When Caroline Criado-Perez led the campaign to keep a woman on UK banknotes in 2013, she could not have predicted the scale of the backlash. What began as a call for representation turned into a torrent of sexist abuse and threats. Her response is a masterclass in resilience for women entrepreneurs: the ability to absorb pressure, recover from setbacks and keep moving forward with purpose.

Rather than retreating, she used the experience to fuel further campaigning: pressing for better reporting tools on social media, highlighting the failure of police to tackle online threats, and later securing a statue of suffragist Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square. Her book Invisible Women continues to challenge the gender data gap in business, public policy and design.

For women running their own company, that quality is not optional. Rejection, cash-flow crises, funding knock-backs and market shifts are part of the job. Resilience is what turns a difficult month into a learning curve rather than an exit route.

The good news is that resilience is not a rare genetic gift. It is a set of behaviours and support systems that can be strengthened over time. As entrepreneur Kanya King, founder of the MOBO Awards, has put it:

I haven’t got where I am today because of any extraordinary talent, but because if you do what you do for however long it takes and refuse to quit, success is only a matter of time.

Resilience is learned, not inherited

It is tempting to assume that resilient people are simply born confident, driven or thick-skinned. Personality helps, but it is only part of the picture. No one emerges from childhood fully equipped to handle crisis. Resilience is built through experience, reflection and, crucially, connection.

Resilience is strengthened by belonging to a supportive community and having at least one person you can rely on when things unravel. For business owners, that might mean a trusted mentor, a peer group of fellow founders, an industry network or a supportive family. Campaigner Shami Chakrabarti captured the risk of going it alone when she said:

All it takes is for you to feel vulnerable in your personal life and external criticism will take on a resonance that it wouldn’t otherwise have.

Criado-Perez’s public resilience was clearly reinforced by the vocal solidarity of other women. In business, the same principle applies: a strong network does not just open doors; it buffers you against the inevitable knocks. If you are starting a business, prioritise finding a mentor and joining women’s business networks early. These relationships are not a luxury; they are part of your infrastructure.

Why resilience for women entrepreneurs matters now

The case for resilience is not abstract. UK women entrepreneurs still operate in an uneven landscape. According to the British Business Bank’s Small Business Finance Markets 2024 report, all-female founder teams receive around 2p of every £1 of UK venture capital investment. The 2019 Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship found that closing the gender entrepreneurship gap could add up to £250 billion to the UK economy. ONS data from 2024 shows that women account for around one-third of the UK’s self-employed workforce, yet women continue to start businesses with less capital, less access to finance and fewer role models than men.

The British Business Bank also notes that women-led businesses are more likely to be discouraged from seeking finance and less likely to use external funding than male-led firms. The 2023 Rose Review Progress Report confirmed that while the number of female-led businesses has grown, the funding gap remains stubborn. Add in the pressures of the cost-of-living crisis, rising energy costs, caring responsibilities and rapid shifts in consumer behaviour, and it is clear that mental toughness alone is not enough. Sustainable resilience comes from practical habits, supportive relationships and a clear sense of why you started.

Practical ways to build resilience in your business

Resilience can be cultivated. The following strategies are tailored for women running their own ventures:

1. Nurture your relationships. Invest time in family, friends, peers and mentors who will tell you the truth and cheer you on. Isolation drains resilience faster than almost anything else.
2. Reframe setbacks. A lost client, a rejected pitch or a failed product launch is data, not a verdict. Ask what you can learn and what you would do differently next time.
3. Focus on what you can control. Market conditions, investor bias and competitor behaviour are outside your influence. Your response, your offer and your customer relationships are not.
4. Set realistic goals and take small steps. Break big ambitions into weekly actions. Momentum builds confidence, and confidence builds resilience.
5. Take decisive action. In a crisis, it is easy to freeze. Even an imperfect decision moves you forward and prevents problems from festering.
6. Look after your mind and body. Sleep, exercise, boundaries and time away from the screen are not indulgences. They are performance tools.
7. Keep perspective. One bad quarter does not define your business. Zoom out, look at the trend line and remember why your work matters.
8. Maintain a hopeful outlook. Visualise success, celebrate small wins and remind yourself that most successful founders have weathered failures you will never hear about.

For more on protecting your wellbeing, read our 7 wellbeing tips for women entrepreneurs: build resilience.

Resilience in action: UK women who kept going

Caroline Criado-Perez is not the only example of resilience in action. Kanya King built the MOBO Awards from a kitchen-table idea into a globally recognised brand despite repeated rejections. Sara Davies launched Crafter’s Companion while at university and grew it into an international craft business, later becoming the youngest investor on Dragons’ Den. These women did not avoid failure; they responded to it.

Closer to home, thousands of women entrepreneurs across the UK have pivoted their services, adopted new technology and rebuilt customer bases after economic shocks. Their stories rarely make headlines, but they demonstrate the same truth: resilience is ordinary people choosing to carry on.

You do not have to be a lone ranger

The most damaging myth about resilience is that it means toughing it out alone. It does not. A positive self-image and the ability to bounce back are far more likely to flourish when you are supported by people who understand the journey.

So the next time you face a cash-flow squeeze, a difficult client or a launch that falls flat, remember Caroline Criado-Perez. She did not silence the trolls by pretending their words did not hurt, and she did not do it alone. She drew on her community, clarified her purpose and kept campaigning. That is the kind of resilience for women entrepreneurs that can be built through community, purpose and persistence.

Action steps

1. Audit your support network this week. Identify one mentor, peer group or network you can join.
2. Review your last setback. Write down three things you learned and one action you will take as a result.
3. Block time in your diary for rest and exercise. Treat it as a business appointment, not an optional extra.
4. Set one realistic goal for the next 30 days and break it into weekly tasks.
5. Celebrate one small win before the end of the week, however minor it feels.