'Equal pay for equal work." Anyone who is familiar with the fight for pay equity knows that expression. While the issue is not yet resolved, women have come a long way in the fight for pay parity with men.
But as more people start their own businesses, women have encountered a new gap. It seems that women, who have fought hard for pay equity, shortchange themselves when they launch their own businesses. Compared with men, they typically charge less and their businesses generate less revenue.
They are doing to themselves what the corporate world has been doing to them for ages -- undervaluing their worth.
Lynda Morris is "guilty" of offering flexible pricing when her clients aren't able to pay the usual rates.
"I always like to offer services to people I think can really benefit from them, and that isn't always the people who can pay top dollar," said Ms. Morris, vice-president of NicLyn Consulting Corp., a Toronto-based remote computer support, maintenance, patch management and consulting firm.
"So, yes, sometimes my pricing goes lower than market value. I am constantly being reminded of it by my male partner."
Having said that, her standard rates -- which she bases on her 25 years of experience in information technology -- may be "a bit more than the average" charged by men in her field. The difference, she said, is her willingness to be flexible.
"Generally, I think women may start off charging about the same as men these days. But from the conversations I have had with women, their pricing is more flexible than men's," she added.
According to the 2004 CIBC Small Business Outlook Poll, "on average, revenues generated by women-run businesses are significantly lower than those seen in businesses operated by men." A third of all enterprises run by women generated less than $50,000 in annual revenue, double the number among firms run by men, the survey said. At the same time, more than 20 per cent of firms owned by men generated annual revenue of more than $500,000, almost double the number among women.
In addition, women, unlike men, said they would be better off financially if they were working as employees rather than as business owners. When asked whether they were making more money than they would if they worked for someone else, female entrepreneurs were much less likely to agree (38 per cent) than their male peers (55 per cent), the survey found.
The poll, which was conducted by Decima Research, surveyed 1,829 Canadian small-business owners, defined as businesses with one to 15 employees and having revenue of less than $5-million.
When it comes to setting rates, women charge less than men do for the same work or similar work "because many women tend to confuse business issues with personal issues," said Gaelle Chevalier, sole proprietor of SciDocs Inc., an English-to-French medical and scientific editing and translation service based in Toronto.
"For example, [women] tend to act on feelings more than on rational thinking. . . . If the client says 'it's too expensive' they might hear 'you are not worth that much' and decide to lower the price."
Ms. Chevalier said she does not charge less than male translators do. "I came into business with the perspective that I'm selling value to my clients," she said. "When you remove the personal aspects from your business, it's easier to remember that quality services come with a price. And it's easier to educate your clients as well. And to let go of the ones who don't want to work with you. I'm totally fine with that."
So, although she works hard to help clients get the job done, she sticks to her rate schedule.
