Center Publication

Fact of the Week, June 24, 2002

Center for Women’s Business Research

January - June 2002

Based on recent growth rates, there are 14,116 minority women-owned firms with revenues of $1 million or more and 111 with 100 or more employees in 2002. This is up from 1997 when there were nearly 10,700 majority-owned, privately held firms owned by women of color with $1 million or more in revenues, and over 80 with 100 or more employees.

Fact of the Week, June 17, 2002

Almost two-thirds (65%) of women business owners reinvested business earnings to foster business growth as of 1998, compared with just 38% using business earnings in 1992.

From Capital, Credit and Financing: An Update, Comparing Women and Men Business Owners’ Sources and Uses of Capital, © 1998 NFWBO, now Center for Women’s Business Research and A Compendium of National Statistics on Women-Owned Businesses in the U.S., © 2001 Center for Women’s Business Research, prepared for National Women’s Business Council.

Fact of the Week, June 10, 2002

The 10 states where minority women-owned firms comprise the greatest share of all women-owned firms are: 1) Hawaii (60%); 2) District of Columbia (40%); 3) California (35%); 4) New Mexico and New York (tied - 32%); 6) Texas (29%); 7) Maryland and Florida (tied - 28%); and 9) Alaska, Georgia and Oklahoma (tied - 24%).

Fact of the Week, June 3, 2002

According to the Bureau of the Census, as of 1992, 62% of women-owned firms used capital to start or acquire their businesses and 32% of these owners borrowed some or all of that capital. A more recent study by Center for Women’s Business Research showed 44% of women business owners borrowing money at start-up.

Fact of the Week, May 27, 2002

The 10 states with the fastest growth in the number of minority women-owned firms from 1997 to 2002 are: 1) Montana; 2) North Dakota; 3) Maine; 4) Oklahoma; 5) South Dakota; 6) Vermont; 7) West Virginia; 8) Idaho; 9) New Hampshire; and 10) Alaska.

Fact of the Week, May 20, 2002

A groundbreaking, multi-year project is exploring the impact of training, technical assistance, and other factors on newly started women-owned firms. Results from the first of four rounds of interviews show that study participants agreed that their biggest current challenge is financing. Thirty-five percent (35%) of the women business owners in this study are reinvesting business earnings, 20% are using personal credit cards – but just 10% have a commercial bank loan and just 8% have a line of credit.

From a longitudinal study, full report to be released in 2003. © 2002 Center for Women’s Business Research, underwritten by AT&T, Open:The Small Business Network from American Express and the National Women’s Business Council.

Fact of the Week, May 13, 2002

Although the number and dollar value of venture capital and other equity investments grew rapidly in the late 1990s, women business owners continue to get a very small share of those dollars. According to Venture One, 5% of the $89.8 billion invested went to firms with women CEOs in 2000.

Fact of the Week, May 6, 2002

Nine percent (9%) of women business owners provide financial support to environmental organizations, a proportion similar to men business owners (13%). This places it ninth in a list of causes that women business owners support, behind religious, youth-related, local community service, education, health, social/human services, woman-related, and arts organizations.

Fact of the Week, April 29, 2002

Nearly one-third (31%) of all of the firms owned by persons of color are owned by women; minority women-owned firms employ 13% of the workers in minority-owned firms and generate 11% of the sales.

Fact of the Week, April 22, 2002

Women business owners who have started or acquired their firms within the past five years are the most likely to say that environmental friendliness has either a moderate or major impact on their purchasing decisions (85%). In comparison, only two-thirds (64%) of the women who have owned their own firms for 20 years or more indicate the same impact.

Fact of the Week, April 15, 2002

Environmental concerns rank just below quality (98%) and price (85%) for women business owners. They are more likely to cite environmental friendliness as a major or moderate influence (76%) on purchasing decisions than they are to point to advertising (57%), a company’s social responsibility (55%), or coupons (33%).

Fact of the Week, April 8, 2002

Women-owned firms in the North and East exhibit the best overall financial strength and creditworthiness. On all three measures -- bill payment, financial stress and overall creditworthiness -- women-owned firms in the Northeast and West North Central regions perform better than the national average.

From Removing the Boundaries: The Continued Progress and Achievement of Women-Owned Enterprises, © 2001 Center for Women’s Business Research, underwritten by Wachovia Corporation with the Cooperation of Dun & Bradstreet.

Fact of the Week, April 1, 2002

The 10 states with the greatest number of minority women-owned firms in 2002 are: 1) California; 2) New York; 3) Texas; 4) Florida; 5) Illinois; 6) Georgia; 7) Maryland; 8) New Jersey; 9) Virginia; and 10) North Carolina.

Fact of the Week, March 25, 2002

Over one-quarter (27.9%) of commercially active women-owned firms are home-based, as are 23.9% of all commercially active U.S. firms. Women-owned home-based firms are most likely to be found in agriculture/forestry/fishing (57.3% of firms are home-based), construction (44.8%), business services (44.6%), engineering/accounting/research services (38.1%) and non-durable manufacturing (38%). Among all firms, the greatest number of home-based firms are also found in agriculture/forestry/fishing (65.7% of firms are home-based), construction (44.3%), and business services (32.3%).

Fact of the Week, March 18, 2002

Women-owned businesses are just as likely to have remained in business over the past three years as the average U.S. firm. Two-thirds (65.5%) of the women-owned firms that were in business as of December 1997 were still in business at the end of 2000, as were 66.2% of all U.S. businesses.

Fact of the Week, March 11, 2002

Women business owners who are under the age of 45 are more likely (26%) than women aged 45 through 54 (14%), and women who are 55 or older (8%) to bank online. Differences among men business owners with respect to their age and online banking are not significant.

Fact of the Week, March 4, 2002

In every major industry group – with the exception of agriculture/forestry/fishing and transportation/communications – the growth in the number of women-owned firms exceeds the industry average between 1997 and 2000. The growth in the number of women-owned firms is highest in agriculture/forestry/fishing (79.3%), engineering/accounting/research services (30.4%), real estate (26.7%), durable manufacturing (26%), and other services (21.9%).

Fact of the Week, February 25, 2002

Women business owners who mention visiting specific Web sites seem more likely than their men counterparts to say that they visit travel and accommodations sites (20% very frequently compared to 8% of men), and less likely to frequently visit business supplies sites (8% of women compared to 21% of men).

Fact of the Week, February 18, 2002

Among the women and men who purchase online, those with home-based firms tend to buy a greater share of their purchases online than do those with other firms. Women-owned home-based firms purchase an average of 18.9% of their goods and services online, while other women-owned firms purchase 11.0%. Likewise, men-owned home-based firms average 23.0% of their purchases online, while other men-owned firms average 13.4%.

Fact of the Week, February 11, 2002

Women-owned firms continue to start up in every industry. Yet, some industries show greater than average start-up activity. In total, one-third (33.6%) of women-owned firms are less than four years old. Over the past years, though, the industries with the greatest share of new women-owned firms are: health services (45% of women-owned firms are less than four years old); retail trade-general merchandise stores (44.4%); finance and insurance (37.5%); engineering/accounting/research services (36.4%); and business services (36.2%).

Fact of the Week, February 4, 2002

The primary concern among women and men business owners who use the Internet is the possible loss of privacy of online data and information – 72% of women and 62% of men consider it a problem, although just 33% and 30%, respectively, count it as a serious problem.

Fact of the Week, January 28, 2002

The Center estimates that the number of women-owned employer firms grew by 37% from 1997 to 2002 – four times the growth rate of all employer firms (9%). Nineteen percent (19%) of women-owned firms and 26% of all firms have employees.

Fact of the Week, January 21, 2002

The 10 fastest growing states based on 1997 to 2002 growth in the number of women-owned firms, employment and sales are: Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, South Dakota, New Mexico, Montana, Oregon, and Alaska.

Fact of the Week, January 14, 2002

Between 1997 and 2002, the number of minority women-owned firms has increased by 32%, employment has grown by 6%, and sales have risen by 19%.

Fact of the Week, January 7, 2002

Collectively, women-owned firms in the top 50 metropolitan areas in the U.S. number nearly 3.2 million, employ 4.9 million people, and generate over $661 billion in sales – thus the top 50 metropolitan areas account for over half the number, employment and sales of women-owned firms nationwide.

Citation

Center for Women’s Business Research. “Fact of the Week, June 24, 2002.” Washington, DC.

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