Three Out Of Ten SMEs In The UAE Owned By Women

More than 30 per cent of firms in the UAE’s SME sector are owned by women, according to UAE-based learning consultant, Carol Talbot.

Passion Is Leadership Trump Card

·        Women leaders will create more than 5m jobs in the SME sector in USA by 2018

Dubai, UAE October 2012: More than 30 per cent of firms in the UAE’s SME sector are owned by women, according to UAE-based learning consultant, Carol Talbot.

She cited a recent study by the UAE’s Ministry of Economy that suggests Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) accounted for 60 per cent to the nation’s GDP in 2011. “Given that a third of SME’s are owned by women, then by default women in business contribute significant amount to the national purse,” said Talbot.

Looking further afield, Talbot also noted that the UAE statistics mirror global figures that show more than 30 per cent of registered businesses worldwide are female-owned entities. Indeed, by 2018, forecasts suggest that more than half of the 9.72 million jobs available in the SME sector in USA will be created by businesses owned by women.  

“Women seem to have emerged from the global financial crisis stronger and savvier, making a real movement of women’s entrepreneurship,” she said, adding that the emergence of women entrepreneurs is also down to the female penchant for passion.

However, Talbot also noted that many women often shy away from leading their businesses and teams to greater heights for fear of being seen as ‘too aggressive and ambitious’.

Talbot believes that facing the self-imposed limits and pushing boundaries will see more women entrepreneurs realising their ambitions.

“Authentic leadership comes from within and is often guided by deep beliefs held by the individual. And this is good, as research suggests that success is a combination of drive, intellect, excellence, courage - and passion," she said.

Talbot is set to talk about this topic at the upcoming Heels & Deals event in Dubai on October 29 when she delivers her keynote, ‘Discovering Your Inner Leader – NLP for the entrepreneurial woman’.

“Imagine how your life could change if you lived in an open state of belief that anything is possible. Indeed, research shows that winners tap into their internal fire to recognise patterns of success. It is about what winners choose to do inside their head, and then use to create results.”

Talbot is a leading expert and Master Trainer in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and has worked with more than 20,000 people across multiple sectors in her twenty year career. 

“NLP is a highly effective methodology based on the belief that all behaviour has a structure that can be modelled, learned and changed. Success does not happen by luck, incident or accident but rather led by an individual with discipline, drive and sense of purpose to make it happen,” she concluded.