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Over the past 15 years, the number of women-owned businesses has grown by 54%. Today, there are over 8 million women-owned businesses, and women are founding businesses at a rate 1.5 times higher than the national average.
Those women-owned businesses generate revenues of $1.3 trillion and employ 7.7 million people. That’s 40% more people than the three largest employers combined (Walmart, IBM, and McDonalds).
More women are catching the entrepreneurial spirit every day and winning despite disadvantages faced because of their gender. For example, male-owned businesses receive 95% of venture capital money awarded while women-owned businesses receive just 3-5% of that money.
Female entrepreneurs start off with one-eighth of the funding that male-owned businesses begin with. However, research has shown that women-owned businesses that are venture-backed have 12% higher revenues.
Currently, an estimated 187 million women around the world own businesses or are thinking of starting new businesses. Rather than hitting the corporate glass ceiling or tolerating inflexible work schedules, women are forging their own paths, and the results speak for themselves. The path to entrepreneurial success can be particularly challenging for women who face a long list of gender-based roadblocks like a lack of venture capital funding, but more female entrepreneurs are winning every day.
Over the past 10 years, the growth in the number of women-owned firms with $10 million or more in revenues has increased by 56.6%, which represents a growth rate 47% faster than the growth rate of all $10M+ firms.
Check out the infographic below for even more statistics about women entrepreneurs.
These statistics demonstrate that women entrepreneurs are winning in business by following their own paths to success. Have you caught the entrepreneurial spirit? Leave a comment below and share your entrepreneurial story.
I am blogging on behalf of Visa Business and received compensation for my time from Visa for sharing my views in this post, but the views expressed here are solely mine, not Visa’s. Visit http://facebook.com/visasmallbiz to take a look at the reinvented Facebook Page: Well Sourced by Visa Business. The Page serves as a space where small business owners can access educational resources, read success stories from other business owners, engage with peers, and find tips to help businesses run more efficiently. Every month, the Page will introduce a new theme that will focus on a topic important to a small business owner’s success. For additional tips and advice, and information about Visa’s small business solutions, follow @VisaSmallBiz and visit http://visa.com/business.
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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The pure genius of Susan Gunelius should never be underestimated. As a marketing expert, as a researcher, as the final and definitive brand expert she is astonishing and she may just be the best in the world. To know her, to have worked with her, to have learned from her is one of my milestones as a entrepreneur.
Jim, thank you so much for your message. You’re too kind!