Mastercard | Small Business, Big Change: How Are Women Small Business Owners Going Digital in Their Own Way?

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESS Newswire / December 17, 2025 / Originally published by Mastercard

This blog post is by Renata Żukowska and Emilia Bartosiewicz-Brożyna from Fundacja LBC Business Women Foundation (LBC). LBC implements the GO DIGITAL program in Poland in partnership with Mastercard Strive, a program from the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, and with the support of the Polish Development Fund (PFR).

Women running small businesses are changing their approach to digital technology. Instead of expensive transformations, they're choosing concrete step-by-step actions, supported by other women and well-chosen tools. The result? Time savings, more customers, and a greater sense of security. These are some of the findings from the LBC Foundation's GO DIGITAL report, a first-of-its-kind in Poland that reveals the new face of digitalization, showing how women entrepreneurs are embracing digital transformation and how real support helps them make concrete changes.

The report is part of the GO DIGITAL social campaign and program, carried out by the LBC Business Women Foundation with support from Mastercard Strive and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. GO DIGITAL proved not only to be an impetus for developing digital skills but also a factor in changing business habits and strategies. More than 330,000 women have learned about the GO DIGITAL program since its launch, and more than 50,000 women responded to the resources and content shared. A further 2,500 women received support through GO DIGITAL. The program was groundbreaking not only technologically, but mentally. Female participants stopped seeing digitalization as reserved for big companies and IT departments. They realised that implementations can be simple, accessible, and tailor-made for micro-businesses.

This blog post takes a closer look at some of the key findings and outcomes of GO DIGITAL in Poland.

What did the report show?

Overall, digital transformation is no longer seen as costly and difficult for women-led small businesses. Women began testing and implementing tools for invoicing, customer communication, sales management, and social media management on their own. (See Figure 1.)

1. As many as 62% of female participants have increased their digital skills, and 59% are now more likely to use online tools. Further, one in three female business owners has implemented at least three recommended tools.

2. 57% of participants saved time, 27% reduced costs, and 49% saw an increase in customers (38% considered it significant). The ability to provide implementation support and to connect with a community of women at a similar stage proved critical.

3. As many as 32% of participants used three or more digital tools, such as social media management applications, CRMs, webinar platforms, or password managers.65% of the women introduced specific recommendations from GO DIGITAL into their companies, covering not only technology, but also work organisation or customer service.

4. 84% of female participants rated the program's value positively, highlighting the practicality of the content, clarity of the message, and access to experts. Importantly, the effects continued even after the campaign ended, with 86% of women continuing to use digital tools (46% regularly, 38% occasionally).

Beyond the numbers: How women gained tools, agency, and a new way of thinking about technology

Digitalization is not just about technology - it is also about changing thinking and building internal readiness. The GO DIGITAL program helped participants to overcome fear, gain courage, and believe in themselves as leaders of digital change.

For many women, GO DIGITAL offered them a sense that, for the first time, digital technology was for them too. "This program has emboldened me. Now I approach digitalization in a completely different way," explained one participant. It was important for women to be able to work at their own pace, without pressure - with expert support and plain language.

GO digital also dispelled stereotypes and fears previously held by participants. It promoted digital technology to women, highlighting its importance regardless of age or business profile. To quote one participant: "I realised that I can do it myself - it can be learned."

Offering implementation support to participants, such as individual consultations, pre-selected digital tools, and a sense of community of women who shared their experiences, was key, leading one participant to explain that, "without the support, I wouldn't have known where to start."

The GO Digital community was an important element, where women shared experiences, supported, and inspired each other. As Renata Żukowska, Vice President of the LBC Foundation, explained, "GO DIGITAL is a space where digitalization ceases to be alien, and starts to be a tool for everyday work and development."

What's next for GO DIGITAL

The GO DIGITAL report makes it clear: the biggest barrier for women participants to adopt digital tools was not a lack of knowledge, but the difficulty of implementation. Women knew what to do, but they lacked time, support, and a framework for action.

This is why the LBC Foundation recommends:

• Implementing mentoring with digital mentors,

• Designing learning paths tailored to the level of proficiency,

• Offering a mandatory training module on cybersecurity,

• Driving participant engagement through implementation reminders after 3 months.

These activities are designed to help women not just learn about digitalization, but implement in stages, at their own pace, with real support. This moves the needle from knowledge to action and determines the effectiveness of future programs.

The LBC Foundation, Mastercard Strive, and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth believe that digital transformation in women's small businesses is not a fad, but a necessity. When accompanied by trust, support, and space for growth, campaigns like GO DIGITAL can be effective, even for micro-businesses.

Read the full report: https://ladybusiness.pl/godigital-raport/

Continue reading here.

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SOURCE: Mastercard