Research Summary

Nearly Half of All Privately Held U. S. Businesses are Women-Owned

Center for Women’s Business Research  ·  May 6, 2003

The analysis shows that there are 10.1 million privately held 50% or more women-owned businesses in the United States, generating 18.2 million jobs and contributing more than $2.3 trillion in sales to the economy.

“These firms represent a substantial portion (46%) of all privately held businesses,” said Myra M. Hart, Harvard Business School professor and chair of Center for Women’s Business Research. “By adding the privately held businesses that are 50% women-owned to the privately held majority women-owned firms, we get a more complete picture of the economic vitality of women’s entrepreneurship.”

Growth continues to be a major component of the picture of women-owned businesses. Between 1997 and 2002, the Center estimates that the number of privately held 50% or more women-owned businesses grew by 11%, more than 1.5 times the rate of all privately-held firms (6%) and employment increased by 18%, more than twice the average (8%). Sales were up 32% compared to an increase of 24% for all firms.

“These numbers continue a trend of more than a decade of women-owned businesses growing at 1.5 to 2 times the rate of all firms,” said Henry Hernandez, executive director, global diversity leadership, Pitney Bowes Inc.

“For us this means business,” continued Hernandez, “as we increasingly turn to women-owned firms as suppliers and customers.”

“One in 11 women in the U.S. is a business owner,” said Rene e Jones, president of Heller & Jones and president of the NAWBO Philadelphia chapter. “As business owners, we are an increasingly dynamic part of the economy in every city in the U.S. But most of all, this information shows that for women, the dream of entrepreneurship can be a viable reality.”

Earlier estimates of the number of women-owned businesses in the U.S. were based on the 1997 U.S. Bureau of the Census definition of a woman-owned business as an enterprise that is privately held and majority woman-owned.

“This definition excludes many businesses in which women play a major ownership and management role, including many of the largest women-owned and led firms,” said Hart. “A top priority for the Center is to collect data on the missing segments, including the 50% women-owned businesses covered in this report. Future research will look at businesses in which women own controlling or substantial minority interest and publicly-traded companies.”

For the first time, the Center will provide information and trends for each of these segments of women’s entrepreneurship as well as overall figures as part of its ongoing commitment to provide the most up-to-date and complete data available on women-owned businesses.

Looking specifically at the segment of privately held 50% women-owned firms shows that as of 2002, there are 3.9 million privately held 50% women-owned businesses, employing 9 million workers, and generating $1.17 trillion in sales. Of these firms, 166,212 have revenues of at least $1 million and 6,902 have 100 or more employees. The largest concentration of these firms is in the service sector, followed by retail, construction, finance, real estate and insurance.

“This analysis of the 50% women-owned firms is based on data published by the Census Bureau, and we want to thank Census for recognizing the importance of providing data for this group,” said Hart. “Census understands the importance of capturing the full picture of women-owned businesses while keeping intact the data on the privately held, majority women-owned businesses which is consistent with government and private sector supplier diversity programs.”

The full research brief, “Completing the Picture: Equally-Owned Firms in 2002” is available online. Printed copies of the report are available for $25.00. For further information, contact: Center for Women’s Business Research, 1411 K St.

Center for Women’s Business Research Center for Women’s Business Research is the premiere source of knowledge about women business owners and their enterprises worldwide. The Center’s mission is to unleash the economic potential of women entrepreneurs by conducting research, sharing information and increasing knowledge about this fast-growing sector of the economy.

Wells Fargo & Company Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $349 billion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance from more than 5,600 stores and the Internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and elsewhere internationally. Wells Fargo provides capital and financial services to more than one million businesses with annual sales up to $10 million in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada, and is the #1 lender in total dollar volume to small businesses nationwide. Wells Fargo is among the top four SBA lenders nationally, and a SBA Preferred Lender in 28 states and the District of Columbia, and originated 2,256 SBA loans totaling $469 million for the twelve months ending September 30, 2002. The wellsfargo.com small business site was rated the best online banking site for small business customers by Speer & Associates (http://www.wellsfargo.com/biz). Through its targeted programs alone, Wells Fargo has loaned $17 billion to African-American, Asian, Latino and Women-owned businesses since 1995.

Pitney Bowes Inc. Pitney Bowes is the world’s leading provider of integrated mail and document management systems, services and solutions. The $4.4 billion company helps organizations of all sizes engineer the flow of communication to reduce costs and increase impact, and enhance customer relationships. The company’s 80-plus years of technological leadership has produced many major innovations in the mailing industry and more than 3,500 active patents with applications in a variety of markets, including printing, shipping, encryption, and financial services. With approximately 33,000 employees worldwide, Pitney Bowes serves more than 2 million businesses through direct and dealer operations. More information on the company is available at www.pb.com.

National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), headquartered in the Washington DC metropolitan area, is the only dues-based national organization representing the interests of all women entrepreneurs in all types of businesses. The organization currently has over 75 chapters. It is affiliated with Les Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises Mondiales (World Association of Women Entreprenuers) represented in 35 countries.

Methodology: National estimates for privately held equally-owned firms and all privately held firms are derived from the Census Bureau’s “1997 Survey of Women-Owned Business Enterprises” (SWOBE) This report includes data on businesses whose owners reported that they were equally male-female owned. The 2002 national estimates are based on growth rates for 1992-1997 for all privately held firms as reported by Census. Industry level estimates for privately held equally-owned firms and all privately held firms between (1992-1997) are derived using growth rates from unpublished SWOBE data. This analysis also uses Center for Women’s Business Research’s 2002 estimates of women-owned firms, which were derived using unpublished data from the SWOBE. (See Center for Women’s Business Research: Women-Owned Businesses in 2002: Trends in the U.S. and 50 States, December 2001, for more details.)

Research Summaries by Date  ·  Research Summaries by Topic