That's a really interesting question. I would have to say that there are both factors at play. In our work with our clients, we do know that women are less likely to ask for the full amount that they might need to finance their planned business growth. That puts them in a really tricky, difficult position. If you don't borrow enough money at the beginning of your project, chances are you're going to have a hard time borrowing more partway through, so there is definitely the women's own perceptions of growth. We currently have a financial literacy peer-mentoring program going on in B.C. to help our women clients understand that if you adequately capitalize your business, you have a greater chance of success.
That's also combined with the fact that our clients are somewhat more conservative. I spent many years in the technology sector, about 20 years, before taking over Women's Enterprise Centre. I worked for National Research Council's IRAP program, which funds R and D in companies. Definitely the projections are much more overstated overall by male-owned businesses. That's part of the reason that the women don't get the financing either, because they don't have the really big performance on their plans, yet it's like the story of the tortoise and the hare. The tortoise got there and actually beat the hare.
We have a combination of the women themselves perhaps with some self-limiting behaviours and then the financing system not necessarily being willing to lend to a client with whom they may not be as comfortable or familiar. Also, there's this whole conservative projection tendency, which I think is a good thing in some ways but also limits them in others.