Women-Owned Business Statistics: Where to Find Reliable Data

Why we point to sources instead of repeating numbers

Counts of women-owned businesses vary by survey, definition and year. Reading the original source gives you the current figure and the definition behind it.

You will find many statistics on women-owned businesses in blogs and slide decks, often with no source and no date. Two common problems follow. First, definitions differ: one source may count businesses where women own 51 percent or more, another may count any business with a woman owner. Second, data ages quickly.

Before you quote or rely on any number, check:

• Who published it and when
• How "women-owned" was defined
• Whether it counts employer firms, non-employer firms or both
• Whether it covers the whole U.S. or one region

If you need a number for a pitch or grant application, go to the primary source and cite it directly.

Official sources worth bookmarking

The U.S. Census Bureau, the SBA Office of Advocacy, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Federal Reserve each publish data that touches women-owned business.

These agencies are the usual starting points:

Each agency's website has a search and a data section. Look for the most recent release and note its date. Do not rely on a summary written by someone else when the table is a few clicks away.

Patterns the data tends to show, and how to read them

Official surveys generally show that women own a large and growing share of businesses, with concentration in service industries and many smaller firms. Check current data for the figures.

Without quoting specific numbers, here are patterns researchers commonly discuss, which you should verify in current releases:

• Women-owned businesses are spread across industries, with strong presence in health care, personal services, education, professional services and retail.
• A large share are non-employer firms, meaning the owner works alone or with unpaid help.
• Average revenue is often lower than for other businesses, which reflects industry mix and business size as well as access to capital.
• Access to financing and the size of funding received are recurring topics in Federal Reserve survey research.

Be careful with causes. A gap in average revenue can come from industry, hours worked or business age. Good analysis separates these effects.

How owners can use the data

Use it to size your market, benchmark your revenue, support a grant or certification application and make a case to funders with realistic expectations.

Practical uses:

1. Market sizing. Pull industry and state counts to estimate how many competitors and customers you have.
2. Benchmarking. Compare your revenue and employees with similar firms in your industry.
3. Applications. Cite the source and year in grant, certification and bid documents.
4. Planning. Use financing survey results to learn what other firms asked for and what they received.

For programs aimed at women owners, read grants for women, SBA loans for women and microloans for women-owned businesses.

Certifications and programs tied to ownership

Programs such as the SBA's Women-Owned Small Business federal contracting program and state or private certifications depend on ownership and control rules. Check the issuer for current requirements.

Certification can open doors in contracting and supplier diversity programs. The common elements:

• The woman owner or owners hold the required ownership percentage
• They control daily management and long-term decisions
• The business is small by the size standard for its industry
• Documentation proves ownership and control

Rules, thresholds and eligible industries change, so go to SBA.gov or the certifying organization for current terms. Certification itself does not provide funding, but it can lead to contracts that need working capital. Our overview of funding for women-owned businesses covers the next step.

Turning growth plans into funding requests

Funders look at your own revenue, deposits and credit, not at industry statistics. Use data to plan, then support your request with your numbers.

Industry data can sharpen a growth plan. But when you apply for funding, your own records carry the weight: time in business, monthly revenue, bank statements and credit.

ROI Funder considers owners of every background on the same basis: 500+ FICO, 6+ months in business and $20,000+ monthly revenue. The application takes a few minutes, uses a soft credit pull and has no obligation. A complete file, the application plus 3 months of business bank statements, can lead to money in the account the same business day once approved.

We start from payback math. Example only: if a $30,000 expansion adds $7,000 of monthly gross profit, you can judge whether the total cost and payment size fit. See working capital and line of credit options, or apply now.