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There’s a business boom taking place, and it’s being led by women. The number of women owning their own company is a driving force in today’s economy, and according to many experts, they have the skills and abilities to do it better than men.
All the indicators are pointing toward a tremendous growth rate of women-owned businesses. According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, a Washington D.C. nonprofit, women have majority-owned stakes of more than 50 percent in almost half of the privately held companies in the United States. Even more impressive is the rapid pace that number is growing. Women-owned firms are increasing at nearly double the rate of all other businesses, according to the CWBR.
Certainly these companies aren’t turning out to be the next Microsoft or General Motors. In fact, less than 7 percent of U.S. businesses with more than $1 million in annual sales are owned by women. One reason, of course, is that business has been a “man’s world” for centuries and women are just in the infancy of this cycle. But another compelling reason is that women, for the most part, don’t always want to grow their companies into mega-profitable organizations.
Jim Green, bestselling author of Starting Your Own Business, notes that women have different priorities, goals and concerns when it comes to owning a business. Like any business owner, they want their company to be a success, but they also embrace companies that remain small, easy to manage, and free from unappealing corporate layers.
“[Women] start their businesses for a variety of reasons,” writes Green. “Independence, flexibility, freedom from corporate limitations, and the freedom to take risks are usually major motivational factors for the woman who decides to start her own business.”
And once a woman starts a business, can she really do it better? Many think she can. It doesn’t take brain surgeon to know that men and women are different. That’s the understatement of the century. And when it comes to running a business, women do it differently as well.
Typically, leadership style is one glaring difference between female and male business owners. While men approach business leadership with aggression, confidence, and a command-and-control sensibility, women utilize other attributes like flexibility, team-building, and empowerment. Female business owners also tend to be more responsive and accessible to employees, define expectations more clearly, and tend to seek out opinions more often from their staffs and experts in the field.
Women business owners also corner the market on relationship building. It’s a style that promotes communication and results in better conditions, benefits, and perks for employees.
“The smartest employers are those that ask their employees what life at work is like and what might make that world better,” says Amy Joyce, who writes the “Life at Work” column for the Washington Post. “Companies that don’t do that now, despite that it’s still an employer’s market, will be sorry later.”
Understanding personal needs and family obligations is also the domain of women-owned businesses. Adjusting work schedules, providing day care, and offering rewards with a feminine touch often keep workers smiling and on the job.
“By providing an environment that cultivates respectful relationships, owners are able to focus on performance and profitability,” writes Green. “This is not easy, but it is essential and the rewards are definitely worth the effort.”
