Women Entrepreneur Statistics

The number of women-owned businesses is growing. While this means that more sales and jobs are being generated by women-owned businesses, these businesses still account for a smaller percentage of overall US sales and employees. Read on for more women entrepreneur statistics, as well as the differences between female and male business owners.

• Between 1997 and 2002, women-owned businesses were growing twice as fast as other businesses.  (Center for Women's Business Research, 2009)

• In that same five year time period, the number of businesses owned by minority women increased faster than those owned by non-minority women. (Women-Owned Businesses in the 21st Century, 2010)

• During the 2008 economic downturn, 5% of "high potential women" and 4% of "high potential men" left their jobs to start their own businesses. (Catalyst, 2009)

• In 2007, 7.8 million companies were owned by women -- that's nearly 30% of all non-farm, privately held businesses. These women-owned businesses employed 7.6 million people and generated $1.2 trillion in sales. (Women-Owned Businesses in the 21st Century, 2010)

• In 2008, 10.1 million companies were owned by women employing 13 million people and generating $2.9 trillion in sales. (Center for Women's Business Research, 2009)

• Female small business owners will create 5 to 5.5 million new jobs in the United States by 2018. (Projection from The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute, 2009)

• One in five firms with revenues of $1 million or more are owned by women. (Center for Women's Business Research, 2009)

• Since women-owned businesses are usually smaller, they generate a small percentage of US sales and employment. In 2010, women owned 30% of privately-held businesses, but these businesses accounted for only 11% of sales and 13% of employment. (Women-Owned Businesses in the 21st Century, 2010)

• In 2009, 11% of companies backed by VC funding either had or used to have female CEOS or female founders. (Wall Street Journal, 2010)

• Women entrepreneurs usually start with less capital than men, and are less likely to take on debt. Women are more likely to say that they need financing to start their business. (Women-Owned Businesses in the 21st Century, 2010)

• 11% of 2011 VC investors were women. (Dow Jones VentureSource, 2011)

• The top four reasons gave for starting their own business were: the need for more flexibility (51%), hitting a glass ceiling (29%), dissatisfaction with their work environment (28%), and not feeling challenged at work (22%). (Catalyst, 1998)