Do men make better entrepreneurs than women? Not according to a recent policy paper from the US-based Kauffman Foundation, which found that women entrepreneurs bring particular sets of skills that not only set them apart from their male counterparts but lend themselves to success in business. The statistics are cause for quiet optimism - the number of female entrepreneurs increased by 9.6 per cent in the two years to 2013 compared to a rise of 3.3 per cent for men; and hubs like Google's Campus have seen a steady increase in female entrepreneurs among its members, up 9 per cent year-on-year.

The truth remains, however, that these women-led enterprises are not scaling up at a rate even close to male-led companies. This is not necessarily as alarming as it sounds: a recent Sage study suggests that while men prioritise "putting money in their pockets", female entrepreneurs are driven by a "true passion"; women also display greater ambitions to become serial entrepreneurs, so may be leaving their businesses before they see significant growth; and some female entrepreneurs intentionally keep their ventures small to maintain the "work-life balance".