The small business finance canyon.
EDITION 11: INVEST ON PURPOSE
You’ve all heard the famous riddle: what comes first, the chicken or the egg? Well, this is precisely what it is like to get a business loan. A friend starting a wine bar recently put it perfectly: "So... you'll lend me money if I already have money? That makes zero sense." Her actual words were more colorful, but we'll keep it clean for the newsletter
Welcome to the first edition of our Small Business Funding Decoded series! Over the next few weeks, we're mapping the possible paths across what I am calling the “Small Business Finance Canyon”—from the well-worn SBA trails to the steep cliffs of traditional banking. Why? Because in my conversations with women entrepreneurs, one thing keeps coming up: most don't even attempt the crossing because the financing paths look too treacherous.
“The Canyon” by the numbers…
Let's talk about just how wide this canyon really is :
Women are 3x more likely to get denied a business loan than men
When women do get approved, they're less likely to receive the full amount requested (45% of women vs. 55% of men in 2023)
During the COVID-19 pandemic? While 90% of male business owners received business loans, only 50% of women did
Even the "good news" isn't great: only 1 in 5 SBA loans go to women owners
This isn't just a gap. It's a canyon so vast it makes the Grand Canyon look like a sidewalk crack. And it's exactly why we're building BeeCene.
EDITION 11: INVEST ON PURPOSE
The small business finance canyon.
You’ve all heard the famous riddle: what comes first, the chicken or the egg? Well, this is precisely what it is like to get a business loan. A friend starting a wine bar recently put it perfectly: "So... you'll lend me money if I already have money? That makes zero sense." Her actual words were more colorful, but we'll keep it clean for the newsletter
Welcome to the first edition of our Small Business Funding Decoded series! Over the next few weeks, we're mapping the possible paths across what I am calling the “Small Business Finance Canyon”—from the well-worn SBA trails to the steep cliffs of traditional banking. Why? Because in my conversations with women entrepreneurs, one thing keeps coming up: most don't even attempt the crossing because the financing paths look too treacherous.
“The Canyon” by the numbers…
Let's talk about just how wide this canyon really is :
Women are 3x more likely to get denied a business loan than men
When women do get approved, they're less likely to receive the full amount requested (45% of women vs. 55% of men in 2023)
During the COVID-19 pandemic? While 90% of male business owners received business loans, only 50% of women did
Even the "good news" isn't great: only 1 in 5 SBA loans go to women owners
This isn't just a gap. It's a canyon so vast it makes the Grand Canyon look like a sidewalk crack. And it's exactly why we're building BeeCene.
Welcome to the opaque red tape…
Imagine this: You're starting a business, standing at the canyon's edge, dreams blazing, spreadsheets pristine. The loan officer takes one look at you and says, "Great! We'll give you $200,000 if you can prove you already have $200,000 in assets."
Record scratch ... Wait, what?
Even SBA loans, which should be like having a professional tour guide across the canyon, come with their own bizarre requirements:
"Prove you have assets before we give you assets"
"Show us your successful history before we help you build that history"
"Demonstrate massive scaling potential, even if your goal is steady, sustainable impact"
And here's what no one talks about—most women-owned businesses aren't trying to scale Mount Everest (or rather, become a VC backed tech unicorn). They're practical, purpose-driven companies building solid foundations in service, retail, healthcare, and local communities.
Why this series? Why now?
We're tired of watching brilliant women entrepreneurs stuck at the edge of this canyon, often being offered smaller funding amounts than their male counterparts, if they're offered any at all . So we're building a bridge: where women investors directly support women-owned businesses through accessible, automated micro-investments. No opaque red tape. No complex rope bridges to cross.
Over the next few weeks, we'll explore:
The reality of SBA loans (and why they're not the solution we’d expect)
Community lending & private credit alternatives
The pros and cons of crowdfunding
Traditional banking (and why it's stuck in the 1950s)
How BeeCene is building a better way across
Be part of the solution…
Are you a woman business owner who's faced this canyon? We need your perspective.
Know an entrepreneur who’s faced the financing challenge? Forward this newsletter. Better yet, tell them to sign up directly for this series. The more voices we have, the stronger our bridge will be.
We're creating a platform that actually makes sense for real businesses (novel concept, right?), and your experiences will help us build better experience. Take our 5-minute survey to share your funding journey—the good, the bad, and the "wait, seriously?" moments.
https://app.youform.com/forms/vzzywikz
Want to be among the first to know when BeeCene launches? Make sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram. We're not just talking about building bridges—we're actually doing it.
Stay tuned for next week's deep dive into SBA loans (spoiler alert: it's both better and worse than you think).
Invest on purpose. Bridge the canyon.
——
This newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice.
Sources
https://attorney-newyork.com/business-loan-statistics/
https://www.mycnote.com/blog/small-business-credit-survey-report-on-women-owned-firms/
