GUEST COLUMN:
Beth Bysouth
Managing Director
Dragon RS
I’ve never believed that women lack ambition. What I’ve seen, time and time again, is that women lack access – access to finance that fits their business reality, access to role models, and access to honest conversations about what growth really involves.
My background is in logistics and transport – industries where women are still very much in the minority. I learned early on how to walk into rooms where people made assumptions about who I was and why I was there. That experience toughens you, but it also makes you very aware of how easily confidence can be undermined.
At Dragon RS, our growth is driven by innovation. That means investing in technology and infrastructure long before you see a return. Investment often comes before reward. Without the right advice and financial understanding, that kind of growth can feel daunting. It’s not that the ambition isn’t there; it’s that the risks don’t feel properly managed.
Access to the right finance and experienced guidance changed that for us. Understanding cash flow, funding structures and realistic payback periods made growth feel like a strategic decision, not a gamble. That’s a huge shift.
We also need to be more honest about challenge and failure. Too often, business stories focus only on success. The reality is that growth is rarely smooth. There are setbacks, wrong turns and moments of doubt. When those experiences are hidden, people assume they’re alone, and that assumption limits ambition more than any external barrier.
I’ve learned that sharing those stories matters. Knowing that others have faced similar obstacles, and survived them, makes growth feel safer. It builds resilience and confidence in equal measure.
Celebration matters too. Wales has strong, ambitious women-led businesses across sectors, including engineering, utilities and innovation. We should be talking about them more. Not to put them on pedestals, but to make their journeys visible and achievable.
Ambition is already there. If we want more women to scale, innovate and lead, our focus has to be on improving access to finance, to knowledge, to networks and to role models. That’s where real change happens.
