Everywhere, Every Day Innovating. Women Entrepreneurs and Innovation

In our study, we set out to better understand how and where women entrepreneurs are innovating in Canada. We knew from our previous study, A Force to Reckon With: Women, Entrepreneurship and Risk, that women entrepreneurs are ambitious and want to grow their businesses. Yet there was little information with respect to women entrepreneurs’ innovation and what the factors are that impact their ability to be innovative. After an extensive literature review we realized the insights were limited and would benefit from qualitative interviews that seek to understand the lived reality of women entrepreneurs relating to innovation. Facing overwhelming interest, we interviewed 146 women entrepreneurs throughout Canada, in all sectors and all stages of business from startup to multimillion-dollar businesses, including Indigenous women entrepreneurs who have not received a lot of attention in the literature. Those interviews showed us that women entrepreneurs are innovating in all sectors and in every aspect of their business and are very aware of the constant need to innovate to stay competitive and grow.

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