On the fast track

A recent survey reveals some interesting data about women who own fast-growth businesses — firms achieving revenue or employee growth of 30 percent or more in the past three years.

The survey by the National Foundation for Women Business Owners included nearly 1,200 women and men business owners and showed these results among fast-growth businesses:

 

  • 21 percent have gross sales of $1 million or more per year.

     

  • Women owners of such firms are more likely to cite independence and financial motives for ownership than are women owners of slower-growth businesses.

     

  • Women owners of fast-growth businesses are more likely than their male counterparts to rely on business earnings and personal debt for business financing. While 32 percent of women business owners use personal credit cards to finance their firms, only 21 percent of men do. Male owners of fast-growth firms are more likely to have a business or commercial bank loan.

     

  • Only 28 percent of women owners of these businesses share ownership of their firms with outside investors, compared to 49 percent of men business owners.

     

  • Businesses that have achieved recent fast growth tend to be younger, have higher revenue and employ more workers than firms that are not growth-oriented.

Source: National Foundation for Women Business Owners