Visa celebrates the power of personal networks in life and business during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™

Demonstrating the power of ‘support squads’
Visa has launched a new campaign with England hero Fran Kirby to celebrate the power of ‘support squads’ helping elite female athletes and entrepreneurs achieve their professional goals, on and off the pitch.
New research commissioned by Visa finds that female small business leaders who have a very strong ‘support squad’ (a group of friends, family or colleagues) are more than twice as likely to report business revenue growth in the last year, than those who say their squad is not strong at all (67% vs 32%).
Nine out of ten (91%) female small business leaders surveyed say that their support network is key to achieving their professional goals, according to the study, with more than three quarters (78%) saying their business wouldn’t be where it is today without one.
These networks play an incredibly important role, in life, in business and on the pitch, which is why Visa is championing the importance of having a strong, diverse support group while shining a spotlight on Team Visa footballers, small business owners and its own workforce.

Building a supportive squad
Trustworthiness (51%), honesty (42%) and positivity (40%) are the three top attributes female business leaders look for when building their ‘support squad’. Diversity of thought was also found to be key, with more than four in five (81%) of women business leaders saying that they value different perspectives and viewpoints when it comes to achieving their professional goals.
Visa has teamed up with renowned business psychologist, Dr Lynda Shaw, who has provided the following advice for women to take when building their squads, and how they can make the most of them to achieve their professional goals:

• Enlist open communicators – to build a support squad based on honesty and positivity, consider how people interact with others. They should not feel threatened by other people’s successes because they recognise their own strengths and weaknesses. They will often be enthusiastic but, at the same time, focused. Their optimism will be realistic and sensibly brave.
• Encourage mutually beneficial goals – an effective support squad shouldn’t need micro-management. Instead, openly discussing the best way to move forward with bumps in the road, and trusting other people’s judgement is more beneficial. Remember also, that intrinsic motivation often trumps extrinsic motivation, so find out what each member of your squad is motivated by and identify how this can support your goals too.
• Embrace diverse opinions – crucial to building a successful support network is ensuring that each member respects and relishes different points of view, and that they will want to learn from one another. Diversity of ideas and thoughts is extremely beneficial to organisations, so it’s wise to support your squad in ways that they get to know one another well.

As the world gears up for what’s anticipated to be the biggest women’s football tournament to date, Visa is inviting countries across the UK and Europe to join its celebration of support networks, focusing on the individuals behind-the-scenes that are helping women reach their full potential.

England and Team Visa footballer Fran Kirby commented: “My own support network has been instrumental in my journey, celebrating my successes and picking me up during the tough times, such my current injury. It’s so rewarding to see the women’s game going from strength to strength, and be that powerful platform for promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls to achieve their dreams. That’s why I’m partnering with Visa to put ‘support squads’ at the heart of this celebration of women on the world stage.

Supporting women at every stage
Visa’s new Celebrating Squad Goals campaign underscores its commitment to elevating women while driving excellence, equality and inclusion across the whole economy. As part of this, Visa is putting small business owners centre-stage, highlighting the important role they play in powering our economies. Supporting this, Visa’s sponsorship of the tournament’s Player of the Match Award will see women-owned small businesses across 64 matches and 32 qualifying countries awarded with $500,000 in total grant funding, with winners announced live at the athlete trophy presentation.
Visa is the first FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ partner and first standalone partner of UEFA Women’s Football since 2018. Visa also supports female players through Team Visa, providing 33 women football players with tools, resources and support to help them thrive, and through The Second Half, a career development programme co-founded by Visa and Karen Carney MBE to help women plan for their careers beyond the football pitch, which recently expanded to supporting players of La Liga in Spain and Women’s Super League in the UK. UPDATE: By the end of the tournament, Visa gave 64 grants to 48 women owned small businesses from the 25 countries the winning footballers represented totaling $500,000. The range of industries represented by WSMBs included: farming, beauty services, construction, fitness, environmental services, bakery/coffee shops, education services, life coaching, Bee keeping, business services and bars.

Mandy Lamb, Managing Director, UK & Ireland, Visa commented: “When it comes to women’s football, Visa has been in it for the long game, championing women every step of the way – during their playing career and in life afterwards. As our research shows, support networks are really the unsung heroes of the economy and for this reason, we’re urging everyone to join us in putting the individuals that help them thrive in the spotlight.
“We at Visa are determined to grow the sport at all levels, driving acceptance, increasing visibility, and future-proofing the women’s game, and by celebrating squad goals, we hope to elevate their success in business, sport and life.”

About the research
Research commissioned by Visa and conducted by Censuswide with 4,028 European women business leaders who either currently own a small or medium sized business or have a key role in decision-making at small or medium sized business, between 19th June 2023 and 27th June 2023. The data was collected using an online survey in the UK, Portugal, Germany, Italy and Spain.