Globally, women entrepreneurs face a wide range of financial and non-financial barriers that prevent them from entering and/or fully participating in the formal economy. To be sure, many of the barriers that women entrepreneurs confront in the business environment affect other small businesses as well (Foggin, 2010). However, women often contend with additional obstacles above and beyond those encountered by their male counterparts because of persistent social, economic, cultural, and/or legal inequities. Because these barriers do not exist in isolation, this section also explores the unique socio-cultural challenges faced by women business owners. These challenges both inform and often exacerbate the other barriers. Firms that start with higher levels of capital show better performance in terms of assets, revenue, profitability and survival (Ernst & Young, 2009).