A New Breed of Small Business Owners

A new breed of small business owner is emerging from difficult financial times. A recent study in the U.K. provided evidence that a new type of small business owner is on the rise.  These new business owners are:

• Women
• Between 45 and 54 (Baby Boomers, of course!)
• Who started their businesses between 1995 and 1999, and
• Have experienced several downturns, including this one.

These business owners have been battle-hardened, so to speak, by the fluctuations of the economy. The survey, conducted by Bibby Financial Group in the U.K., found “81% of business owners who’ve experienced a number of downturns since the early 1980s paying more attention to finances compared to just 64% of those who’ve experienced this recession only.”

It seems women business owners who have been battle-tested over the past 15 years are great business owners.  I could have told them that!

The Center for Women’s Business Research (of the National Federation of Women Business Owners says that between 1997 and 2006, the number of majority women-owned businesses increased 42%.  (September 2006).

More and more women are creating businesses.   In its 2007 study, the Center’s statistics included these:

• 10.1 million firms are owned by women (50% or more), employing more than 13 million people, and generating $1.9 trillion in sales as of 2008.
• Three quarters of all women-owned businesses are majority owned by women (51% or more), for a total of 7.2 million firms, employing 7.3 million people, and generating $1.1 trillion in sales.
• Women-owned firms (50% or more) account for 40% of all privately held firms.

Women business owners, particularly those in the Baby Boomer generation, are a force to be reckoned with.  And as they mentor younger women, they will pass on the attitudes and drive that made them successful.  They are the future of business.

Image: Newscom