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Women by the Numbers

TOP FACTS by Category:

Women sitting with one looking at you smiling Growth:

The fastest growth is in the number of 100+ employee women-owned firms. From 1997-2000, the number of 100+ employee women-owned firms grew by 44%, over 1.5 times the rate of all comparably-sized firms.
Regardless of race or ethnic background, the vast majority of women entrepreneurs have growth as a primary goal (86% African-American, 71% Asian, 80% Caucasian, 84% Latina).

Finances:

Women-owned businesses are just as financially strong and creditworthy as the average US firm, with similar performance on bill payment and similar levels of credit risk, and are just as likely to remain in business.
Women are moving into the equity capital markets, but as of 1999, receive only 9% of the institutional investment deals and 2% of the dollars. They are more likely to receive capital from the individual investors (73%) than venture capital firms (15%).
Women-owned firms with $1 million or more in revenues are as likely as their men counterparts to use business earnings and bootstrapping techniques to finance their firms, but are less likely to use commercial credit (56% vs. 71%) or equity (4% vs. 11%).

Technology:

Women owners of firms with $1 million or more in revenues are more likely than their men counterparts to embrace technology as integral to their business strategy (58% vs. 35%) and more likely to have a web site with transaction capability (56% vs. 38%).

Styles:

Eighty-six percent (86%) of women entrepreneurs say they use the same products and services at home as they do in their business.
Women and men business owners have different management styles. Women emphasize relationship building as well as gathering facts; are more likely to consult with others, including experts, employees and fellow business owners; and may take more time to make decisions.
When selecting a financial advisory, high net worth women are more likely than their men counterparts to say it is important to feel confident that the advisor is “acting in your best interest” (93% vs. 83%).
Women business owners are philanthropically active: 70% volunteer at least once per month; 31% contribute $5000 or more to charity annually; 15% give $10,000 or more.

Access to Markets:

Although 60% of Fortune 1000 companies spend $1 billion or more with outside suppliers, as of 2003, women's business enterprises captured on average only 4% of this market share.
Women's business enterprises that target corporate markets receive almost half their revenues (48%) from large corporate contracts.
Women-owned businesses with $1 million or more in revenues are more likely than smaller businesses owned by women to have large corporations (34% vs. 12%) and government (17% vs. 5%) as their primary clients.

International:

Internationally, women entrepreneurs; key business concerns are a blend of day-to-day business management issues – maintaining profits, finding good employees, managing cash flow – and external factors such as the economy, government business laws, access to technology, and access to capital.