Center Publication

Fact of the Week, June 26, 2000

Center for Women’s Business Research

January - June 2000

Married business women as well as single business women report making their own decisions on charitable giving, based on a study of members of The Committee of 200, a professional organization of accomplished women entrepreneurs and senior corporate executives. Seventy-nine percent (79%) of married women who were surveyed report making their philanthropic decisions independently, compared to 95% of single women and 93% of divorced or widowed women.

From Philanthropy Among Business Women of Achievement, © NFWBO 1999, sponsored by Merrill Lynch

Fact of the Week, June 19, 2000

Women business owners are more likely than other working women to hire an outside service or person to help with household tasks. Forty-six percent (46%) of women business owners, compared to 19% of women employees, have hired a house cleaning or maid service or person.

From Women Business Owners as Consumers: Transforming the Marketplace, © NFWBO 1999, underwritten by AT&T and the Principal Financial Group

Fact of the Week, June 12, 2000

While most (58%) women business owners in metropolitan Mexico City are the sole owners of their businesses, a significant share (42%) are in business with others. Among the latter, joint ownership with family members predominate; 67% of women business owners with partners reported that their partners are family members.

From Women Business Owners in Mexico: An Emerging Economic Force, by Gina Zabludovsky, Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM), in consultation with NFWBO, underwritten by IBM, 1998

Fact of the Week, June 5, 2000

Older business women are more engaged in making charitable contributions than younger women, based on a study of members of The Committee of 200, a professional organization of accomplished women entrepreneurs and senior corporate executives. Thirty-two percent (32%) of women 55 or older consider themselves to be active and engaged philanthropists, compared with 21% of women between 45 and 54, and 13% of women under age 45.

Fact of the Week, May 29, 2000

Quality and price are most likely to influence business women’s consumer purchase decisions. The vast majority of women business owners (90%) and women employees (83%) report that the quality of a product or service has a major influence on their purchase. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of women employees and 47% of women business owners say that the price of the product or service is a major factor.

Fact of the Week, May 22, 2000

A 54% majority of The Committee of 200 members surveyed say they do not talk to anyone for advice and counsel when making charitable contributions; 21% consult their spouse. C200 is a professional organization of accomplished women entrepreneurs and senior corporate executives.

Fact of the Week, May 15, 2000

Despite the fact they are generally smaller, businesses owned by women in Mexico offer their employees more or more extensive benefits than do men business owners, including flexibility in working hours (80% compared to 73%); health care benefits (35% compared to 31%); maternity leave time (22% compared to 20%); retirement plans (18% compared to 11%); educational support for children (20% compared to 15%); and dental services (12% compared to 7%).

Fact of the Week, May 8, 2000

Forty-five percent (45%) of women employees and 38% of women business owners say they are spending the same amount of time shopping online that they did two years ago. However, more than one-third (38%) of women business owners and slightly less than one-third (30%) of women employees say they are making more purchases online.

Fact of the Week, May 1, 2000

Women-owned businesses in the retail trade and non-durable manufacturing industries received the largest federal contract awards, compared to other industries. Contract awards to women-owned firms in non-durable manufacturing averaged $1.8 million per firm; contract awards to women-owned firms in the retail trade averaged $2.9 million per firm.

From Women-Owned Firms in Federal Procurement: A Comparative Analysis, © NFWBO 1999, prepared for the National Women’s Business Council

Fact of the Week, April 24, 2000

When Latin- and Iber-American women business owners purchase computer technology for their businesses, the most important factors entering into their purchase decision are service, technical support and reliability. Nearly three-quarters (75%) of the women surveyed say that these factors are very or extremely important.

From Key Issues Affecting Women Business Owners in Argentina and other Latin- and Iber-American Countries, © NFWBO 1998, underwritten by IBM

Fact of the Week, April 17, 2000

Women business owners are more likely to hire an outside service or person to help with household tasks than women employees. Forty-seven percent (47%) of women business owners, compared to 22% of women employees, have hired a lawn or yard service or person to help with their yard work.

Fact of the Week, April 10, 2000

Thirty-four percent (34%) of the members of Women Business Owners of Canada (WBOC) have home pages on the World Wide Web. Forty-six percent (46%) of businesses with 10 or more employees and 46% of companies with annual sales of $500,000 or more have home pages; 61% of firms in the real estate industry and almost half (49%) of those in transportation services/travel have home pages.

From Women Business Owners of Canada: Entering the New Millennium, © NFWBO 1999, underwritten by IBM

Fact of the Week, April 3, 2000

Women business owners are more engaged charitable contributors than are women executives, according to an NFWBO study conducted among members of The Committee of 200, a professional organization of accomplished women entrepreneurs and senior corporate executives. In terms of financial contributions, 28% of women business owners report that they consider themselves to be very active and engaged philanthropists, compared with 16% of executives.

Fact of the Week, March 28, 2000

Women business owners dine out with more frequency than women employees. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of women business owners and 60% of women employees dine out with their families at sit-down or fast-food establishments at least once a week. Twenty-two (22%) of women business owners and 14% of working women dine out more frequently than twice a week.

Fact of the Week, March 6, 2000

Both women business owners and women employees are active Internet users for shopping and for gathering information before making a purchase decision. However, women business owners are more likely than women employees to make purchases online: a 57% majority of women business owners who use the Internet have purchased products or services online, compared to only 40% of women employees.

From Women Business Owners as Consumers: Transforming the Marketplace © NFWBO 1999

Fact of the Week, February 28, 2000

Nearly one-half (48%) of all of the firms owned by African-Americans in the United States in 1996 were owned by women. Black women-owned firms employed 28% of the workers in Black-owned firms and generated 24% of the sales.

From 1996 Facts on Women-Owned Businesses: Trends Among Minority Women-Owned Firms, © NFWBO 1997

Fact of the Week, February 21, 2000

As of 1996, there were 405,200 Black women-owned businesses in the United States, employing 261,400 people and generating $24.7 billion in sales. Between 1987 and 1996, the number of Black women-owned firms increased by 135%, employment grew by 70%, and sales rose 55%.

Fact of the Week, February 14, 2000

Women entrepreneurs in Mexico make a very significant contribution to family income, totaling an average of 62% of household income, while 37% of them provide more than 75% of household income. The income that women obtain through their businesses is vital for their personal and family finances, since most of them (72%) have only this single source of income.

From Women Business Owners in Mexico: An Emerging Economic Force, by Gina Zabludovsky, Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM); in consultation with NFWBO; underwritten by IBM

Fact of the Week, February 7, 2000

Most women business owners and working women have life insurance, investments, and retirements funds, though less than half are likely to have disability insurance. Women business owners are more active in the investment arena: 72% of women business owners have investments in stocks, bonds or mutual funds, compared to 58% of women employees.

Fact of the Week, January 31, 2000

The average Federal procurement contract award for women-owned firms was $700,000 in fiscal year 1997. Women-owned federal contractors averaged over $1 million in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Alabama, Oklahoma, the District of Columbia, Texas, and Virginia. The states with the lowest average awards, receiving less than $250,000, were: Vermont, Iowa, Rhode Island, Arkansas, Maine, West Virginia, and Washington.

Fact of the Week, January 24, 2000

Members of The Committee of 200, a professional organization of accomplished women business owners and senior corporate executives, are not concerned with garnering recognition for their philanthropy: 40% prefer not to be recognized at all for a “significant” contribution; 21% said it depends on which charity is the recipient of the contribution; and 19% say they would like to be recognized merely in a listing of contributors.

Fact of the Week, January 17, 2000

When women business owners in São Paulo, Brazil purchase information technology, it is important that the purchase fits in with their existing equipment and software, that sufficient software is available, that they receive support after their purchase, and that the item have a warranty. Eighty percent (80%) or more said these factors were very or extremely important.

Fact of the Week, January 10, 2000

Forty-two percent (42%) of the members of The Committee of 200, a professional organization of accomplished women business owners and senior corporate executives, say that the way they are asked to make charitable contributions is a moderate or significant barrier. While 60% said they are taken as seriously by philanthropic organizations as men of comparable net worth, 23% think they are not taken as seriously.

Fact of the Week, January 3, 2000

Women business owners are less patient consumers than women employees: 67% of women entrepreneurs say that when they shop they want to get in and out of stores quickly, compared to 56% of employees; only 27% of entrepreneurs say that they “love going shopping,” compared to 38% of employees.

Citation

Center for Women’s Business Research. “Fact of the Week, June 26, 2000.” Washington, DC.

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