Center Publication

Fact of the Week, December 31, 2001

Center for Women’s Business Research

January - June 2002

At present growth rates, as of 2002 there are 112,712 women-owned firms with revenues of $1 million or more, and 8,480 with 100 or more employees.

Fact of the Week, December 24, 2001

Over one-third (39%) of minority women-owned firms are owned by Hispanics (470,344), 30% are owned by African Americans (365,110), 30% are Asian or Pacific Islander-owned (358,503) and 6% are owned by women of Native American or Alaska Native heritage (77,483).

Fact of the Week, December 17, 2001

As of 2002, there are an estimated 1.2 million majority-owned, privately-held firms owned by women of color in the U.S., employing over 822,000 people and generating $100.6 billion in sales. Firms owned by minority women now represent 20% of all privately-held, majority-owned women-owned firms nationally – meaning that one in five women-owned firms is owned by a woman or women of color.

Fact of the Week, December 10, 2001

Between 1997 and 2002, the number of women-owned firms in the U.S. increased at twice the rate of all firms (14% vs. 7%), employment grew at one and a half times the rate (30% vs. 18%), and revenues increased at the same rate (40%).

Fact of the Week, December 3, 2001

As of 2002, there are an estimated 6.2 million majority-owned, privately-held women-owned firms nationwide. These women-owned businesses employ 9.2 million people and generate $1.15 trillion in sales. Women own 28% of the privately-held businesses in the country.

Fact of the Week, November 26, 2001

Women-owned firms continue to grow in number at a faster rate than all US firms. Overall, the number of economically-active women-owned firms increased by 13.9% between 1997 and 2000, compared to 9.1% nationally. Thus, the number of women-owned firms continues to grow at a rate that is 1-1/2 times the national average.

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

Fact of the Week, November 19, 2001

Women-owned firms continue to be just as financially strong and creditworthy as the average U.S. firm. On three separate and distinct measures – bill payment, financial stress and overall creditworthiness – there is no difference between the scores registered by women-owned firms and the scores of the average U.S. firm.

Fact of the Week, November 12, 2001

Women-owned firms continue to exhibit increasing economic power. Between 1997 and 2000, the number of women-owned firms with 100+ employees increased by 43.9%, compared to 26.1% among all similarly-sized firms; and the number of women-owned firms with $1 million+ in revenues increased by 31.6%, compared to 19.1% growth among all $1 million+ firms.

Fact of the Week, November 5, 2001

One avenue for breaking into the equity financing network is attendance at venture capital fairs or forums. Nearly one quarter (23%) of women business owners who have obtained equity capital compared to 6% of those who are still seeking it say that they found funding institutions at such events.

Fact of the Week, October 29, 2001

Similar proportions of women and men-owned firms that are using the Internet are also banking online – 18% and 24%, respectively.

Fact of the Week, October 22, 2001

In the United Kingdom, women and men business owners sell their products and services mainly in local and regional markets (68% of women, 70% of men). Women business owners conduct an average of 4% of their business internationally, and men business owners conduct 6%.

From On the Move: Women and Men Business Owners in the United Kingdom, authored by Dr. Sara Carter and Ms. Susan Anderson, University of Strathclyde in collaboration with NFWBO (now Center for Women’s Business Research), underwritten by IBM, 2001

Fact of the Week, October 15, 2001

While women and men both agree that the primary benefits of the Internet include faster, easier information gathering and communication, 40% of women point to the Internet’s benefit of opening up a wider range of business opportunities, compared to only 27% of men who see this as a very important benefit. Similarly, 39% of women, compared to 29% of men, say that time flexibility is a very important benefit of the Internet.

Fact of the Week, October 8, 2001

Fast-growing firms are younger than other firms. While fast-growing women-owned firms average 10 years of age, other women-owned firms average 15 years. Similarly, fast-growing men-owned firms average 12 years of age compared to 17 years for other men-owned firms.

From Entrepreneurial Vision in Action: Exploring Growth Among Women- and Men-Owned Firms, © 2001 NFWBO (now Center for Women’s Business Research), underwritten by FleetBoston Financial, Edward Lowe Foundation, and Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership

Fact of the Week, October 1, 2001

The intensity with which women and men business owners use the Internet is on the rise. Half of business owners (52% of women, 51% of men) say that the time their firm spends on the Internet has increased in the past year, and three-quarters (72% of women, 76% of men) expect that their firms’ use of the Internet will grow in the future.

Fact of the Week, September 24, 2001

Women who have started their firms in the past decade are more likely to have had management- or executive-level experience in their pre-entrepreneurial careers. Thirty-eight percent (38%) of the women who have become business owners in the past decade held a previous position in senior or middle management, compared to just 27% of women who have owned their firms for 10 to 19 years, and 20% of women who have owned their firms for two decades or more.

Fact of the Week, September 17, 2001

The philanthropic activities of women and men business owners are on the rise. Fully half (52%) of women business owners and 48% of men business owners who give financially to charities state that their level of financial support has increased over the past five years. Likewise, 51% of women business owners and 39% of men business owners who volunteer time say that their volunteer hours have increased over the same time frame.

From Leaders in Business and Community: The Philanthropic Contributions of Women and Men Business owners, © NFWBO 2000, underwritten by Merrill Lynch

Fact of the Week, September 10, 2001

Businesses run by owners who aim for growth in the future are more likely to have web sites for their firms. The same percentage (44%) of growth-oriented women and men business owners have web sites, while a similar and lower share of other women (30%) and men (31%) entrepreneurs have them.

From Entrepreneurial Vision in Action: Exploring Growth Among Women- and Men-Owned Firms, © NFWBO 2001, underwritten by FleetBoston Financial, Edward Lowe Foundation, and Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership

Fact of the Week, September 3, 2001

A woman’s ability to link into the equity market network is critical to her success in obtaining funding. Women entrepreneurs who have obtained equity capital, and those who are still seeking it, find their sources of funding mainly through three paths: word of mouth (60% of recipients, 49% of seekers), their own networks of business consultants (50% of recipients, 42% of seekers), and investors who have sought them out (38% of recipients, 39% of seekers).

Fact of the Week, August 27, 2001

Women-owned businesses established in the last decade are making significant economic contributions, at the same overall level as their predecessors. Thirty-eight percent (38%) of these new generation businesses have revenues of $500,000 or more, compared to 39% of firms started 10 to 19 years ago, and 34% of those in business for 20 or more years.

Fact of the Week, August 20, 2001

In Argentina, more women have sole ownership of their firms compared to men (60% vs. 54%). Nonetheless, among entrepreneurs who share ownership in their firms, women are more likely to share with their spouses than are men (43% vs. 14%).

From Women Business Owners in Argentina: A Source of Economic Growth, 2000, prepared by Instituto APOYO in collaboration with CIPE, IBM, and NFWBO.

Fact of the Week, August 13, 2001

Center for Women’s Business Research was founded as the National Foundation for Women Business Owners in 1989, and published its first research report in 1992. Since that date, the organization has published 74 research studies and analysis reports, an average of 7.4 per year. Most of these reports are listed, chronologically and by topic, on our RESEARCH page.

Fact of the Week, August 6, 2001

Similar proportions of Latina business owners (62%) and all women business owners (65%) use the earnings of their businesses to meet their current financing needs. Nonetheless, Latina business owners are less likely than women business owners in general to finance their firms using vendor credit (12% vs. 22%), personal credit cards (15% vs. 41%), and private sources (10% vs. 27%).

Fact of the Week, July 30, 2001

Many current women and men entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom have had previous experience in either self-employment or business ownership. Over a third (36% of women, 38% of men) had previously been self-employed, and 21% of women and 28% of men had previously owned a business.

From On the Move: Women and Men Business Owners in the United Kingdom, authored by Dr. Sara Carter and Ms. Susan Anderson, University of Strathclyde in collaboration with NFWBO, underwritten by IBM, 2001.

Fact of the Week, July 23, 2001

Women and men business owners are much more likely to volunteer at least some time to charitable activities than is the average adult in the US. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of women business owners and 72% of men business owners volunteer time at least once in a typical month, compared to 62% of all U.S. adult women and 50% of all U.S. adult men.

Fact of the Week, July 16, 2001

High-tech firms owned by women are more likely than those owned by men to be in biomedical or life sciences (46% vs. 33%). Men-owned high-tech businesses are more likely than those owned by women to be in information technology (47% vs. 29%).

Fact of the Week, July 9, 2001

Women who have obtained equity capital appear to be readier than women who are still seeking it in two key areas: willingness to share day-to-day management control of the business (73% vs. 58%) and putting a strong management team in place (68% vs. 49%).

Fact of the Week, July 2, 2001

In Argentina, women-owned firms in Greater Buenos Aires are less likely to be engaged in retail trade (37%) compared to their counterparts in the province cities of Cordoba, Mendoza, and Rosario (52%). In Greater Buenos Aires, the women also specialize in wholesale trade (13%), business services (13%), and health services (8%). In the province cities, women-owned firms focus on personal services (12%), educational services (10%), and health services (7%).

Citation

Center for Women’s Business Research. “Fact of the Week, December 31, 2001.” Washington, DC.

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