Women Small Business Owners Confident on Growth, Have More Aggressive Plans to Hire and Expand
October 02 2019 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Despite Concerns About Access to Capital, Women
Entrepreneurs Believe Having More Women in Positions of Influence
Can Move the Needle for the Next Generation
Women small business owners are poised to end 2019 on a high
note, with 84 percent anticipating year-over-year revenue growth,
according to the 2019 Bank of America Women Business Owner
Spotlight. Future revenue projections and expansion plans have
reached four-year highs, and are stronger among women entrepreneurs
than their male counterparts. However, women continue to report
barriers concerning access to capital and pay equality.
“Women business owners see a bright future for their businesses,
yet there is still more work to be done as many say work-life
balance, access to capital, and pay equality remain issues,” said
Sharon Miller, head of Small Business, Bank of America. “They
identified having more women in powerful positions of influence as
a factor that could help pave the way for the next generation of
women in business. At Bank of America, we intend to do our part by
providing the opportunities and resources women entrepreneurs need
to help launch and grow their businesses.”
Women business owners’ outlook on the economy remains strong and
steady from last fall. The annual study of more than 1,000
entrepreneurs around the country also reveals that:
Business growth indicators remain strong for women
entrepreneurs heading into 2020…
- 73 percent plan to expand (vs. 66 percent of male business
owners, and up from 67 percent in 2018).
- 62 percent expect their revenue will increase next year (vs. 55
percent of male business owners, and up from 58 percent in
2018).
- 25 percent plan to hire (vs. 23 percent of male business
owners, and up from 21 percent in 2018).
- 12 percent intend to apply for a loan (vs. 11 percent of male
business owners, and steady from 13 percent in 2018).
…as does their steady economic outlook for the year
ahead
- 52 percent of women entrepreneurs are confident their local
economy will improve (up from 49 percent in 2018).
- 47 percent are confident the national economy will improve
(steady from 48 percent in 2018).
- Top areas of economic concern among all women entrepreneurs for
the year ahead include health care costs (61 percent) and the
political environment (58 percent), but that concern has declined
over the last six months, down 8 percentage points and 6 percentage
points, respectively.
- Conversely, there was an increase in concern about consumer
spending (58 percent), credit availability (40 percent) and trade
and tariff policies (46 percent), up 6 percentage points, 6
percentage points and 5 percentage points, respectively, from this
spring.
Impact of societal issues on women in business Examining
societal issues that could impact women in business over the next
five years, strong majorities of women entrepreneurs identified
achieving work-life balance (95 percent), pay equality (92 percent)
and improved access to capital (90 percent) as impactful. Looking
longer term, women entrepreneurs say having more females in
positions of influence (35 percent) is the single factor they
believe will have the greatest impact in paving the way for the
next generation of women in business, followed by pay equality (22
percent) and stronger networks of women (12 percent).
Access to capital remains a barrier for many While last
year’s report found that 84 percent of women entrepreneurs believe
access to capital for women business owners has improved over the
last decade, 58 percent say women business owners currently don’t
have the same access to capital as their male counterparts.
Thirty-four percent believe it will take some time to achieve equal
access to capital — on average, 14.4 years — while nearly 24
percent of women entrepreneurs believe women will never have equal
access to capital.
The formula for small business success: perseverance in the
face of adversity Looking at broader trends and personal
experiences that have helped shaped today’s women entrepreneurs,
more than half of women business owners say experiencing adversity
(67 percent), obtaining a college degree (62 percent) and having a
mentor (54 percent) have been impactful in shaping their success.
Other key factors identified by more than one-quarter of women
entrepreneurs include participating in the arts (35 percent),
playing competitive sports (30 percent) and serving on student
council (26 percent).
When asked for the single character trait that has had the
greatest impact on their business success, women entrepreneurs
identified integrity (23 percent) as the top personality attribute,
closely followed by perseverance (22 percent). Others pointed to
passion (15 percent), accountability (14 percent), ambition (14
percent) and creativity (10 percent) as essential traits
For a complete, in-depth look at the insights of women small
business owners, read the 2019 Bank of America Women Business Owner
Spotlight.
Bank of America Business Advantage Women Business Owner
Spotlight Ipsos Public Affairs conducted the Bank of America Small
Business Owner Report Survey for fall 2019 online between July 19
and August 19, 2019 using a pre-recruited online sample of small
business owners. Ipsos contacted a national sample of 1,323 small
business owners in the United States with annual revenue between
$100,000 and $4,999,999 and employing between two and 99 employees.
The Women Business Owner Spotlight reports on the 524 female small
business owners included in the national sample. In addition, a
total of approximately 300 small business owners were also surveyed
in each of 10 target markets: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas,
Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco and
Washington, D.C. The final results were weighted to national
benchmark standards for size, revenue and region.
Prior to 2016, previous waves of the Small Business Owner Report
Survey were conducted by telephone and while best efforts were made
to replicate processes, differences in sample, weighting and method
suggests caution when making direct statistical comparisons of the
results from pre-2016 and post-2016.
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offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small
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Reporters May Contact: Don Vecchiarello, Bank of America,
1.980.387.4899 don.vecchiarello@bankofamerica.com
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