Think You Can’t Create a Successful Woman-Owned Business? Think Again!
If you’ve been dreaming of starting your own business, 2019 is the time to act! Women entrepreneurs are thriving, according to SCORE’s Megaphone of Main Street data report. Our report, based on a survey of 20,000 small business owners, reveals that women in business are just as successful as men, as measured by business starts, revenue growth, job creation, and number of years in business. That’s despite facing greater challenges when it comes to finding financing.
What’s more, the data shows that women are starting businesses at a slightly higher rate than men, with 47% of women who are considering opening a business following through on starting one in 2017, compared to 44% of men.
Motivating factors for starting a business
You may be considering starting a business to follow your passion, or to boost your income. Our latest infographic released with the data report shows that women across age groups are starting businesses for a variety of reasons.
For example, while millennial women most often start businesses because they see a market opportunity, baby boomers are more frequently motivated by necessity. By contrast, Generation Xers cited family considerations to be the biggest factor in deciding to start a business.
The most popular industries pursued by women entrepreneurs include professional services (covering fields such as law, engineering, architecture and accounting) at 29% and health care/social assistance at 14%. Almost half of women business owners surveyed chose their respective industries based on prior experience and education.
Funding struggles and mentoring successes
Although women entrepreneurs are just as successful as men, our survey found that they’re less likely to seek and obtain financing. Over the lifespan of their business, only 25% of women business owners sought outside funding, compared to 34% of men. Of the business owners who sought financing over the past year, men were more likely to get loans or equity financing than women (38% of men, versus 31% of women).
Don’t let these odds stop you from pursuing small business ownership. There are plenty of resources you can use to find funding opportunities and maximize business success. In fact, we have a recorded webinar that highlights funding opportunities specifically for women in business. Additionally, this blog post outlines five grant opportunities for women in business, including the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards and the Amber Grant. Beyond SCORE’s blog, here are 15 essential websites for women entrepreneurs, from The National Association of Women Business Owners to SmallBizDaily.
We also encourage prospective business owners to seek mentoring. Our report found that women- and male-owned businesses alike benefit from mentoring, regardless of the gender of their mentor. In fact, entrepreneurs with a mentor are five times more likely to start a business. And 87% are still in business after one year (versus 75% of those without a mentor).
Get the ball rolling on launching your own business today – and connect with a free, expert SCORE mentor for help getting started!
This guest post was authored by Bridget Weston Pollack
Bridget Weston Pollack is the VP of Marketing Communications at SCORE. In this role, Bridget is responsible for all branding, marketing, PR and communications efforts. She focuses on implementing marketing plans and strategies for the organization to facilitate the growth of SCORE’s mentoring and training services.
