According to The 2013 State of Women-Owned Business report published by American Express OPEN, the number of women-owned firms is growing at a rate one and a half times the national average, and their revenue and employment growth over the past 16 years exceeds that of all but the largest, publicly traded corporations. Yet just two percent of women-owned firms have reached or crossed the million-dollar threshold.
Why might this be the case? A new report, “Growing Under the Radar: An Exploration of the Achievements of Million-Dollar Women-Owned Firms,” sheds new light on this important issue, using never-before-published data to investigate the growth in the number of million-dollar firms in categories of $1 to $4.9 million, $5 to $9.9 million, and $10 million plus.
One reason for a lack of growth in the share of women-owned firms at the highest levels of business achievement may be that women-owned firms are “growing past” the 51 percent ownership definition, thereby disappearing from the ranks of “majority women-owned.”
Other findings from the report include:
- Over the past decade, the growth in the number of women-owned firms with $10 million or more in revenues has increased by more than 56 percent, a rate almost 50 percent faster than the rate of growth of all $10 million plus firms and nearly twice the rate of growth of all women-owned firms.
- The industries home to the greatest share of million-dollar firms that exceed the $10 million threshold include: wholesale trade (20 percent), finance/insurance (12 percent), transportation/warehousing (11 percent), and arts/entertainment/recreation (10 percent).
You can read and download the report here, or visit openforum.com/womensbusinessreport to learn more.
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