and 29, 2019.

"To date, the majority of studies have focused on general financial knowledge," says Gillian Riley, President and CEO, Tangerine Bank, and executive sponsor of The Scotiabank Women Initiative. "This is among the first studies to focus on women entrepreneurs and small business financial knowledge in Canada."

Some of the key findings include:

• Among all business owners surveyed, 38 per cent do not have a business budget, regardless of level of financial knowledge or gender.
• Two-thirds of survey participants – both men and women – perceive that it is important to grow the scale or scope of their businesses; 32 per cent of women business owners and 26 per cent of men business owners expect sales revenues to grow by more than 10 per cent per year.
• Canadian women entrepreneurs recognize their need to further enhance their small business financial knowledge.

"The Closing Gender Gaps in Financing Canadian Small Businesses report allows The Scotiabank Women Initiative to continue to enhance the Education pillar of our program through online and in-person tools and resources," says Riley. "Our goal is to empower women and support them in taking their businesses to the next level. We have an opportunity help women business owners increase their overall level of financial knowledge and we encourage entrepreneurs to use these insights to grow and thrive in their business."

To read the full report, visit our website.

About The Scotiabank Women Initiative

The Scotiabank Women Initiative is a comprehensive program to help advance women-owned and women-led businesses across Canada through three key pillars: Access to Capital, Mentorship and Education

Since launching in December 2018, The Scotiabank Women Initiative has achieved several notable milestones. In September 2019, the Bank committed to deploy three billion dollars in capital to women-led businesses in its first three years. The program has engaged more than 1,500 women through our Boot Camps and group mentorship sessions across Canada. We formed The Scotiabank Women Initiative Advisory Board of Scotiabank executives, who provide expertise to help women grow their businesses through facilitated small group mentorship sessions and we developed an online Knowledge Centre for self-directed learning.

For more information on The Scotiabank Women Initiative™, visit scotiabankwomeninitiative.com.

About Scotiabank

Scotiabank is a leading bank in the Americas. Guided by our purpose: "for every future," we help our customers, their families and their communities achieve success through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of approximately 100,000 employees and assets of approximately $1.2 trillion (as at January 31, 2020), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit http://www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

SOURCE Scotiabank