Faster, stronger, wealthier

Opinion

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This article was published 08/03/2025 (189 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s not about the potential riches for entrepreneur Kylee Kolesar.

“At the moment, it’s a passion project,” says the 29-year-old owner of Engineering for Kids Winnipeg.

The graduate of mechanical engineering at University of Manitoba has sought a different path than she had planned. Instead of working directly in her field of study, Kolesar is running a business providing extra-curricular learning about physics and chemistry made fun through activities, such as building catapults out of candy boxes and Popsicle sticks.

“Engineering is a field that kids and even most people aren’t all that familiar with, so in introducing kids to it, maybe it’s a career they never thought of before?”

Her enterprise remains a work in progress. Kolesar works side hustles and doesn’t yet draw a salary from the business. But she hopes to one day, as well as paying back her parents for the seed money.

Yet Engineering for Kids is indeed a passionate pursuit — she loves working with children — and her story is not unlike thousands of other women entrepreneurs in Manitoba, says Tracey Maconachie, chief executive officer of WeMB (formerly Manitoba Women’s Enterprise Centre).

“Many are driven by their passions,” says the head of WeMB, which provides advice, education and loans to women seeking to start a business. “They often see a problem or community need and they want to solve it.”

Manitoba, Canada and the world, for the matter, could use more women entrepreneurs — a lot more.

Less than one in five private businesses in Canada are led by women, Statistics Canada data show, despite making up just over half the population nationally and just under half globally.

IG Wealth recently highlighted this statistic for International Women’s Day (which is today), given it illustrates this year’s theme: Accelerate Action.

“Women have made substantial strides in business, but there is still more work to do,” says Christine Van Cauwenberghe, head of financial planning at IG Wealth Management.

This year’s theme speaks to a need to move at a faster pace, particularly with respect to women in business.

“Building a business is one way to grow significant wealth, but women are under-represented as business owners, and sometimes it might be a lack of awareness of the opportunities,” Van Cauwenberghe says.

In Manitoba, women are even less likely to be entrepreneurs, statistics show.

The 2023 report, Women’s Entrepreneurship in Manitoba, found less than 13 per cent of small- and medium-sized businesses were majority-owned by women.

The reasons are many, stemming from a historical hangover of gender inequality. After all, women didn’t even have the right to vote about 100 years ago.

Conditions have obviously improved vastly, but Debra Jonasson-Young, co-director of the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub at the University of Manitoba’s I.H. Asper School of Business notes: “It’s still not a level playing field.”

Challenges and biases remain for women entrepreneurs — and that’s troubling. Starting and running a business may involve a lot of risk. After all, entrepreneurs often don’t just pour their heart, soul, time and effort into their businesses, they often put a lot of money at risk.

The risk of failure is high. According to Business Develop Bank of Canada (BDC), less than 60 per cent survive their fifth year.

Yet without risk, there is no potential for generating substantial wealth.

Being an entrepreneur not only unlocks an individual’s passion. It also provides a path toward personal and family financial security and even vast, generational wealth. After all, many of Canada’s wealthiest families’ roots are in entrepreneurism, including women like Heather Reisman, founder of Indigo Books & Music.

Of course, it’s not about the money, especially for women, says Jonasson-Young.

“It gives them purpose, satisfaction and makes them feel like a difference,” she says. “Money is important, but it is not always the key motivator.”

Yet besides societal factors — like women being more likely to take more time from work as caregivers — economic barriers persist, including access to capital. Jonasson-Young points to women’s share of venture capital in Canada at four per cent.

“Not only do they get a smaller percentage of it, the loan sizes are often a lot less than if a man was getting it.”

That’s where organizations like WeMB aim to bridge the gap.

“We help guide people through the process so we’re de-risking as much as possible to the point where women are comfortable enough to actually take that first step,” Maconachie says. “A big piece of that is we’re willing to do higher-risk loans.”

Typically, when fledgling entrepreneurs go to traditional financial institutions, they find reluctant lenders because the borrowers generally have little collateral, she adds.

Over the last 30 years, WeMB has provided more than $38 million in financing to women-owned businesses in Manitoba. Equally important, it provides mentorship and support, including helping entrepreneurs build business plans.

Among its success stories are candle maker Coal and Canary, and Piccola Cucina, a gluten-free, almond-based Italian food company.

If there’s any message Maconachie has for women who dream of operating a business of their own, it’s to leverage the assistance offered by organizations like WeMB, which has monthly introductory business courses.

“If someone is interested in starting a business, we recommend they participate in our ‘Welcome to Business’ series,” she says, adding the next one is in April.

There is much to know, says Kolesar, who has quickly learned several aspects of running a business on the fly, including bookkeeping. But that’s not a downside, she adds.

“Learning as I go while working in the business, while also working on the business while working odd jobs so I have money — it’s all kind of fun,” Kolesar says.

“If you have an opportunity to try something new, it’s usually worth it.”

Joel Schlesinger is a Winnipeg-based freelance journalist

joelschles@gmail.com