Pre-Venture Needs Assessment for Nascent Entrepreneurs – Does Gender Matter?

Nascent entrepreneurs face the challenges of starting businesses in the same way their counterparts have in the past. This project was designed to determine if female and male entrepreneurs ’ information needs are different. The study determined that while their information needs are probably similar, the need for assistance and the importance assigned to that assistance, female entrepreneurs seem to want more assistance and attach more importance to assistance with business planning, finance, marketing, human resources, and operations than males. Assistance with business planning, finance, and marketing were more important to both groups of nascent entrepreneurs than human resources and operations