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'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.

Diane Mason, on the other hand, does not own a business but still deals with the issue of rates. She works as a lawyer at Mitchell, Bardyn & Zalucky LLP, a 13-member law firm in Toronto, and she charges fixed rates based on her areas of expertise -- real estate litigation, wills and estates. She has some rate flexibility, though, and is inclined "to do more low-rate stuff for squishy emotional reasons."

Ms. Mason said she isn't sure whether her willingness to take on "hard luck cases" is a gender issue. "I can definitely say that I personally am a soft touch on the fees, but I really couldn't say whether that's gender-based. Some of the toughest bitches out there are women lawyers, and I can't see them melting for a sad story if it means working for free or for less."

The gender revenue issue is "an oversimplification," said Ted Mallett, chief economist and vice-president of research for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Observers might see a gap, but business revenue could differ for many reasons, he said; for example, take gender out of the equation and look across industries and you will see huge differences in revenue in different sectors.

Among the factors that influence revenue are formal business training and the number of years a person has been in business, he said. It can take three to five years for a business to show real growth, and women, who are starting their own businesses in increasing numbers, have entered the small business game later than men have, he said.

The facts back up his assessment. About one worker out of six in Canada is self-employed, according to Statistics Canada, but self-employment among women has grown only recently.

Ms. Mason said she suspects that when female entrepreneurs and professionals make less than men, it is because of "the usual systemic stuff, such as lack of daycare and lack of flexible hours." To have greater work-life balance, she also chose "to work in a mid-size, family-oriented firm and not in a Bay Street glass prison, miles and miles from home."

Ms. Chevalier said she wishes she could educate people -- not just women -- about eliminating rate flexibility. "It doesn't benefit them whatsoever; actually it will probably put them out of business sooner or later," she said.

But Ms. Morris said rate flexibility has not inhibited her success. "It's not cut and dry. I work with people on a very personal level, helping them grow their businesses and achieve their goals. I feel I must take into account issues of money."

Whatever the case, the revenue gap appears to be closing, according to a 2004 CIBC study called Secrets to Small Business Success. The average percentage revenue growth from 2001 to 2004 was nearly the same for small firms run by women as those run by men, the study indicated. So equal pay for businesses offering equal value may be around the corner.

Women in business

50%

Growth in the number of women who were self-employed, from 1989 to 2004

33%

Number of female small-business owners generating less than $50,000 in annual revenue in 2004

16.4%

Number of male small-business owners generating less than $50,000 in annual revenue in 2004

SOURCE: 2004 CIBC SMALL BUSINESS OUTLOOK POLL