Research Summary

Women-Owned Businesses Outpace All U.S. Firms

Center for Women’s Business Research  ·  April 11, 1995

National Study Reveals Startling New Statistics

The study, entitled, “Women-Owned Businesses: Breaking the Boundaries -- The Progress and Achievement of Women-Owned Enterprises,” reports that women-owned businesses now number 7.7 million, provide jobs for 15.5 million people and generate nearly $1.4 trillion in sales, according to NFWBO’s and DBIS’s latest estimates.

“This new data strongly reinforces that women-owned businesses are an increasingly potent economic force,” says Laura Henderson, Chair, NFWBO, and President and CEO of Prospect Associates, a health communications firm. “Women-owned businesses are growing more rapidly than is the overall economy and are major contributors to the nation’s economic health and competitiveness. By documenting women business owners’ progress, this report makes a significant contribution to helping the nation understand the importance of women business ownership.”

From the analysis of the economic and financial information, Dun & Bradstreet found that women-owned businesses are not only one of the most rapidly expanding sectors of the economy, but also a financially stable sector.

“Women-owned businesses are as financially sound and creditworthy as is the typical firm in the U.S. economy,” notes David T. Kresge, Senior Vice President of D&B Information Services. “They pay their bills as promptly and are at no greater risk of failing than other firms. In fact, women-owned firms are more likely to have remained in business over the past three years than the average U.S. firm.”

Women-owned firms, while expanding in numbers and employment levels, have also remained viable over the longer-term. Nearly three-quarters of the commercially active women-owned firms in existence in 1991 are still around today, compared to only two-thirds of all commercially active firms.

Despite this solid record, other research has shown that difficulty in obtaining financing is one of the biggest obstacles faced by women business owners, according to NFWBO.

Further, women-owned firms continue to expand into “non-traditional” industries, while still maintaining their solid base in retail trade and services. The number of women-owned businesses in construction, manufacturing, transportation/communications, wholesale trade and finance/insurance/real estate grew at significantly faster rates than the overall averages for those industries.

The highest growth rates among women-owned firms are in the larger businesses, those with 100 or more employees. The number of such firms grew by 18.3 percent between 1991 and 1994, compared to 9.1 percent for all commercially active women-owned businesses. In addition, employment in these larger women-owned firms expanded by 32.5 percent, compared to 11.6 percent in all women-owned firms, and just 5.3 percent growth in national employment.

“For me, as a woman entrepreneur, there is a sense of pride and empowerment in seeing this documentation of the continued progress and achievements of women-owned businesses,” says Patty DeDominic, President, National Association of Women Business Owners and president of PDQ Personnel, Inc., a temporary employment service. “Thanks to this data, economic policy makers, financial institutions and corporate leaders will be extremely motivated to take women business owners and their issues more seriously. This growing market affects everyone’s future in a positive way.”

The report was made possible, in part, through the generous support of AT&T and IBM. AT&T and IBM have been sponsors for every major NFWBO research project on women-owned businesses in the past four years making a major contribution to the base of knowledge about women-owned businesses.

The National Foundation for Women Business Owners is a non-profit research and leadership development foundation established by the National Association of Women Business Owners. NFWBO’s mission is to support the growth of women business owners and their organizations through the gathering and sharing of knowledge.

Dun & Bradstreet Information Services, North America, is a company of The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, the world’s leading marketer of information, software and services for business decision making, with 1994 revenues of $4.9 billion.

Charts

The Number of Women-Owned Firms Has Grown 43% Since 1990

Women-Owned Firms Employ 35% More Workers Than The Fortune 500 Does WorldwideWomen-Owned Firms Contribute Over $1 Trillion in Sales to the EconomyWomen-Owned Firms Continue to Diversify Into Non-Traditional SectorsWomen-Owned Firms Are As Financially Sound As All US FirmsWomen-Owned Firms Are As Likely to Pay Bills on Time as All US FirmsFewer Women-Owned Firms Are In Higher Credit Risk CategoriesWomen-Owned Firms Have Tenacity

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