Why More Women Should Be Entrepreneurs and CEOs

Women-owned businesses are on the rise - and we’re proud to be one! Though, women still own under half of new businesses in the world today. In fact, women own 42% of new businesses in the US today (according to American Express). 

Despite some of the social set backs women experienced during the pandemic, that 42% is growing and may likely surpass the rate at which men are founding businesses. And the facts are telling us that it’s a good thing for the economy and workforce. 

Let’s break this down. 

Whether it’s lessons learned from the Great Recession or Great Resignation, or it’s lessons learned after years of trying to break glass ceilings, the data is showing us that women in leadership roles or as owners are doing incredible work. 

Women-owned businesses are generating around $1.8 trillion dollars annually (LegalZoom), $422.5 billion of that being generated by women of color (Business Wire). We’re bringing some serious dollars and, even accounting for inflation, the amount of money generated by women in business specifically continues to rise. 

Diving deeper into the numbers, we find that women-led private tech companies secure a 35% higher return on investment compared to tech companies largely run by men (Fundera). Women-led businesses also experience lower turnover rates while enjoying high returns on equity and returns on assets. In fact, a few years ago, researchers discovered that median returns on assets was roughly 75% higher among the 25 businesses with the highest percentage of female executives and board members. 

This is not to say that women have it easy in business. 

Women still face challenges acquiring funding and attracting investors. However, a major difference for new female entrepreneurs is the growing network of female business mentors. Years ago, women entrepreneurs largely had men to model after. And by model after, that usually meant following their work and learning from books. Having mentors to speak to was something many female entrepreneurs didn’t have access to. That’s changing. As more women are experiencing success in business, more women are stepping up to teach other women and mentor them on best practices. 

We’re up to remarkable things. The data tells us that plain and simply. So here’s to all the women starting businesses, scaling their empires, and making an impact.