Shaping a new future for women in hospitality

Hospitality has always been about more than food and drink. It’s one of the most practical ways to turn a real-world skill into a business.

Hospitality and tourism is undoubtedly an important sector for the employment of women. The sector has one of the highest numbers of female workers, who make up 54.2% of the workforce.

Because of this it is also a popular sector for women to set up their own business. The Federation of Small Business (FSB) has stated in its research (.PDF, 111 KB)(Opens in a new window) that 31% of small businesses are owned by women, rising to 41% of small businesses in the hospitality and tourism sector.

But it’s also important to be honest. Hospitality can be tough with tight margins, long hours, and constant operational decisions.

The good news is that starting a hospitality business doesn’t have to mean jumping straight into a full restaurant lease and a big fit-out.

There are a range of routes into hospitality, some of which could be lower-risk and more flexible than traditional models, and may suit different life stages.

So you’re thinking about starting a café, pop-up, catering brand, or small restaurant, here are practical strategies which could help to get your business off the ground.

Why start a hospitality business?

Hospitality can offer something many careers don’t – independence, creativity, and visibility in the community.

A café can become a neighbourhood hub; a street food business can become a local institution; and a catering brand can support weddings, offices, pop-ups and private events.

Customers are also increasingly seeking out independent businesses over big chains and story-led brands that feel values-driven.

For women founders, hospitality can be a path to building a business that aligns with your skills and values.

Routes into hospitality ownership

Here are several examples of entry routes, and who they tend to suit best.

Catering

Catering can involve anything from cake making, lunch delivery, corporate platters and private dining to specialist products.

It could be a great entry point if you have a strong product and you’re already comfortable with the planning, prep, and logistics involved.

It may also make it easier to test demand with smaller offerings or weekend orders, and can offer more flexibility around family life.

However, it could involve difficult peak work times, and what you produce may be limited by your storage and kitchen space.

Best for...Catering

Catering may suit founders with a strong, repeatable product or those with access to events, work, or business orders.

For example, if you’re known for celebration cakes or charcuterie boards, you could supply the same products to weddings, parties, or offices.

Pop-ups and market stalls

Pop-ups are one of the smartest ways to build a brand quickly.

Compared to food trucks or cafés, pop-ups or market stalls are typically lower commitment.

A stall could also be an excellent opportunity to connect directly with your customers.

You get customer feedback in real time, and you can refine what sells before committing to a permanent site.

But these options might be affected by unpredictable factors, such as poor weather and uneven footfall.

They could also involve a lot of admin, including applications and trading requirements.

Best for...Pop Ups

If you hope to open a café in the future, this could be an excellent way to make contact and build confidence.

You could also test product demand with a smaller menu.

Learn how to start a market stall business.

Food truck

A food truck or small mobile unit could offer a more established setup without a permanent lease.

You can build brand visibility quickly and may be able to trade in different places, such as business parks and festivals.

However, you may face higher upfront costs, including vehicle and insurance costs.

You could also lose trade if there’s a maintenance issue, and you will likely need to get permissions and fulfil location requirements.

Best for...Food Trucks

It could be a good fit for women entrepreneurs who want event-led revenue and don’t mind early starts and travel.

Residency

This model means running your food offer inside another venue’s space, such as a pub, bar or community space, often with shared equipment and an existing customer base.

You could benefit from the venue’s current footfall and lower costs than taking on your own premises.

However, your success may depend on their popularity and opening hours.

You may also have less control over the full customer experience than you would in your own space.

Best for...Residency

If you want to build credibility quickly and test an evening concept before opening a restaurant, this could be a strong starting point.

Opening a café

Cafés could become community hubs with repeat customers and predictable peak periods, especially if your products and customer service are consistent.

Repeated trade from regulars and a positive community impact could make this a satisfying option.

Daytime trading hours could suit your lifestyle and responsibilities.

However, the lease and fit-out costs could be high.

Even small gaps in staffing or training could quickly affect service standards.

Best for...Opening a cafe

This route could suit you if you enjoy dealing with regular customers face to face, and you’re organised enough to manage daily operations consistently.

Opening a small restaurant

A small restaurant may be the dream for many entrepreneurs.

It is typically the most hands-on way to run a hospitality business, with a higher average spend potential and the chance to create something unique.

You may also have more creative control over your menu and the atmosphere than you would with pop-ups or markets.

Bear in mind that this route is likely to be one of the most complex and expensive ways to run a start-up.

Bookings can be unpredictable, and staffing and fixed costs could put pressure on cash flow, especially in the early months.

Best for...Opening a small restaurant

This route may suit if you already know your concept works and you’ve seen real customer demand.

It could also be easier if you have the right people and experience to run a daily service.

Read our guide on how to open a restaurant.

The reality of being a female entrepreneur in hospitality

Often, if you want to start a hospitality business as a woman, you can come up against certain obstacles that men are less likely to encounter.

However, with the right planning and support, you may be able to move through them and build something.

These challenges may include:

Access to financing

Not everyone could self-fund a hospitality business, especially when there are upfront costs such as equipment, stock, deposits, and fit-out work.

According to the House of Commons Female Entrepreneurship 2024-26 report, women-led businesses are underfunded, receiving just 2% of equity investment in 2024.

If access to funding is limited, it could affect how you start your business and how quickly you grow – you may want to work in stages, rather than taking on all the costs at once.

For example, you could test demand through pop-ups or catering before committing to a lease.

It may also help to build a simple financial forecast that includes quieter months and a realistic ramp-up period.

If you’re looking for funding, consider clearly outlining what you would use it for and the difference it could make.

If you’re exploring funding, the Start Up Loans programme offers government-backed personal loans for business purposes from £500 to £25,000, with a competitive fixed interest rate per year and repayment terms of 1 to 5 years.

Successful applicants can also access up to 12 months of free mentoring, plus support with business planning.

Confidence and visibility

As a woman entrepreneur, you may find yourself navigating suppliers, landlords, investors, and industry networks where you feel underestimated.

You could also feel you have to prove your credibility more quickly to be successful.

Some founders build confidence by practicing their negotiation skills and connecting with peer communities or mentors who share their experiences as entrepreneurs.

It may also help to bring data into financial conversations, such as sales trends and customer demand.

You could also document key decisions and agreements in writing, so you have a clear record to refer back to.

Read our guide on support and mentoring for female entrepreneurs.

Challenging work-life balance

Hospitality is time-intensive, and your busiest times may clash with other obligations. 

This doesn’t mean you should abandon your ambitions for your hospitality business.

Consider designing your business model with your responsibilities in mind from the start.

You might choose fewer trading days at first, then expand when the business can afford to hire employees to cover you.

Or, you could offer a smaller menu to reduce stress and staff training time, and outsource time-consuming tasks such as bookkeeping and payroll.

Safety and wellbeing

Late nights, lone working, travelling, and inappropriate customer interactions could be common challenges for a hospitality business.

Harassment of women in the workplace is well-documented, so to best ensure your well-being, you might consider implementing safety measures.

These could include creating a buddy system to avoid working alone, having a clear reporting system for staff, and a risk assessment in line with HSE lone working guidance.

You could also consider practical security measures, such as visible CCTV and secure locks, to reduce risks.

Beginning a hospitality business as a female entrepreneur

Start with what sells

It could be tempting to offer a wide menu so your customers feel like they have choices.

However, this could create waste, slow service, and make it harder to maintain consistent quality in the early days.

A more sustainable approach could be a smaller menu made up of quick-to-serve items, with shared ingredients to keep prep simple.

You may also want to consider offering or focusing on items that meet specific dietary requirements, such as gluten-free sandwiches or vegan baked goods.

As demand for certain items grows, you could then consider expanding your menu while maintaining quality and service.

Know your numbers early

A hospitality business could look busy but still struggle financially.

This is why understanding your numbers early could make a huge difference.

Here are some key definitions to understand:

• revenue vs profit – revenue is all the money you take in, while profit is what’s left after you pay for ingredients, staff, overheads, and everything else
• gross margin – the money left after direct costs; it needs to be strong enough to cover labour and overhead costs
• labour as a controllable cost – hiring more labour can help you expand your business, but at a cost. Cutting back on labour could help you save money, but could damage customer service and experience
• cash flow – you can be profitable ‘on paper’ and still run out of cash if bills hit before income arrives, or if you invest too heavily in stock/equipment before you receive payments.

Numbers to track weekly could include:

• the average spend per customer or order value
• the cost per dish (including waste)
• labour hours compared to your takings
• a simple estimate of what you need to sell to cover your main costs
• stock waste and spoilage.

Read our guide to essential accounting skills for new business owners.

Download our free cash flow forecast template.

Test demand before committing

A lease could lock you into fixed costs before you know demand is there, so you may want to test demand first.

To create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or launch, you could run tastings with clear feedback forms, offer limited pre-orders, do collaborations with other hospitality businesses, or trial an office delivery service for a specific area and day.

As you sell, it may help to track what sells well, how customers respond to your pricing, and whether people come back and buy again.

Growth routes that won’t break you (or your cash flow)

Growth can be exciting, but in hospitality, it could also expose weaknesses in capacity, staffing, cash flow, or quality control.

If you’re deciding whether to grow, it may help to pause and ask:

• What’s working now?
• What is the constraint (time, staff, space, or cash)?
• What change could lead to growth with the least risk?

These answers could help you pick the more cost-effective route.

Add B2B catering services

Supplying offices, local partners, schools, or event spaces could offer more predictable revenue than relying only on walk-ins.

It may also help you plan production and staffing more efficiently.

Start a retail line

If you have a product that already sells consistently (for example, sauces or baked goods), a small retail line could increase your average customer spend.

This idea may work best once your production is stable and you understand shelf life and packaging.

Second site vs additional service

A second site is a big jump, including more rent, another team, and potentially, more challenges.

Sometimes, adding a service line first (such as weekday catering alongside a café) may be a lower-risk route to growth, as it can leverage the same location and team.

Collaborations

Partnerships with local producers, venues, and women-led networks could help you reach new customers without committing to a heavy marketing spend.

Collaborations with other businesses can also be fun and energising.

Building a support network

Building a hospitality business as a female founder can often mean building a support network.

Consider the following options:

Mentors and peer groups

Peer support can help you make better decisions faster, especially when you’re facing a tricky staffing issue, a pricing dilemma, or a supplier problem.

If you’re looking for women-focused communities, you could explore organisations such as Inspiring Women in Hospitality or the Hospitality Industry Network.

You could also look at business community groups in your local area.

Training and upskilling

Depending on your route, training may help you feel more confident in areas such as food safety, cooking techniques, marketing, and leadership and people management.

The right short course can save you months of trial and error.

Explore our Learn with Start Up Loans courses through the Open University.

Find professional advisors

You may not need a large advisory team, but having the right people (such as an accountant, HR support, or a solicitor) around you could help reduce legal and financial risks.

It may feel like an extra cost, but good advice could prevent expensive mistakes.

Personal support

As a female entrepreneur, personal support with life admin could help you find the time to reach your business goals.

This could include childcare that matches your trading hours, boundaries for rest, and agreements with partners or family about peak periods and responsibilities.