Women-Owned Businesses Just as Successful as Male-Owned Companies

04.25.2018
Small Business

Data collected from 20,000 small business owners shows that women-owned businesses are equally as successful as male-owned businesses across all independent measures of business success, including business starts, revenue growth, job creation, and number of years in business.
Key findings from a new SCORE survey include:

When Women Lead: eomen-owned businesses

Workplace Success Group founder Karen Hinds, Sudor Taino Fitness owner Karla Medina, Freed Marcroft’s Meghan Freed, and Dyno Nobel’s Rina Patel at the 2017 When Women Lead conference. Register now for this year’s event, June 1 in Hartford.

  • Women are more likely than men to start businesses, with 47% of women in the pre-start or idea phase of business ownership following through on starting a business in the past year, compared to only 44% of men.
  • Women-owned businesses reported nearly the same amounts of anticipated revenue growth in 2018. Fifty-seven percent of women entrepreneurs predicted an increase in revenue growth, while 15.5% predicted revenues would stay the same, and 9% predicted a decrease in revenues. In comparison, 59% of male entrepreneurs predicted an increase in revenue growth, while 15.5% predicted revenues would stay the same, and 9.5% predicted a decrease in revenues.
  • Women were significantly more likely to launch service businesses. Female-led businesses were more likely to be in professional services, retail, healthcare (10% of women-owned businesses vs. 5% of men-owned businesses), and education (9% of women-owned businesses vs. 5%). Male-owned businesses were more likely to be in construction and manufacturing (12% of men-owned businesses vs. 4% of women-owned businesses).
  • Both men- and women-owned businesses had comparable longevity—with the exception of very established businesses. Seventeen percent of male respondents owned a business 20 years or older, compared to only 13% of female respondents.
  • Women-owned businesses reported slightly lower levels of employee hiring, with 27% of women-owned businesses reporting an increase in hiring, compared to 30% of men-owned businesses.

“Women-owned businesses are an impactful and fast-growing force in the U.S. economy, but much of the existing research to date has shown how women-owned businesses are still at a disadvantage in performance, contribution, and growth compared to men-owned businesses,” says SCORE’s Bridget Weston-Pollack.
“Our research suggests something very different—that women-owned businesses are equally successful as men-owned businesses.”


Register now for CBIA’s When Women Lead conference, Friday, June 1, at Hartford’s Infinity Music Hall & Bistro.

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