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THE FEMALE ASPECT
Changing
lifestyles have seen many more women set up their own business later in
life, capitalizing on re-found freedom after the children have left home.
According to
the National Foundation for Women Business Owners, 9.1 million women owned
business firms in the U.S. This represented 38 percent of all business,
employing over 27.5 million people, and generating over 3.6 trillion in
sales
London
Express reports that women are quickly becoming a franchising force in the
United Kingdom.
Females represent roughly 25 percent of the entire
franchisees in the U.K. and are
at the forefront of the franchise profit growth in 2004, reports the
International Franchise Association. They say that women are
especially adept at running franchises because of their relationship
building, consensus building, and listening skills.
The past
three years have seen steady revenue increases from women-owned businesses
that do $1 million in sales per year. Despite that success, only 56
percent of those businesses use commercial loans or lines of credit. The
owners prefer to use business earnings as their primary source of funding.
Though 48
percent of privately held U.S. businesses are female- owned, only 4
percent of venture-backed companies in the first three quarters of 2004
belonged to women, according to studies from the Center for Women's
Business Research.
Though the
reasons for that disproportion are not fully understood, several factors:
the traditionally male-dominated structures of venture capital networks,
the proclivity of women to tap personal networks rather than institutional
lenders, the lack of prior preparation for consultations with banks or
venture-capital firms and the lack of knowledge about capital
opportunities.
Women are
much more likely to receive capital from individual investors, at 73
percent, than from institutional investors, at 15 percent, according to
the Center for Women's Business Research.
Retailers,
especially women who want to contain their business growth to suit their
family's needs, should be creative in how they approach the investor's
participation.
A recent survey
in the UK (2005) by the Centre for Economics and Business Research,
predicts that women will hold 60% of the countries wealth by 2025, up from
a current total of 48%, attributed mainly to being better educated. They
also say that the UK in 2005 has more female millionaires than male below
the age of 45.
An estimated
360,000 women are now worth an average of £798,000 each according to UK
investment service Brewin Dolphin Wealth Management (06/05), and in
Florida,
Women-owned companies account for a
third of all Florida businesses.
THE MYSTERY
SHOPPER OPPORTUNITY
Mom's Working from
Home (VIDEO)
Women in Franchising
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