Yesterday YESTERDAY


As women’s educations, independence, and freedoms have grown – we have naturally continued to push our boundaries in search of pay and advancement commensurate with our abilities and performance and work environments that are women and family-friendly. This searching for opportunity, equitable compensation and control naturally led women into business ownership.


Born of equal parts ambition and frustration, between 1997 and 2006, women started firms at a remarkable rate. During this period, the number of women-owned firms grew 42.3 percent – faster than any other business segment in the history of the United States.9


Today,


(10.1 million owned 50 percent or more; 7.2 million owned 51 percent or more) and women business owners now make up 20 percent of the total women’s labor force.11,12


n Women n Men


Only one in five firms with $1M in revenues are women-owned


20% 80%


women own over 17 million businesses in the U.S.10


The Women-Led EconomyTM


The Women’s Ownership Movement


Expanding our horizon of influence and opportunity through business ownership


New horizons. Old obstacles.


Unfortunately, the millions of women flocking into entrepreneurship encountered many new obstacles. Consequently, the growth of women’s business revenues has not nearly matched the levels of our male counterparts. For example:


– Even though the number of women-owned firms grew 42.3 percent between 1997 and 2006, our combined average annual sales grew only 4.4 percent resulting in a drop of 38 percent in average annual revenues.13


Business Growth Lagging


Disparity Between Women’s Business Ownership and Revenues


Businesses vs. Revenues


Women own


28.2% of firms Women’s


businesses secure only 4.2% of


revenues


TM


Changes Everything


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36