With a clear understanding of the enabling environment, market offerings, and demand from women entrepreneurs, the next step is to apply the segmentation framework. This process allows institutions to categorize current or potential clients based on growth potential and entrepreneurial profile. The goal is to move beyond generic SME labels and create a more nuanced understanding of the WSME client base.
The toolkit provides a segmentation tool that can be used to assign women-led or owned businesses into high, moderate, or low growth categories. The first part of the tool focuses on business-level data, particularly expected revenue growth. The second part goes deeper, capturing personal traits, motivations, and behaviors to determine the entrepreneur’s profile within their growth segment.
Depending on the use case, institutions can apply the segmentation tool to a wide sample, such as survey data, or use it for individual client assessments. In both cases, the tool assigns each business to a segment and profile, revealing patterns across the customer base that can guide strategic decisions, product development, and resource allocation.
Segmenting clients allows you to assess whether existing products and services meet the needs of each group. For example, you may discover that high-growth clients are underrepresented in your portfolio or that low-growth entrepreneurs lack access to basic support. These insights help refine client engagement, improve targeting, and unlock new market opportunities.