LAUNCHING WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES

 ON TO A HIGH GROWTH TRAJECTORY
Introduction

This paper provides a foundation for the National Women’s Business 

Council (NWBC) to develop and launch a major initiative targeted to 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. 

This paper reviews the growth-trends of women-owned businesses, 

reports on what differentiates the women who own the largest, fastest 

growing businesses from those with smaller businesses, and concludes 

with a proposed strategic platform for action. 

Background

The phenomenal growth of women-owned businesses has been making 

headlines for 25 years. Women consistently have been launching 

businesses at nearly twice the rate of men. As important, their growth in 

employment and revenues has continued to outpace the economy. 

Even as the nation’s economic growth slowed, employment in 

women-owned firms continued to expand while men-owned firms were 

contracting.1

 Furthermore, projections indicate that the trend in 

employment growth among women-owned firms will continue. The 

Guardian Small Business Research Institute projects that women-owned 

businesses will create 5 to 5.5 million new jobs by 2018 – more than half 

the 9.7 million new small business jobs expected to be created and about 

one-third of the 15.3 million total new jobs anticipated by the Bureau of 

Labor Statistics by 2018.2

 

Women-owned businesses already are serious players in this nation’s 

economy. An economic impact study conducted by the Center for 

Women’s Business Research and the National Women’s Business Council 

documented that majority women-owned firms today are driving more than 

23 million jobs – both directly and indirectly.3

Launching women-owned 

businesses onto a high 

growth trajectory

Launching Women-Owned Businesses onto a High Growth Trajectory 1
However, although the gap has been narrowing, women-owned 

businesses continue to lag men-owned businesses, and are 

under-represented in the top revenue categories. Only 3% of majority 

women-owned firms have revenues over $1 million compared to 6% of 

majority men-owned businesses. As of 2008 – the latest year for which 

data are available – the average revenue of majority women-owned 

businesses is 27% of the average revenue of majority men-owned 

businesses. 

Looking at the trends from a more positive perspective, a substantial 

number of women now own and lead businesses over a million dollars, and 

many of these businesses are multi-million dollar enterprises. The number 

of women-owned businesses with $1 million or more in revenue grew 

2,000% between 1977 and 2002. While the proportion of women-owned 

businesses over $1 million (3%) may seem small, this translates into more 

than a quarter of a million women-owned enterprises. Further, 20% of all 

businesses over $1 million are owned by women, and women-owned 

businesses are found at all levels of revenue. In fact, of the women-owned 

businesses over $1 million, 35% are over $5 million, 2% are over $50 

million, and a fair number have revenues over $1 billion. A recent 

Kauffman Foundation publication reporting on a survey of high tech firms 

concluded that women and men entrepreneurs are equally likely to 

succeed given similar conditions. Clearly, the data substantiate that 

women have the vision, capacity, and perseverance to build thriving 

companies. 

This is a group of business owners that already is having a measureable 

impact on the nation’s economic health. However, there is tremendous 

untapped and unrealized potential for these businesses to make an even 

greater contribution to the nation’s economic health, particularly in the 

critical area of job creation. 

Over the past quarter of a century, the world has changed for women 

business owners. Access to capital, access to markets, and access to 

networks of decision makers and experts have expanded dramatically 

thanks in great part to many dedicated leaders in business, government, 

and non-profit sectors. Today, women own businesses succeed in all 

industries, including those formerly considered “non-traditional” for

Launching Women-Owned Businesses onto a High Growth Trajectory 2

Only 3% of majority womenowned firms have revenues

over $1 million compared

to 6% of majority

men-owned businesses. 
women business owners – engineering, construction, manufacturing, 

wholesale distribution, and information technology. Women bring unique 

strengths women business owners – engineering, construction, 

manufacturing, wholesale distribution, and information technology. 

Women bring unique strengths to entrepreneurship, and there is evidence 

that women’s leadership styles give them an edge in running successful 

businesses especially in today’s time of turbulence and transformation. 

So, what differentiates the women with the largest, fastest growing 

businesses from those with the smaller firms? What can we learn from 

these women with the more substantial enterprises that can help women 

who aspire to the same level of business achievement? To answer that 

question, this paper pulls together 20 years of research by the Center for 

Women’s Business Research with thousands of women business owners, 

recent research from other sources, and the author’s extensive experience 

with leading women business owners, bankers, Women’s Business 

Centers and others who coach women business owners, and non-profit 

leaders of women business owner associations. 

It starts with goals. 

The value of setting high goals for growth is not just a motivational myth! 

Research shows that the only statistically significant predictor of business 

growth is not the industry, size of business or length of time in business. It 

is the entrepreneur’s goal for growth. 

We are not advocating that every woman should grow a large business. 

Indeed, the choice to grow the business large or keep it small is the 

entrepreneur’s. However, it is critical for women to understand the 

implications of their future goals for business structure when establishing 

their business so they can make an informed decision about setting growth 

goals from the out-set and about laying the foundation for launching growth 

should they decide to do so. 

The women with the most substantial businesses set high goals and when 

they achieve these goals, they ratchet up to an even higher level. In an 

informal survey of the 2010 Enterprising Women awardees, regardless of 

whether the business was at $1 million or over $25 million, the owners 

reported growth goals that equaled or exceeded their growth rate for the 

past five years. 

Launching Women-Owned Businesses onto a High Growth Trajectory 3

So, what differentiates the

women with the largest,

fastest growing businesses

from those with the smaller

firms? 
Establishing high growth goals from the outset makes the business owner 

think differently about her business and drives decision making. The 

women with the faster growing businesses say they behaved as if they had 

$1 million firms long before they achieved that level of revenue. 

Women’s growth goals are influenced by many factors including their 

reasons for starting a business. Research shows that women and men 

start businesses for different reasons. Men tend to start a business to be 

the boss and grow the business as large as possible; women start 

businesses to be personally challenged and to integrate personal and 

business goals. 

Definitions of success also influence goals. Men tend to define success in 

monetary terms while for women, fulfilling a value-based vision and 

mission is at least as important and often more important than monetary 

goals. Many women business owners believe that they cannot both grow 

a business and fulfill their values-based goals. So, they often default to 

focusing on the mission rather than growth goals. 

The most successful women business owners recognize that they can 

integrate profitability and wealth creation with values and mission. As one 

woman CEO with a multi-million dollar business said in an interview, 

“While I always expected to build a business that would be an institution, 

from the start, I also defined success in two ways: (1) by providing 

professionally meaningful jobs for people to help them find their voice 

through a rewarding career; and (2) by providing services to make a positive 

difference in other people’s lives. More than 25 years later, these values 

still drive our business.” 

As we said, most men start businesses to be the boss and grow the 

business to be as large as possible. In contrast, almost two-thirds of 

women say their goal is to keep the company at a size where they 

personally can stay involved in product or service delivery to ensure the 

quality and customer service that is their critical market differentiator. 

When a woman thinks like this, she becomes the greatest barrier to her 

business’ growth. 

Launching Women-Owned Businesses onto a High Growth Trajectory 4

Men tend to start a business

to be the boss and grow the

business as large as possible; 

women start businesses to be

personally challenged and to 

integrate personal and 

business goals 
The women owners of the most substantial businesses recognize that they 

must make the transition from being the chief technical person to being the 

business leader. To preserve the quality of products and services, they 

create a culture that institutionalizes their values and expectations and build 

a team of top talent. They realize that others can deliver the services but 

that only they can take care of the health of the organization. They fall in 

love with running the business. 

The mind-set of deferring establishing serious long-term growth goals until 

after the start-up phase of the business often is re-enforced by the training 

for new business owners. All too often, start-up training tends to ignore 

planning for future growth, focusing instead on business start-up planning, 

marketing advice, and personal budget planning to ensure the new 

entrepreneur has enough cash to carry her until the business gets going. 

That lack of focus on future growth makes a huge difference. The woman 

business owner may not establish the necessary tools for tracking and 

analyzing financial information and business operations or invest in the 

technology that would facilitate future growth. So, if after a few years, the 

woman realizes she has a successful enterprise on her hands or her 

circumstances change and she wants to expand the business, she is 

unlikely to have the three to five years of financial records and projections 

that banks require to provide credit. In the end, she either delays growth 

or, more commonly, lowers her goals.

Focusing on finance and uses of capital is vital. 

One of the key differentiators between the women with the most 

substantial businesses and those with smaller businesses is their attitude 

toward business finance and capital. Women business owners who are 

focused on growth and expansion are more confident in their business 

skills, including planning, strategy, and finance than the women who are 

not expansion oriented. They are much more likely to embrace financial 

measurements as a major component of their business strategy. They 

produce more financial reports more often, review them regularly, and use 

them to drive business decisions. 

Launching Women-Owned Businesses onto a High Growth Trajectory 5

All too often, start-up training

tends to ignore planning for 

future growth, focusing instead

on business start-up planning 
While women who are focused on expansion are more likely than other 

women business owners to seek outside capital, overall, women tend to 

prefer to use business earnings rather than credit to invest in expansion. 

Even when we control for revenue, women business owners are less likely 

than men business owners to say they are using or intend to use either 

credit or equity products. Further, many view debt as “bad.” This restricts 

the amount of capital available for expansion and, therefore, inhibits growth 

potential. 

This attitude toward using outside capital may be due, in part, to women’s 

lack of comfort with financial products and services. One of women’s 

strengths is building relationships, yet they seldom focus on building 

relationships with banks and bankers. Lack of relationships with banks and 

limited knowledge about financial products and services often creates a 

barrier to aggressively seeking expansion capital. The most successful 

women business owners have moved from seeing themselves as a 

supplicant in relation to the bank to viewing the banking relationship like 

any other business relationship. It is about getting to know the banks and 

bankers and finding the right one(s) for your business. 

Many women business owners, especially those of color, believe they 

would not get credit even if they applied. So they don’t even bother to ask. 

When they do apply for credit, they are often cautious, asking for as little as 

possible. This only re-enforces the perception that they are not serious 

about growth. 

Research shows that one of the most important determinants of whether 

a business owner will succeed in getting capital is sheer persistence. In 

general, over half of the women business owners who sought a line of 

credit or bank loan were successful. On average, it took those who were 

successful in obtaining capital four attempts to get a line of credit and 22 

attempts to obtain equity investments. Most women business owners 

received the same amount of money they sought; but nearly a quarter 

(22%) actually received higher lines of credit than they requested. 

Metrics establish credibility. 

The greatest potential for growth is in the business-to-business and 

business-to-government markets. Gaining access to these markets is 

Launching Women-Owned Businesses onto a High Growth Trajectory 6

Research shows that one of the

most important determinants

of whether a business owner

will succeed in getting capital

is sheer persistence. 
critical to achieving business growth. However in both the corporate and 

government procurement programs many women business owners 

believe there is an unspoken perception that their companies do not have 

the capacity to perform and that holds back their ability to win those 

contracts. 

In business, if you cannot measure it, it is not real. The women with the 

larger, faster growing businesses have developed the metrics that 

document their capabilities. Many have adopted commercially available 

standardized quality measurement processes. These are available for both 

product and service businesses. Industry associations also have widely 

recognized certifications or standardized quality related measurements that 

a company can adopt. 

In addition to providing potential customers evidence of the company’s 

capacity, these metrics provide the business owner with an excellent tool 

for tracking the business and evaluating processes and programs – adding 

to the strength of the business.

Believe in yourself. 

Women are leading businesses differently and breaking new ground in 

product and service delivery. So it is not uncommon for there to be 

“nay-sayers” who tell them that their ideas won’t work and their goals are 

unattainable. 

A key characteristic of the women who lead the most substantial 

businesses is confidence in their ability to run the company, to seek capital 

and to act quickly. When asked what advice they would give to other 

women business owners, almost every one of the 2010 Enterprising 

Women honorees focused on believing in yourself, staying true to your 

vision and your dream, and not allowing others to tell you that you “can’t.” 

Take advantage of multiple networks.

Networks are a vital source of business and industry knowledge, leads on 

contracts, and access to decision makers in finance, purchasing and the 

community. The Kauffman study of women and men entrepreneurs in high 

tech industries found that mentoring and well-developed professional 

networks were significantly more important to women than to men. 

Launching Women-Owned Businesses onto a High Growth Trajectory 7

Women are leading 

businesses differently and 

breaking new ground in 

product and service delivery 
All too often women restrict their networking to women business owner 

groups or networks within their community. The women who own the 

larger, faster growing businesses belong to more organizations than do the 

women with the smaller businesses. It is not only about the number of 

organizations, but also about the diversity. They join multiple organizations, 

each with its own focus -- to gain industry knowledge, to make marketing 

contacts, to become active in the business and political communities, and 

to make financial contacts as well as maintaining their membership in key 

women’s networks. Further, they use every network as an opportunity to 

learn from the experience of proven leaders. 

Confounding the problem is women’s lack of connections for credible 

introductions into industry associations, chambers of commerce, venture 

capital groups and other networks. Increasingly women business owner 

associations are helping to make those introductions. 

The most successful women business owners say the best way to gain full 

advantage from organization membership is to take a leadership position. 

This provides access to the leaders and decision makers. In addition, it is 

imperative that as women move into the more “traditional” organizations 

that they create a critical mass of women members by reaching out to 

other women. Having a critical mass of women business owners in these 

networks helps women gain acceptance, credibility, and recognition. 

Conclusion and Recommendations

Women business owners have been a major force in economic recovery in 

the past, and there is much benefit in taking advantage of their resiliency. 

Our nation’s recovery – indeed the global recovery – will not be about 

re-creating what we had before. Business models are shifting, values are 

becoming more aligned with women’s values of collaboration and 

inclusion, and how we view ourselves is changing. 

The challenge confronting the women’s entrepreneurship community 

today is to help women business owners do more than plan for business 

growth as usual. We need to dramatically transform women’s concepts of 

the future of their enterprises – to move them into a place where they have 

the vision and the confidence to catapult their businesses to a whole new 

level. 

Launching Women-Owned Businesses onto a High Growth Trajectory 8

The challenge confronting the 

women’s entrepreneurship 

community today is to help

women business owners 

do more than plan for 

business growth as usual.
To do this, we have to show women how to embrace the break neck pace 

of change; to be trend-setters rather than simply reactors; to invest in what 

might be rather than what is; to innovate beyond expectations; and, to 

develop global integration. We need to help them identify ways to make 

their enterprises scalable and to build teams of talented people for where 

the enterprise should be in five years, not just today. 

Research documents that women approach leadership with a different 

perspective than do men. As a result, they relate more easily to the 

experience of other women. We need to build on initiatives already 

underway in many parts of the women’s entrepreneurship community to 

convert the experiences of women who have achieved high business 

growth into generalizable, practical learning programs that are available to 

every woman business owner aspiring to lead a flourishing enterprise of 

whatever size. 

This is the next threshold for women-owned businesses – it is what will 

ensure that women achieve their full potential as business owners and that 

the U.S. economy fully benefits from these enterprising women leaders. 

Launching Women-Owned Businesses onto a High Growth Trajectory 9

Research documents that 

women approach leadership 

with a different perspective 

than do men.
Launching Women-Owned Businesses onto a High Growth Trajectory 10

1

 Center for Women’s Business Research. (2009). Biennial Update 2008, 

Businesses Owned by Women in the United States.

2

 The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute. (2009, December). 

Special Report: Women Small Business Owners Will Create 5+ Million 

New Jobs by 2018, Transforming the Workplace for Millions of Americans.

3

 Center for Women’s Business Research and National Women’s Business 

Council. (2009, October). The Economic Impact of Women-Owned 

Businesses in the United States. 

4

 U.S. Bureau of the Census. (2002). Characteristics of Women-Owned 

Businesses.

5

 Based on Center for Women’s Business Research. (2008). Biennial 

Update 2008, Businesses Owned by Women in the United States.

6

 Center for Women’s Business Research. (2009). Million Dollar 

Strategies from Women Owners of $1 Million Plus Firms. (Fact card). 

7

 Center for Women’s Business Research. (2007). Financing Business 

Growth: Proven Strategies for Women Business Owners from Women 

Business Owners

8

 Center for Women’s Business Research. (2008, May). Million Dollar 

Firms by the Numbers. 

9

 Cohoon, J.M., Wadhwa, V., Mitchell, L. (2010, May). The anatomy of an 

entrepreneur, are successful women entrepreneurs different from men? 

Kauffman, The Foundation of Entrepreneurship.

10 The Guardian Life Small Business Institute. Op.cit. 

11 Center for Women’s Business Research. (2006, March). Capital 

Choices: The Value of Knowledge. 

12 Center for Women’s Business Research. (2004, June). Worth the Risk: 

Women Business Owners and Growth Capital. 

13 Hadary, S. G. (2010). Lessons we can learn from these role models and 

mentors. Enterprising Women, 11(2), 29-32.

14 Ibid.

15 Gartner et al., 2004 cited in Center for Women’s Business Research. 

(2007). Accelerating the Growth of Businesses Owned by Women of 

Color: Opportunities and Possibilities.
Launching Women-Owned Businesses onto a High Growth Trajectory 11

16 Center for Women’s Business Research. (1994). Styles of Success, The 

Thinking and Management Styles of Women and Men Entrepreneurs. 

17 Hadary, S. G. (2010, August/September). We’ve done it! Women in 

leadership roles define their success. 270inc Business Magazine, 1(5), 26-27.

18 Center for Women’s Business Research. (2005, September). Capital 

Choices: Volume 1, What Matters and What Works. 

19 Center for Women’s Business Research. (2008). Lessons from the 

Trenches, Learning from $1 Million Plus Women Entrepreneurs. 

20 Center for Women’s Business Research. (2004, June). Worth the Risk: 

Woman Business Owners and Growth Capital. 

21 Center for Women’s Business Research. (2004). The Leading Edge: 

Women-Owned Million Dollar Firms. 

22 Ibid. 

23 Center for Women’s Business Research. (2007). Financing Business 

Growth: Proven Strategies for Women Business Owners from Women 

Business Owners. 

24 Ibid. 

25 Ibid. 

26 Center for Women’s Business Research. (2004). Op. cit..; (2009). Op. cit. 

27 Hadary, S. G. Op. cit. 

28 Cohoon, J.M., Wadhwa, V., Mitchell, L. Op. cit.

Bibliography

Center for Women’s Business Research. (1994). Styles of Success: The 

Thinking and Management Styles of Women and Men Entrepreneurs. 

Center for Women’s Business Research. (2004). The Leading Edge: 

Women-Owned Million Dollar Firms. 

Center for Women’s Business Research. (2004, June). Worth the Risk: 

Women Business Owners and Growth Capital.

Center for Women’s Business Research. (2005, September). Capital 

Choices: Volume I, What Matters and What Works. 

Center for Women’s Business Research. (2006). Capital Choices: 

Volume II, The Value of Knowledge. 

Center for Women’s Business Research. (2007). Financing Business 

Growth: Proven Strategies for Women Business Owners from Women 

Business Owners. 
Launching Women-Owned Businesses onto a High Growth Trajectory 12

Center for Women’s Business Research. (2008). Biennial Update 2008, 

Businesses Owned by Women in the United States. 

Center for Women’s Business Research. (2008, May). Million Dollar 

Firms by the Numbers. . 

Center for Women’s Business Research. (2008). Lessons from the 

Trenches: Learning from $1 Million Plus Women Entrepreneurs. 

Center for Women’s Business Research. (2009). Million Dollar Strategies 

from Women Owners of $1 Million Plus Firms, (fact card). 

Center for Women’s Business Research and National Women’s Business 

Council. (2009). The Economic Impact of Women-Owned Businesses in 

the United States. 

Cohoon, J.M., Wadhwa, V., Mitchell, L. (2010, May). The Anatomy of an 

Entrepreneur, Are Successful Women Entrepreneurs Different from Men? 

Kauffman, The Foundation of Entrepreneurship. 

Gartner, et al. (2004). Cited in Center for Women’s Business Research. 

(2007). Accelerating the Growth of Businesses Owned by Women of 

Color: Opportunities and Possibilities. 

Hadary, S.G. (2010, August/September). We’ve done it! Women in 

leadership roles define their success. 270inc Magazine, 1(5), 26-27.

Hadary, S.G. (2010). Lessons we can learn from these role models and 

mentors. Enterprising Women, 11(2), 29-32.

The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute. (2009, December) 

Special Report: Women Small Business Owners Will Create 5+ Million 

New Jobs by 2018, Transforming the Workplace for Millions of Americans. 

U.S. Bureau of the Census. (2002). Characteristics of Women-Owned 

Businesses. 

About the Author

Sharon Hadary, DBA, is the former and founding executive director of the 

Center for Women’s Business Research. Today, as Principal of Sharon 

Hadary & Co, she is teaching leadership at the University of Maryland 

University College and speaking and writing nationally on women’s 

leadership and entrepreneurship. 

 
Prepared by: Sharon Hadary

409 Third Street SW Suite 210, Washington DC 20024 Tel: 202-205-3850 www.nwbc.gov

The National Women’s Business Council is a bi-partisan federal government council created to serve as 

an independent source of advice and counsel to the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business 

Administration on economic issues of importance to women business owners. Members of the Council are 

prominent women business owners and leaders of women’s business organizations. The Council’s 

mission includes conducting and supporting research on issues of importance to women business owners 

and their organizations in order to promote bold initiatives, policies and programs designed to support 

women’s business enterprises at all stages of development in the public and private sector marketplaces.

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