Women Business Owners Making Their Mark in the 21st Century
The number of firms owned by women has grown by twice the
rate of all other firms in the past ten years. Marjorie
Alfus, chairperson for Women's Business Research said,
"Women business owners are significant players in the
nation's economy and their momentum shows no signs of
slowing down".
This is further supported by the Center For Women's
Business Research and their projections for 2006 that there
would be 10.4 million privately held businesses in the US
with women owning over half of these firms. Between the
years of 1997 and 2006, the number of firms owned by women
increased by up to 42%, which was almost double that of
other firms, at around 23%.
The United Kingdom has also had significant growth from
women in business. It is calculated that women, in a matter
of three months, started 20,500 new businesses in the year
2006, which is around a 30% increase from the same time
last year. Clair Logie, who is the director of the Bank of
Scotland's Women in Business Team, commented, "We are
definitely seeing a huge uplift, particularly in the US,
which we tend to trail here in terms of trends."
With these staggering facts, it is safe to say that women
becoming entrepreneurs is a world wide phenomenon. Home
based businesses were the largest number of businesses held
by women at around 56%. The Census Bureau's director Louis
Kincannon commented recently that home-based businesses
collectively generated a remarkable amount of economic
activity, especially for women and minorities.
More women are becoming entrepreneurs because they see the
attractiveness that a home-based business has to offer them
in terms of freedom and flexible working hours. No longer
having to work hours dictated to them, women entrepreneurs
have more time to spend with their families and to bring up
their children. They enjoy more varied and meaningful tasks
in their business, without the limitations and stresses
associated with the glass ceiling corporate world.
Technology has definitely been a contributing factor to the
development of home-based businesses. Many have been able
to work from home following the introduction of computers,
internet, cell phones and faxes. "The rapid acceleration of
information technology has opened doors for new businesses.
It has helped change the way America conducts business
today by offering more choices. Many women entrepreneurs
have taken advantage of these choices and created
home-based businesses that have proven to be more
practical, effective and convenient for their lifestyle"
says Dick Falcone, AT&T Vice President of Sales for the
Small Business Markets.
