The Top Challenges Faced by Women in Business in 2018 (Infographic) Women entrepreneurs continue to face more hurdles than male entrepreneurs today.

By Rose Leadem

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Thomas Barwick | Getty Images

From entertainment to tech, women continue to face gender-based challenges in nearly every industry -- and entrepreneurship is no different.

In a survey of more than 3,000 men and women entrepreneurs worldwide, 99designs uncovered the surprising number of challenges women entrepreneurs face in business compared to their male counterparts, with everything from raising capital to hiring employees.

Related: 4 Things Women Entrepreneurs Need to Know Before Approaching Angel Investors and VCs

According to the research, surveyed male entrepreneurs were twice as likely to raise $100,000 or more of outside funding for their startups than female entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, these numbers stayed pretty consistent when this survey was conducted last year. When women can't get enough funding to launch their businesses, it affects nearly every aspect of their startups, including hiring employees, renting office space and setting reasonable work hours.

Related: These Female Entrepreneurs Created a Fake Male Co-Founder to Work Around Sexism. How Well It Worked Is Incredibly Eye Opening.

Whether it's due to a lack of funding or lack of employees, women entrepreneurs (68 percent) are more likely than male entrepreneurs (48 percent) to run businesses out of their homes. They are also more likely to register as sole proprietorships than men (49 percent of women vs. 31 percent of men).

In the study, the number of women and men starting businesses in various industries was for the most part equal, with the same number of women and men entrepreneurs going into areas such as business consulting, marketing and PR, retail and media and entertainment. The majority of surveyed men and women also agreed that not asking for help, getting out of their comfort zones and feeling guilt for working too often were some of the top challenges of starting a business.

Related: How to Succeed as a Female Leader Anywhere In the World

However, despite these commonalities, women are still discriminated against and gender inequality continues to persist in 2018. To learn more about women in business this year, check out the infographic below.

Rose Leadem is a freelance writer for Entrepreneur.com. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

'I Was Called Crazy': This 27-Year-Old's Side Hustle Hit $30,000 a Month in Under a Year — Now It's Worth Millions

Changing regulations forced Angel Rodriguez's jet ski rental company to shut down, and the young entrepreneur had to figure out his next move — fast.

Business News

Elon Musk's xAI Claims Its New Grok 3 AI Is Better Than ChatGPT and DeepSeek: 'Seeing the Beginnings of Creativity'

xAI debuted the new AI on Monday, claiming it has 10 times the computational power of Grok 2.

Side Hustle

This 30-Year-Old's $6,000-a-Month Side Hustle Started Making Money 'Immediately' — But He's Not Quitting His Day Job

Derrick Mathy works in orthopedic surgical device sales and is on a mission to bring people together in real life.

Business News

'Unprecedented in Our 53-Year History': Southwest Airlines Announces Its First Mass Layoffs Ever

The airline is eliminating 15% of its corporate workforce, including many in senior leadership positions.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Thought Leaders

24 Signs You're Destined to Become a Millionaire

Start making money at a young age. Warren Buffett sold packets of gum to his neighbors at age six!