It was estimated that in 2008, there were about one million small businesses owned by women in the Unites states. Women in small businesses accounted for almost a trillion dollars in sales that year, and accounted for about 16% of employment in the country. The number of small businesses owned by women is only expected to grow in the coming years, as more and more women make the choice to branch out on their own to be their own boss.
One of the reasons women in small businesses have been so successful is that women have proven themselves over and over to be excellent leaders. Studies have shown that when rated by peers and subordinates, female executives tend to score higher than their male counterparts. From keeping motivation high to producing higher-quality work, women in the working world have demonstrated an exceptional aptitude for leadership. This may be in part because women have a tendency to think things through more thoroughly than men, or it may simply because women are less likely to seek individual glory and more likely to collaborate with their workers. Whatever the cause, the numbers show that in most fields, female executives make the marks.
So what is keeping women from running the bigger corporations? Of the 1,000 largest companies in the US, a mere six are owned and run by female executives. While the number of women in small businesses is on the rise, women who work for larger companies tend to wind up working in middle-management or in public relations. The skills of the working woman have long gone unrewarded and mostly unnoticed, and many women feel that they are seen as mere beasts of burden. They can take the pressure of demanding middle-management jobs, but feel that their superiors do not view them as suited for top management positions.
Thus, many women have turned to starting their own companies, to escape this sexist bias that exists in so many of today’s larger business settings. Despite their productivity in the workplace, women have often had their methods misunderstood by their male superiors. Women in small businesses owned by women don’t have to worry about being misinterpreted or having their hard work go unrewarded. Working women get working women, and female-owned small businesses show again and again that it’s the quality of work and not the size of the company that really matter.
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