Resource Guide
What’s Next?
Accelerated Growth
Women business owners are successful at launching, managing and increasing the revenues of their firms – the numbers make that clear. They are major players in the business arena. From 1997-2002, the Center for Women’s Business Research estimates that the number of majority-owned, privately-held firms owned by women grew at twice the rate of all privately-held U.S. firms, (14% vs.7%) and totaled over 6.2 million in 2002. Sales generated by these firms totaled nearly $1.5 trillion in 2002, an increase of 40% from 1997. The number of employees in these firms grew by 30% (1.5 times the national average) in the same period, employing a workforce of 9.2 million individuals.
It must be noted that women business owners surveyed for the Center for Women’s Business Research study, Access to Markets: Perspectives from Large Corporations and Women’s Business Enterprises, have pursued third-party certification as women’s business enterprises, and thus represent women business owners who are serious about seeking entry to corporate markets. Their successes clearly represent what is possible for those who want to do business with large corporations.
What’s next for women business owners in the corporate marketplace? Though challenges still exist, the experiences of women’s business enterprises and the evidence of corporate interest described here strongly suggests that corporate markets represent a growing opportunity. If the readers of this guide combine the strategies of successful women entrepreneurs with an understanding of corporate needs, they can share in the lucrative opportunities of the corporate market.
Citation
Center for Women’s Business Research. “What’s Next?.” Washington, DC.