As a female entrepreneur, I was kind of appalled at hearing this news considering that the number of women entrepreneurs is increasing at an extraordinary rate, growing at four times the national pace of business formation between 1997 and 2002. Women owned firms now account for nearly 40 percent of U.S. businesses according to the Center for Women’s Leadership at Babson College http://www3.babson.edu/CWL/research/...repreneurs.cfm

Is this just another glass ceiling?

I really believe that better press, increased dialogue and sponsorship—from angel networks to corporations—is the key to establishing a strong women’s network.

And from seeing what the fabulous female entrepreneurs (Sandy Lerner, Cisco; Kay Koplovitz, USA Networks) are doing out there, that change is happening right now.

Let’s discuss, I would love to hear what others have to say about these statistics. Did they shock you as much as me?

3% only reach 1 million in Sales? I am confused as to what ceiling they are hitting.

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Kevin O'Brien
Outer Banks Property Management | Outer Banks | Outer Banks Beach Blog
"It's always a great day in paradise"

Hi there, thanks for reading my post and offering your two cents. I do think that women have been making great strides in the business world lately, but I feel we can do even better. Male owned businessmen make 3% more than women, there's still that unbalance. My aim is to try and create equal footing between men and women in terms of statistics. Are there any female small business owners out there?

I know if we come together and offer each other support and guidance we can save the economy! Which is why all of my fellow femalepreneurs should go to Microsoft's Vision to Venture seminars. There are only 2 events left in the tour: April 24th in Austin, and May 5th in Seattle. Head on over to http://www.smallbusiness.officelive.com/v2v/ to find out how you can attend these amazing events for women in business.

I work with Microsoft and am able to offer a 50% discount to these lectures! It's (ATD2041) feel free to pass it along to family or friends!

Check out this youtube video featuring one of the speakers, Susan Solovic!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tZJeZDuy8ko

Let me know if anyone has any questions! Also, if you are unable to attend in person, you can still go to the V2V site and register to watch the webinar!

A bot that is sad.

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Kevin O'Brien
Outer Banks Property Management | Outer Banks | Outer Banks Beach Blog
"It's always a great day in paradise"

I'm as real as can be.

Ok. Just checking.

Do you think the 3% gap could be attributed to males being in business longer than there female counterparts? Since both genders have not been on equal footing for the same amount of time I would assume that the gap would be larger than 3%. Are you comparing businesses that started at the same time in the same field or just by gender of all business owners?

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Kevin O'Brien
Outer Banks Property Management | Outer Banks | Outer Banks Beach Blog
"It's always a great day in paradise"

IMHO, I would attribute that gap to males being given more opportunities than women. I don't want to make this a complete gender war, just my opinions from my perspective :-D

I'm glad you're responding and giving me great feedback with your thoughts! Don't worry, I'm not discounting the male population, I just wanted to bring it more into the open with the truth that women in business are more underachieved than men. Do any women out there feel the same?

I'd love to hear more feedback from the females of this forum! If there are any women out there that own any small businesses, tell me what you feel about this topic!

Oh I agree that women have not always been given a fair deal. Aren't there more women than men currently graduating nationwide year after year? I think we will see that close the gap quickly in the coming years.

It may be a little slower as change always takes some time but I definitely think you will see that gap close year by year.

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Kevin O'Brien
Outer Banks Property Management | Outer Banks | Outer Banks Beach Blog
"It's always a great day in paradise"

Yes I do acknowledge that more women are getting their degrees than men. And I celebrate that fact! I do agree that women will eventually be on equal ground with men, which is amazing news.

By the way, may I ask if you happen to own a small business? If so, what kind of business is it? What method do you use, or find very useful, in marketing a product?

Have you ever heard of Microsoft's new Office Live Small Business program? It's a really great tool for marketing your small business, and is being billed as a one stop shop with everything you need to micro-manage your online presence. You should give it a try and let me know what you think!

It's great because they give you a free domain for a year, instant customization of your site, e-commerce with integration for Ebay, and many more great features.

Check out http://smallbusiness.officelive.com/

Sounds really good. I didn't know they had a new version out, but I will definitely check it out. This could be a great tool for my business.

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