Most efforts to support women-owned and led small and medium enterprises (WSMEs) have centered on enterprise size as the most significant parameter for segmentation, labeling businesses according to their size and layering a gender lens on top. Although size is easy to measure, it doesn’t capture the complexities that determine the growth of a business, or the characteristics, constraints and motivations of the entrepreneur behind it.
The WSME Segmentation Framework takes a bold step away from traditional size-based approaches, shifting the focus to growth as a more relevant parameter for financial institutions and other providers serving WSMEs. By focusing on 5-year projected revenue growth as the primary criterion, the framework identifies three distinct segments:
- High Growth, >50% annual enterprise growth over the next 5 years
- Moderate Growth, 20-50% annual enterprise growth over the next 5 years
- Low Growth, >20% annual enterprise growth over the next 5 years
Within each segment, the framework further differentiates businesses into two entrepreneur profiles. These profiles were created by incorporating 15 core dimensions that determine a business’s future trajectory, as identified by our research. These dimensions include the aspirations, business behaviors, and financial needs of the WSMEs and their leaders.
Each profile identifies the key drivers of the WSME and demands a different kind of support:
- Wealth Creation (High-Growth Segment): these entrepreneurs are ambitious, growth-driven, and often tech-savvy. They are willing to take calculated risks and pursue aggressive expansion, including entering new markets or adopting new technologies. Many are open to equity investments and actively seek out advanced support such as accelerators, strategic partnerships, and high-level mentorship. Tailored solutions should focus on scaling capital, equity readiness, and global growth strategies.
- Legacy Building (High-Growth Segment): while just as capable of achieving high growth, these entrepreneurs are driven by long-term goals like family involvement, community impact, or generational wealth. They tend to prefer maintaining control over their business and are cautious about outside investment. They value sustained relationships with financial providers and long-term support strategies, such as succession planning and values-aligned growth.
- Aspired Expansion (Moderate-Growth Segment): these are seasoned business owners who have the skills, networks, and motivation to grow, but face constraints that slow their pace, such as limited access to external capital or significant family obligations. They are thoughtful about expansion, often reinvesting profits rather than seeking loans. Services that offer flexible financing, peer learning, and hands-on business coaching are most effective here.
- Stability (Moderate-Growth Segment): Entrepreneurs in this profile prioritize reliability and local market presence over rapid growth. They may be content maintaining a steady income and supporting a small team, often within their immediate community. Digital uptake may be lower, and risk aversion higher. These entrepreneurs benefit from relationship-based banking, simplified loan products, and local business support services.
- Livelihood (Low-Growth Segment): These women run businesses primarily to support their household needs. Growth is not the central goal, stability is. They often operate informally, rely on personal bank accounts, and may lack the business knowledge or tools to formalize. For this group, basic financial literacy training, formalization support, and access to foundational credit and savings products can make a significant difference.
- Survival (Low-Growth Segment): These entrepreneurs are often in precarious situations, running businesses out of necessity rather than opportunity. They face major barriers, lack of capital, low education, limited networks, and have little bandwidth for long-term planning. Interventions for this group must be accessible, trust-building, and focused on resilience: microloans, mobile banking, and entry-level business skills are critical for this group.
By recognizing these distinctions, financial institutions and service providers can design tailored solutions that meet WSMEs where they are, and help them move to the next stage. A couple of examples:
- for Wealth Creation entrepreneurs, financial institutions can offer tailored equity financing options and connect them with strategic investors aligned with their growth vision.
- for Legacy Building entrepreneurs, business service providers can offer accelerators focused on international expansion, digital tools, and leadership development to help them scale.
By improving services to WSMEs based on their different profiles, financial institutions and service providers will realize substantial returns while unlocking business growth for women entrepreneurs at each stage.
Learn more from the report: What Enables Her Business to Grow. A New Segmentation Framework To Unlock the Opportunity of Serving Women-Owned/Led Businesses in Emerging Markets