the perception of higher risk in investing in women s entrepreneurialism and cultural bias among loan officers are two reasons cited by local banks as they attempt to target lending programmes for these businesses women business owners also tend to make more conservative investments to minimise risk ifc la furthermore broader consumer research shows that women value personal relationships with individual service providers women want to be treated as individuals while men want to feel like they are part of an important group melnyk et al rather seamless adaptation of product and service enhancements to benefit women will also benefit men and result in an improved customer experience across all segments