Micro Enterprise Research and Policy

A global analysis of previous research over the last three decades shows that women entrepreneurs face a higher rate of business loan denials and increased interest rates in loan decisions made by commercial bankers.

Women represent more than half of the United States population and make significant contributions across all industries and sectors. Americans filed about 5.1 million business applications in 2022, nearly 14,000 a day, up from 3.5 million in 2019. That compares to just 29 percent of all business filings pre-pandemic. Women in particular have been the driving force behind America’s economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, creating about half of new businesses for the third year in a row. Women of color, specifically Black women, have had a tremendous impact on the post-pandemic economy with the number of Black-women-owned employer businesses increasing to around 18 percent from 2017-2020, compared to a 9 percent increase in the number of women-owned businesses. According to an analysis produced by the Boston Consulting Group, if women participated equally to men as entrepreneurs, global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could increase by approximately 3 to 6 percent, adding $2.5 to $5 trillion to the global economy.

Women-owned small businesses make up a significant proportion of all firms in the Los Angeles region with just over 20 percent of all businesses in the Los Angeles region being owned by women. And women-owned businesses are extremely diverse, with almo …

There were roughly 12 million women-owned businesses in 2017.* According to the 2019 Annual Business Survey, women employer businesses numbered 1.1 million, employed 10.1 million workers, and accumulated $1.8 trillion in receipts. Women-owned firms make up 20% of all employer firms. Women remain underrepresented in every demographic group. Most women-owned firms are small. 90% of all women-owned businesses have no employees.* Over half of women employers have 1-4 employees.

Drawing on recent research, this issue brief – co-authored by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, and the Democracy at Work Institute – makes a case for why policymakers, funders, and investors who care about racial and gender wealth equity should support employee share ownership. Informed by a roundtable discussion which brought together researchers, philanthropic leaders, investors, policy experts, and advocates, the paper provides a set of concrete policy and practice ideas to expand employee ownership and advance equity and economic justice. We hope this paper contributes to a broader collaborative effort to spread employee share ownership policies and practices that support economic recovery and lay the foundation for a more equitable and resilient economy.

Women-owned firms made up only 19.9% of all firms that employed people in the United States in 2018 but their numbers are growing. There were 6,861 more women-owned firms in 2018 than in 2017, up 0.6% to 1.1 million, according to the Census Bureau’s Annual Business Survey (ABS).

Economists have long been sounding the alarm that Black, Latinx, and female workers and small business owners are being hit the hardest with the economic fallout from the pandemic. But what’s less talked about is the record number of businesses that st …

The National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) released its 2020 #LetsTalkBusiness Roundtable Series Report, a collection of testimonials from women entrepreneurs on current challenges and opportunities associated with access to capital, childcare, and patenting and trademark.

Women-owned small businesses have been more heavily impacted by the coronavirus pandemic than male-owned small businesses, and they are less likely to anticipate a strong recovery in the year ahead, new data show. The Special Report on Women-Owned Small Businesses During COVID-19  from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce also found that women-owned small businesses have less optimistic revenue, investment and hiring plans compared to male-owned small businesses.

The U.S. Census Bureau released new estimates showing 1.1 million employer firms were owned by women and 1.0 million by minorities. According to the 2018 Annual Business Survey (ABS), covering year 2017, 5.6% (322,076) of all U.S. businesses were Hispanic-owned and 6.1% (351,237) were owned by veterans.

As this year’s report findings and policy recommendations demonstrate, we have made significant strides in advancing a new generation of women entrepreneurs. However, much work still lies ahead. In 2020, we will build on the efforts of this past year, with a laser focus on our three main policy priorities—Access to Capital and Opportunity, Women in STEM, and Rural Women’s Entrepreneurship. As a Council, we remain dedicated to furthering our mission.

This research report describes the current state of gender equality in the U.S. venture capital (VC) industry and offers a practical way forward to close its significant gender gaps. It is intended to be an accessible resource for practitioners in the venture ecosystem, as well as a helpful reference document for journalists, scholars, and others interested in understanding gender dynamics in venture capital.

Agri-FoodTech is an emerging category within the food startup universe with enormous potential to impact critical issues from climate change to food insecurity. More and more venture capital is being invested in the sector, but it’s not reaching one of the leading groups of entrepreneurs—female founders.

This report explores ways business ownership can serve as a wealth-building tool for women, explains the systemic barriers impeding women’s ability to build wealth through business ownership, and suggests ways grant makers, policy advocates, and practitioners can intentionally promote wealth-building by entrepreneurial women through business ownership.

In March 2019, the Office of Advocacy published a fact sheet titled “Small Business Facts: Spotlight on Women-Owned Employer Businesses”, written by Nora Esposito, Economic Research Fellow. This fact sheet highlights contributions made by 1.1 million women-owned employer businesses to the U.S. economy, as well as areas for future growth. The fact sheet also provides information on industrial and geographic diversity of women-owned employer businesses. Read the fact sheet to learn more.

Today, there are about 40 million millennial women, representing 31.5% of the female population in the U.S. Millennial women do not benefit from many economic policies and systems designed by, and built to meet the needs of, men as primary breadwinners. Millennial women came of age during the Great Recession, the rise of mass incarceration, unprecedented student debt levels, and changing workforce dynamics. All of these factors contribute to the fact that millennial women are 37% more likely than Generation Xers (those born between 1965 and 1984) to be living below the federal poverty line and are more likely to be underemployed or unemployed than previous generations.

Nonprofit research organization MDRC and Grameen America, Inc., the fastest growing nonprofit microfinance organization in the United States, today released the early results of a research study, Microfinance in the United States: Early Impacts of the Grameen America Program. The study, funded by Robin Hood, is the most rigorous, independent, third-party evaluation of group microfinance in the United States, assessing Grameen America’s program, a microfinance model that provides small loans to low-income women entrepreneurs in the United States seeking to launch or expand small businesses. 

We at Thumbtack, along with our partner for this report, Square, take pride in our shared mission to make it easier than ever for aspiring entrepreneurs to take the leap and start their own business. And in celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8 and Women’s History Month, we fielded an extensive survey of female small business owners to better understand their experiences of working for themselves.

FUND Community Institute continues to engage in dialogue and analysis around data from its landmark study, Perception versus Reality:  Women and Change in the CDFI Industry (available at www.fundci.org).  This month, we examined the prevalence of women as leaders of CDFIs, and how this role may have changed since the founding of the industry. The findings suggest that women are playing leadership roles in large numbers (although not at all sizes and types of CDFIs) and that the organizations they head up may be leading the way in fostering more inclusive, family-friendly work environments.

Millennial women, those born between 1982 and 2000, represent the future of entrepreneurship in America. According to the 2015 Census Bureau data, there are 83.1 million millennials in the United States. By the year 2025, millennials will comprise 75 percent of the American workforce, and many will become entrepreneurs.

The gender wealth gap continues growing even though single women have benefited from regulatory protections to reduce wealth stripping and have had increased access to institutions, products, and services that help them build wealth. This growing gap not only impacts their financial security in retirement but also their ability to pass resources on to future generations. To shepherd our collective efforts and move the needle to improve the economic well-being of single low-income women, we must understand how asset inequality is compounded by structural barriers to wealth building for women, including accessing income, tax benefits, social services programs, and financial products and services.

Black women launch new businesses more often than any other group in the nation. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City went to the source to find out what motivates them to take the leap. Black Women Business Startups, by Dell Gines, a senior community development advisor, offers a research-driven look at black women business owners, their business insights, and ideas for increasing the number, strength, and growth of businesses owned by black women.

The State of Women-Owned Businesses reports are used by the women’s enterprise development community — media, funders, entrepreneurial support organizations, elected officials, suppliers and customers and even women themselves–to inform practices, policies and advocacy efforts that encourage successful business outcomes, as well as to inspire and motivate women to start and grow businesses.

Research conducted by Website Planet (WSP) recently uncovered that female freelancers are being paid significantly less than men—in some cases half as much—on two of the most highly used and reputable freelance job platforms, Upwork and Fiverr. This is shocking. For women tied to the gig economy and rely on these very same websites to find jobs, this is directly tied to their own personal livelihood.

The goal of this report is to support the council in establishing a knowledge base about women business owners’, leaders’, and entrepreneurs’ access to markets for goods and services. This report represents a high-level situational analysis, exploring major issues and developments affecting women entrepreneurs to inform the NWBC’s framework for defining research priorities and engagement efforts.

This report examines opportunities to further enhance inclusion and support of current and future women founders in Washington, D.C.’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Its analysis provides an overview of women-owned businesses both nationally and in Washington, D.C., makes four top-level recommendations with pragmatic strategies for implementation, and highlights existing approaches to inclusive development.

Accion in the U.S. and Opportunity Fund recently released a groundbreaking report that examines the impact of mission-based small business lending services on borrowers’ businesses, their household financial security, and their overall quality of life.

This research seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the successful crowdfunding on Kiva, a non-profit lending crowdfunding platform based in the U.S. It investigates whether a larger social network will increase the likelihood of women’s success on Kiva in comparison to their male counterparts. To this end, using a novel dataset received from Kiva for the period between 2011 and 2017, a series of multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted. These analyses were coupled by iv comprehensive descriptive analysis to better distill and describe the gender dynamics, as well as the relationship between women’s success and crowdfunding variables on Kiva. 

The study attempts to investigate, from a gender perspective, the role of a project creator’s online social network in contributing to the success of fundraising campaigns in reward-based crowdfunding. It also tries to provide a deeper insight into successful crowdfunding dynamics. Using a novel dataset received from Kickstarter (i.e. the largest reward crowdfunding platform in the U.S.) for the period between 2009 (its inception) and 2017, a series of logistic and linear regression analyses were conducted. These analyses were combined with comprehensive descriptive analysis and extensive visuals to better illustrate and explain the gender dynamics, as well as the relationship between women’s success and crowdfunding variables on Kickstarter.

NAWBO released a white paper – “Spotlight on H.R. 5050: The Bill that Changed Everything for Women Business Owners”. The paper reflects on the provisions that transformed the course for women business owners and highlights the current areas for improved policy and better women involvement.

The goal of this report is to support the council in establishing a knowledge base about women business owners’, leaders’, and entrepreneurs’ access to capital. This report represents a high-level situational analysis, exploring major issues and developments affecting women entrepreneurs to inform the NWBC’s framework for defining research priorities and engagement efforts.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, released a report titled: “Tackling the Gender Gap: What Women Entrepreneurs Need to Thrive.” This timely study draws on interviews with 14 female entrepreneurs, who detail the obstacles they faced and how they overcame them, to highlight current initiatives and provide recommendations to eliminate the unique barriers confronting women-owned small businesses.

This report uses a unique dataset to examine the experiences of women-owned small employer firms, especially as compared to their men-owned peers. Small employer firms have traditionally played an important role in U.S. job creation,8 and women-owned firms are an emerging share of the sector. Understanding the opportunities and challenges facing this growing segment of women-owned employers can provide insight into future economic contributions of the sector overall. 

This report develops a profile of the veteran women business owner through the presentation of business and business owner characteristics from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2007 and 2012 Survey of Business Owners and Self-Employed Persons and 2015 Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs. It is not meant to be all inclusive but, rather, to highlight the current landscape of veteran women-owned firms based off of publicly available data.

The National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) released “Necessity as a Driver of Women’s Entrepreneurship” this week. The report examines whether and how women turn to entrepreneurship to address potential market failures that limit their ability to attain or maintain economic self-sufficiency, or as an avenue to overcome flexibility bias and potential stigma in balancing work-life conflict assumed in traditional gendered roles and social norms. 

Hispanic Women Entrepreneurship: Understanding Diversity Among Hispanic Women Entrepreneurs identifies the unique characteristics of Hispanic women entrepreneurs, reviews entrepreneurship training practices that work to encourage successful business, highlights specific programs that exemplify these practices, and suggests targeted tactics to unlock their entrepreneurial potential.

The California Reinvestment Coalition released Small Business Owners Struggle to Access Affordable Credit, a new report focused on the challenges small business owners and entrepreneurs face when trying to get a loan to start, maintain, or grow their businesses.

Equity Profiles project by PolicyLink recently produced a report for San Francisco, the Bay Area and Los Angeles County. Each profile presents demographic trends and assess how well regions are doing to ensure its diverse residents can participate in the region’s economic vitality, contribute to the readiness of the workforce, and connect to the region’s assets and opportunities.

This report explores entrepreneurship among millennial women via multiple avenues. First, the report covers existing research on millennial entrepreneurship, including how the media portrays these entrepreneurs. This section highlights millennial women and identifies knowledge gaps, requiring additional study. Second, the report presents a data-based profile of millennial women entrepreneurs in America utilizing data from the American Community Survey and the Survey of Business Owners and Self-Employed Persons. Finally, the conclusion posits further research questions with an eye towards developing action-oriented policy initiatives to assist millennial women in starting and growing businesses.

This report, in keeping with the mission of the Kogod Tax Policy Center (KTPC) to conduct non-partisan policy research on tax and compliance issues specific to small businesses and entrepreneurs, provides an initial assessment of how the Code’s tax expenditures targeted to help small businesses grow and access capital impact women-owned firms. The results are eye-opening.

Women’s importance to the U.S. business community is self-evident, and statistics like these help our understanding of their impact. As the only large-scale survey on business demographics, the Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners (SBO) provides an opportunity to evaluate women-owned businesses. Using the SBO data, this report analyzes the unique characteristics, current role, and opportunities for growth of women-owned businesses in the U.S. economy. Due to changes in the SBO’s survey methods, this report is primarily a snapshot of women-owned businesses in 2012.

One approach to understanding the interactions between the actors and processes that support segments of entrepreneurs, such as women entrepreneurs, is the application of an “entrepreneurial ecosystem” framework. NWBC’s entirely new ecosystem model serves as a tool to evaluate regional support of women’s entrepreneurship. The convergence of the domains on women-owned ventures, centrally displayed, demonstrates that actors throughout the ecosystem work together to engage, advise, and drive the growth of women entrepreneurs.

This research was commissioned by The National Women Business Council (NWBC) and prepared by A2F Consulting LLC to explore the distinct relationship between crowdfunding and women entrepreneurship and develop a deeper understanding of crowdfunding as a capital source. The research aims to: i) identify and document available demographic and other descriptive quantitative information on crowdfunding, including equity crowdfunding; ii) identify gender differences in crowdfunding in terms of industry, goals, investors, platforms used, and success; iii) document existing policies that may support or hinder women’s participation in crowdfunding campaigns; iv) provide additional information and guidance to women entrepreneurs seeking to raise capital through crowdfunding; and v) provide policy recommendations for supporting women entrepreneurs.

Women-owned businesses are a significant and growing but underrepresented segment of the U.S. economy. In order for the United States, and its various regions, to reach full economic potential, policymakers need to be able to assess the mechanisms throughout their local economies that support women entrepreneurs and to effectively coordinate the variety of stakeholders that share the same goal.

The National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) commissioned research prepared by Washington CORE to strengthen stakeholder understanding of incubators and accelerators as they relate to women entrepreneurs and, ultimately, to facilitate the successful participation of women entrepreneurs in these programs. This research includes a literature review, as well as a direct exploration of the experiences and perspectives of women entrepreneurs and incubator and accelerator managers through survey and interview analysis.

Commissioned by the National Women’s Business Council and prepared by BD2, LLC and RTI International, On the Commercialization Path: Entrepreneurship and Intellectual Property Outputs among Women in Stem presents an examination of innovation among women in STEM fields by identifying gaps in their entrepreneurial outcomes and highlighting future opportunities for policy improvements.

Commissioned by the National Women’s Business Council and prepared by Siri Terjesen, PhD, Social Entrepreneurship Amongst Women and Men in the United States uses brand new data on social entrepreneurship among men and women in the United States to confirm the message that women are successfully launching, leading, and growing social ventures across the country. In particular, this project gives an exciting “first look” at data from the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, and reveals some pretty interesting trends about social enterprises. Learn what percentage of U.S. entrepreneurs report leading a social enterprise, how entrepreneurial motivations differ between men and women, and recommendations for why and how policymakers should support social enterprises.

The number of women-owned businesses is rapidly growing. Amidst these increases, Black women have become one of the fastest growing segments of entrepreneurs in the country. This work explores the many challenges and opportunities faced by Black women entrepreneurs.

This research is an analysis of the key trends and findings in women’s business ownership, comparing figures from the 2002, 2007, and 2012 Surveys of Business Owners. The project explores the growth and development of women-owned enterprises over the 2002 to 2012 period, paying particular attention to differences between the pre-recession period of 2002-2007 and the more recent 2007-2012 period.

One of the Council’s key areas of research is on women’s access to capital, a continual challenge for women entrepreneurs. Two of the NWBC’s FY2013 research projects demonstrate that accessing sufficient capital is a problem even for high-growth women-owned businesses. We have learned that women-owned firms face unique challenges because there are significant differences in undercapitalization that exist between men-owned and women-owned firms. First, Robb and Coleman concluded that startup capital is a key indicator of business success. This research confirmed that women start their business with nearly half the amount of capital as men, and further that women entrepreneurs raise substantially less equity and debt throughout the business lifecycle. In a second study, conducted by PQC Consulting, Inc, we learned, that all else equal, undercapitalization negatively impacts business survival.

This Annual Report is a synthesis of the Council’s commitment to supporting women in business by producing best-in-class, actionable research on the most relevant issues facing aspiring and current women business owners and leaders, and identifying – through research and engagement – the unique barriers and challenges of women in pursuit of business.

In collaboration with the SBA Office of Women’s Business Ownership, the Council worked with Carnegie Mellon University to review and analyze the effectiveness of Women’s Business Centers. Our hope was to gain an understanding of the Women’s Business Center network, what they need and how we can best support them. Download the report here and read our findings and recommendations for how best to support WBC’s.

This report examines factors affecting access to capital for high growth women-owned or women-led firms. Prior research suggests that significant gender differences in firm employment, size, and growth rates persist (Bitler et al., 2001; Fairlie & Robb, 2009; Coleman & Robb, 2009). Data from the United States Census Bureau indicate that less than 30% of businesses are owned by women and only 12% of those firms employ anyone other than the business owner are herself. Only 2 percent have 10 or more employees. Census data indicate women-owned employer firms make up just 16% of employer firms and that only 2 percent of women-owned firms in the United States have revenues in excess of $1 million. (2007 Survey of Business).

Women entrepreneurs still face challenges getting fair access to capital. Only 4 percent of the total dollar value of all small business loans goes to women entrepreneurs. The report proposes expanding microloans and makes SBA’s Intermediary Loan Program permanent to provide more capital to women entrepreneurs.

Women are an important force in America who have, for too long, been undervalued and underrepresented in political leadership and policy making. Our multi-decade march into the American workforce, business ownership, household leadership and consumer spending has elevated women into true leadership of the American economy. The purpose of this report is to highlight the contributions of women to America, outline our current economic condition and state clearly the types of federal budget and policies that are vital to support Women’s Economic Priorities.

The SBA’s Women’s Business Center (WBC) Program supports 106 nonprofit organizations that provide business training and counseling to female entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs, which includes women in underserved communities. The program is supported by the Small Business Administration and matched by donations.

The California Reinvestment Coalition’s (CRC) 2010 economic development report documented a dramatic two-thirds plunge in critical bank lending to California small businesses between 2007 and 2009; businesses that are universally seen as the engine of economic recovery. This report unveils the appalling continuing reality that today’s bank lending to small businesses shows only the barest improvement since 2009.

Etsy is an online marketplace where artists and collectors sell their handmade goods, vintage items and craft supplies. Founded in June 2005, Etsy now includes more than 20 million products and over one million sellers worldwide. In the last year alone, they generated over $895 million in sales. A survey of 5,500 U.S. sellers reveals a unique population of Internet-enabled entrepreneurs who are building businesses on their own terms — prioritizing flexibility and independence over rapid growth, and using Etsy income to build resilience in the face of declining job security.

The National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) initiated this research to understand the reasons behind the general lag of women-owned business growth in terms of business size and receipts, as compared to firms owned by men.  Other studies have indicated that, on the whole, women and men approach entrepreneurship differently.  In order to assist women, and the nation, to advance economically, the NWBC looked to the research to provide insights on key considerations when reaching out to women entrepreneurs to encourage maximum growth of their businesses.  The research centered on questions about three key attitudinal areas associated with business ownership and growth: risk tolerance, motivations, and expectations.  The research team also listened for instances where culture could be influencing behaviors or experiences.

Women play a central role in rebuilding the middle class and keeping our economy growing. As women continue to start businesses in this country, it is imperative they have the right tools to be successful. But do they? Business and Professional Women’s (BPW) Foundation began to explore this question by conducting a brief poll among women small business owners.

The primary focus of our analysis was to evaluate the impact of the WOSB FCP on the participation of and awards granted to women-owned small businesses. Of principal interest was whether WOSBs are meeting procurement thresholds of 5 percent (in both contract number and dollar amount) of total Federal prime contracting awards since the implementation of the WOSB FCP rules in 2011.

In its latest infographic, ‘Women in Business: 2007 – 2010’, the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) builds off its previous analysis in the 2012 annual report to track the performance outcomes of approximately 98% of employer establishments identified in the 2007 Survey of Business Owners.  Using the data sources available to the Census Bureau, NWBC and the Census Bureau have tracked the expansions and contractions in employment, as well as the closing or sale of businesses, through 2010.  This is the most recent government data available on women business owners.

By all measures 2012 has been a year of opportunity and challenge, both abroad and on our shores. It was a year that brought with it many important issues: uncertainty in the world economy, volatility in financial markets, unrest in multiple areas of the world, a much anticipated election cycle here in the United States, and a potential fiscal cliff that remains daunting for many business owners and entrepreneurs. For the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC), this environment was one from which to learn, and in which to take a leadership role to help increase the economic participation of women entrepreneurs.

This second part to the NWBC research project, Intellectual Property and Women Entrepreneurs, covers the qualitative research from the original report and centers on six focus groups with women entrepreneurs and business women. The focus groups were conducted in different parts of the nation. Two of these focus groups were with women who had successfully obtained a patent or trademark, two were with women who had applied for but did not receive a patent or trademark and the remaining two groups were with women who had never applied for a patent or trademark.

American Express OPEN provides stakeholders in the women’s enterprise development community with an up-to-date accounting of the state of women-owned businesses in the United States in 2012, building upon the great interest and success of its inaugural effort in 2011.

The number of women awarded patents has soared over the last several decades far beyond previously reported figures, and the percentage of trademarks granted to women has more than doubled, a new study commissioned by the National Women’s Business Council found.

A report from the California Budget Project on the effect of the Great Recession on Californian women.

The 2007 data was fully released in June 2011, so the NWBC commissioned a private research company to study this data in-depth. The data was analyzed by different characteristics to further expand the current understanding of women-owned businesses and to search for any interesting or unique findings that bear further study.

Using microdata from the 2001-2009 American Community Surveys, the 2000 U.S. decennial census, and the 2001-2011 Current Population Surveys, this paper analyzes the earnings and employment patterns of Hispanic entrepreneurs in the first decade of the 2000s. In light of this population’s heterogeneity, our analyses also consider gender- and immigrant-related outcomes. The findings indicate a rising presence of Hispanics in the entrepreneurial sector during the 2000s, especially for immigrants. This increase resulted from the overall growth in the Hispanic population in the U.S. as well as from rising self-employment rates within the Hispanic workforce. Analyses of earnings further indicate that the most recent recession offset some (but not all) of the progress Hispanic women had made with respect to reducing their self-employment “penalties” in the decade, but this was not the case for Hispanic men. Moreover, the recession led to higher rates of microentrepreneurship (defined as having fewer than ten employees) among the self-employed, particularly for foreign-born Hispanic women. These findings indicate Hispanic entrepreneurial growth appeared to have a positive impact on job creation in the 2000s, but mostly at the scale of smaller firms, especially near the end of the decade. The paper concludes with a set of policy implications.

The Gazelle Index is a new national quarterly survey of the current conditions, optimism and future hiring plans of high-performing minority, women and nonminority small firms. Over time, we believe the results will indicate that the views and expectations of small business owners are leading indicators of economic activity. The CEOs of small firms, unlike those of large corporations, are more closely connected to their sales force and as such, are more attuned to turning points in the economy. The Gazelle Index emphasizes businesses owned by minorities and women because they represent 50% of the nation’s 27 million small businesses. In fact, the Census Bureau’s latest Survey of Business Owners found that, between 2002 and 2007, the growth of minority- and women-owned businesses exceeded that of nonminority-owned firms in number, earnings, and employment. Despite their high representation, there is no official market sensitive indicator of the performance of minority and women-owned businesses — and remarkably few indicators of small business activity in general.

On behalf of the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC), Hart Research conducted two focus groups on August 31, 2011, among 13 self-described “established” or “aspiring” female entrepreneurs attending the “Women in Green” Forum in Santa Monica, California. It should be noted that the findings presented here reflect the fact that nearly all of the participants are in the early stages of establishing new business ventures. It also is important to remember that our participants made a conscious choice to attend (and pay for) the Forum, a fact that may differentiate them significantly from other entrepreneurs in the green sector (or other sectors).

Despite recent gains, women still lag behind men on key measures of start-up activity, and their firms tend not to grow or prosper as much. The Kauffman Foundation reports on how we can better tap into this under-utilized economic resource.

The most recent in Advocacy’s periodic series of reports on businesses owned by women and men.

Mentor-Protégé Programs exist in many federal agencies to help small businesses gain technical and business skills from large prime contractors and to build networks and experience that will help them compete and succeed in the federal contracting landscape. Started by the Department of Defense in 1991, there are now many versions of Mentor-Protégé Programs that share similar objectives but have different programmatic and incentive structures. The National Women’s Business Council conducted a research initiative to learn how well Mentor-Protégé Programs are serving women-owned businesses and how they might be strengthened to help women-owned businesses become an even greater engine driving economic recovery.

Using data from the three most recent business census surveys, the most recent just published in December 2010, this report provides estimates of the number, employment and revenues of women-owned firms as of 2011.

This paper provides a foundation for the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) to develop and launch a major initiative targeted at helping women achieve high levels of business growth. NWBC is the single government organization that focuses exclusively on ensuring that this nation’s economy realizes the full potential of one of its fastest-growing segments – women-owned businesses. Integral to achieving this mission is to be a catalyst for women-owned businesses creating jobs and generating revenue.

Is microenterprise development an effective job creation strategy during a recession? Key findings on women who entered employment, self-employment, providing jobs for others, job retention and creation, and full-time jobs.

On June 16, 2010, a summit of women business owners was held in Salem, Massachusetts, at the historic Hawthorne Hotel. Since the earliest Colonial times, Salem has been a major commercial center in a regional economy based on industries as varied as international maritime spice trade and textile manufacturing. Now, as the Greater Boston/North Shore region builds a twenty-first-century economy based on tourism, technology, and creativity, women entrepreneurs have the opportunity to play a key role. At this summit, women business owners on Boston’s North Shore shared their priorities, challenges, and concerns to help the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) to articulate policy recommendations for the consideration of the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

This Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report seeks to understand global differences in the frequency and nature of women’s entrepreneurship, and makes comparisons with men across various societies.

This paper compares earnings of Latina entrepreneurs to both Latina wage/salary workers and to self-employed female non-Hispanic whites. Latina entrepreneurs are observed to have lower mean earnings than both white female entrepreneurs and Latina employees. However, our findings indicate that Latina entrepreneurs often do well, once differences in mean observable characteristics, such as education, are taken into account.

For the first time, the Center for Women’s Business Research has utilized a methodology to measure the economic impact of the estimated 8 million U.S. businesses currently majority women-owned. Today, women-owned firms have an economic impact of $3 trillion annually that translates into the creation and/or maintenance of more than 23 million jobs – 16 percent of all U.S. jobs! These jobs not only sustain the individual worker but contribute to the economic security of their families, the economic vitality of their communities and the nation.

To further its role of advising the President, Congress and the U.S. Small Business Administration on issues related to women’s business ownership, the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) held a series of six town hall meetings with women business owners around the country throughout 2007 and 2008. The objective of the meetings was to hear from women business owners about their views on national-level policy issues in order to inform the Council’s future recommendations to government leaders.

Latinos play an important role in the self-employment growth. Fueled by immigration, they are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the US. With high employment rates and a lack of labor market success, what are alternative policies to improve economic outcomes?

The National Women’s Business Council (NWBC)  released a report which analyzes successful practices of entrepreneurship programs serving women students and offers tips to educational institutions looking to expand their programs for current and future women entrepreneurs. The two-part report, Successful Practices for Establishing and Modifying Entrepreneurship Programs for Women, reflects the Council’s commitment to increasing access to educational opportunities for women business owners.

On April 29, 2009, a town hall meeting of women business owners was held in Atlanta at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Student Center. Hosted and facilitated by the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC), this meeting was the seventh in a series of meetings that began in March 2007. NWBC designed these conversations to generate grassroots‐level recommendations from women business owners for the ultimate consideration of the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

The Center for Women’s Business Research found that businesses owned by African American, Asian, and Hispanic women business owners substantially outpace all U.S. firms in the growth of revenues and number of employees.

The economic impact of women business owners has long gone understated, according to a new two-part study released by the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) today. Based on custom datasets from the Census Bureau’s 2002 Survey of Business Owners and Self-Employed Persons (SBO), the reports assess the economic impact of women-owned and women-led firms on the U.S. economy by examining their receipts, compensation, geography, industry, and ethnography. The 2002 SBO is the most current information available on the distribution and contribution of women-led businesses.

In March and June 2007, the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) held town hall meetings with women business owners in St. Louis, Missouri and in Portland, Oregon. The objective of the meetings was to collect viewpoints and ideas from women business owners that could inform the Council’s policy positions and their future recommendations to government leaders.

The National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) released a new study, Explaining State-Level Differences in Women-Owned Business Performance, which indicates that the success of women-owned businesses is impacted by particular state-level factors, such as the availability of technology infrastructure and an educated workforce. Using the U.S. Census Bureau’s special tabulations of 1997-2001 data on women-owned businesses’ (WOB) performance, the research is one of the first attempts to evaluate systematically the influence of factors that underlie state differences in WOB performance.

Between 2001 and 2003, the U.S. Small Business Administration provided $37 million in funding to up to 92 women’s business centers across the country. A new analysis of data provided by these centers to the SBA shows that this investment is paying off in increasing numbers of clients counseled, businesses started, and new jobs created.

The historic growth of women-owned businesses in the United States has generated increased demand for the creation of innovative programs and policies to foster their growth. For the first time, two new reports from the National Women’s Business Council document this progress by examining current best practices in support of women’s entrepreneurship and by recording the history of policies that have resulted in today’s unprecedented 10.6 million U.S. businesses in which women are equal or majority owners.

The historic growth of women-owned businesses in the United States has generated increased demand for the creation of innovative programs and policies to foster their growth. For the first time, two new reports from the National Women’s Business Council document this progress by examining current best practices in support of women’s entrepreneurship and by recording the history of policies that have resulted in today’s unprecedented 10.6 million U.S. businesses in which women are equal or majority owners.

A series of roundtable discussions with women entrepreneurs and others in the women’s enterprise community provided a revealing perspective on the tremendous accomplishments of women entrepreneurs since this Nation’s founding, as well as the challenges faced by women business owners today and how those challenges can be better met in the future.

Access to capital and affordable health insurance and the state of the economy top the list of concerns for America’s women business owners, according to a study released by the National Women’s Business Council. The study compiled polling responses from participants attending five entrepreneurship summits entitled, “Women Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century,” which were co-hosted by the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Small Business Administration, with support from the National Women’s Business Council.

Mentoring programs most beneficial to women business owners are well matched to the stage of business development and offer specific elements unique to women’s mentoring practices. So says a study released by the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC). The report, “Mentoring in the Business Environment,” examines existing, formal mentoring programs for women and men business owners by comparing program structures, identifying best practices, and exploring the unique characteristics among programs geared specifically to women. The study also reviews existing research on mentoring for women business owners and suggests avenues for additional exploration such as e-mentoring.

Women business owners are growing increasingly concerned about the difficulty of securing affordable health-care coverage for employees. It is estimated that 60 percent of the 41 million uninsured Americans reside in families with members employed by small businesses. The NWBC estimates that 7.3 million of the uninsured are employees or families of employees of the 9.1 million women-owned firms in the U.S. This report takes an in-depth look at this critical issue and includes an analysis of current research and the alternative solutions that have been proposed.

The National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) recognizes the need for more information about this critical issue and has conducted an analysis of current research and the alternative solutions that have been proposed. This report, “Access to Affordable Health Coverage for Women-Owned Businesses: A Summary of Key Issues and Policy Options,” is now available at the NWBC’s Web site, www.nwbc.gov (or by clicking http://www.nwbc.gov/ResearchPublications/listReports.html ). In response to the feedback and input received from women business owners across the country, the NWBC also convened a Roundtable discussion in February to hear from those who are directly affected by this problem. The Roundtable brought together women business owners, business association leaders, issue experts, and public policymakers from across the U.S. to discuss not only the concerns involved in providing affordable health care coverage but also the most effective solutions that can be considered in the 108th Congress. A complete transcript of this event is now available at the NWBC’s website, www.nwbc.gov (or by clicking http://www.nwbc.gov/ResearchPublications/listReports.html ). The transcript includes testimony from Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration Hector Barreto, and Representative Donald Manzullo, Chair of the House Committee on Small Business.

A study released by the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) features successful programs from around the country which provide women business owners with the knowledge and assistance to secure capital.

This study on venture capital funding for women- and minority-led businesses confirms that despite the growth in equity investment, women and minority entrepreneurs still are receiving only a very small share of equity capital. Three possible reasons why such firms may receive less equity investment are: choice of industry, geographic location, and business size.

This publication is a single-source document of statistical information about women’s business ownership in the United States. It includes the most sought-after facts and figures on women’s entrepreneurship in the U.S., and includes a bibliography of both source references and recommended publications. This compendium is intended to help decision-makers navigate through the inconsistencies and patchwork of available information to gain a more complete picture of the trends in women’s entrepreneurship in the U.S. It also brings together in one place all of the relevant information about women-owned businesses and their owners.