Mackay has joined other women entrepreneurs in building businesses that now account for 39.2% of all enterprises in the United States. Since 2019, women-owned businesses have increased by 69%. Last year, women launched 49% of all new businesses, according to the New Business Formation report from Gusto. These women-owned businesses employ 12.9 million workers and have an annual revenue of $3.3 trillion.
Entrepreneurship can have many different paths. Choose yours and get going!
A working paper by researchers at the University of Delaware and Rutgers University found women-owned businesses were significantly more likely than comparable male-owned firms to liquidate through Chapter 7 bankruptcy rather than attempt to reorganize under Chapter 11. And when women-owned companies did pursue reorganization, they were less likely to emerge successfully from the process.
I've always felt that failure is not an option but that's one reason bankruptcy laws exist, not simply to close struggling businesses but to determine which companies can restructure, recover and keep operating.
The findings point to a less-explored dimension of the gender gap in entrepreneurship.
Here's a walk through the essential steps veterans can take when starting a business and resources that can help every step of the way.
The trend is particularly strong among younger women and women of color, who are ambitiously launching new businesses.
Read more here.
At 20, she immigrated to New York City with little more than determination and soon transformed her experience into a book amplifying the voices of immigrant women entrepreneurs across the U.S., celebrating their resilience, ingenuity, and community‑driven leadership.
After spending years living and working remotely in more than 30 countries, Saloua now blends storytelling, education, and strategy to help others craft sustainable, location‑independent lives grounded in freedom, purpose, and impact.
Saloua is redefining freedom, entrepreneurship, and immigrant storytelling.
Many of the young entrepreneurs below fall into that camp and have continued on their path of success in the years that followed, thanks to great ideas, unwavering determination, and support and guidance from the right mentors.
Archika Dogra, Grace Leger and Caitie Sfingi are among them.
The stories of these young business owners are a reminder that entrepreneurship isn’t about waiting for the perfect moment. It’s about starting where you are, learning as you go, and staying open to feedback, mentors, and change.
Cole knows from experience that giving up a regular paycheck and benefits to become self-employed is just one of the leaps of faith that entrepreneurs must take when they step out on their own. “If you don’t have a background in this sort of thing, it can feel really overwhelming – not knowing what you don’t know,” she said.
She offers a handful of suggestions for aspiring female entrepreneurs, one being, "Pull in extra help. Life – especially as an entrepreneur – can be overwhelming. Businesspeople recognize when they need assistance, whether it’s by hiring a professional to help with the books or by making use of free resources like the Small Business Development Center or free webinars."
Learn more how Kristin Cole of kCole Bookkeeping and Small Business Consulting helps entrepreneurs with the unknowns they face.
She says, "Building that [a] plan and intention into your business is a necessity. You have to start with your identity, who you are and what you stand for, and then make and follow that plan. I [Shelley] enjoy working with businesses and organizations that focus on both business and social impact — those moving and shaping their business to grow and improve the community.”
Meghan Gaffney, founder and CEO of Veda, offers lessons and tips that may help non-traditional entrepreneurs. Her three (3) major points are:
Read he entire article to learn how you can leverage your value.
How can we collectively make even more women entrepreneurs successful?
Maija Renko, professor and Coleman Chair of Entrepreneurship in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at DePaul University's Richard H. Driehaus College of Business, says "Appreciation for women entrepreneurs starts by talking about the very things their businesses provide—not focusing on old systems and structures that exclude them. Chicago can be the city that leads this conversation and innovates solutions that make success possible for even more women entrepreneurs."
Read the entire Opinion piece in Crain's Chicago Business: How to Support Women Entrepreneurs
Related to women entrepreneurs, support and Chicago, next week we unveil a game changing new app invented and launched by two Chicago women entrepreneurs. Stay tuned because we are about to make your shopping experience a breeze via the #cartdropmethod.
In the UK alone, for example, up to £250 billion of new value could be added to the economy if women launched and scaled new businesses at the same rate as British men, generating jobs and unlocking new opportunities for many.
Women should be at the forefront of the entrepreneurial scene. The flexibility that comes with self-employment – the autonomy to choose how and which work and family roles to prioritize– makes being your own boss an attractive proposition for many women.
Despite entrepreneurial opportunity being present all over the world, not everyone has the same access to resources or the right support system to take an idea forward. The reality is, women feel this impact more than men.
How do you turn the tide to create gender parity in entrepreneurship? To turn the tide for female entrepreneurs, women need to have access to the right resources (for instance, capital) and receive the right support right from the outset. And this can only be achieved through public and private sector collaboration.
Read the entire article here.
In crisis or chaos, every entrepreneur must go back to their “Why” as the first step to surviving. “Why are you and your company on this planet? What is the problem that you must solve? What is your essence? How can you make yourself and your company essential to the world and your clients and customers?” The solution to the problem is in the answer to that question.Read the entire article here (be sure to scroll to: By Barbara Roberts, Entrepreneurs in Residence, Columbia Business School). Full white paper can be found at: Women's Entrepreneurial Journey: Profiles of leadership in an era of new opportunities.
“Being an entrepreneur is not always an easy path, but with the right opportunity, hard work, and a supportive community, it can be very rewarding,” explains Jenny Hienrich of Herbalife Nutrition in a media statement.And here's the big surprise: there's been an unexpected positive effect the pandemic is having on women business owners – from having their own hours, workload, wages and output.
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Women who’ve embarked on new careers in their 40s, 50s and 60s are among some of the most successful entrepreneurs!Yes, you read that right. If you are thinking that you are too old to start a business, guess again.
“Eighteen-hundred and 21 of you [women entrepreneurs] a day in the United States are building companies,” said Brooks (52.9 years young :-), referring to a 2018 study of business women commissioned by American Express.She [Brooks] goes on to say:
These 60 women, who have a record combined net worth of $71 billion, up 15% from $61.5 billion in 2017, have shattered [glass] ceilings and scaled new heights, making fortunes in everything from genetic testing to slimming shapewear. The minimum net worth needed to make this year’s list is $320 million, up from $260 million last year.Find out who made the list. You won't be disappointed. In fact, you even might be surprised!
Read the entire article here.Gilt Groupe started out in 2007 as an online sample sale destination for the fashion savvy shopper. The website’s original three founders Kevin Ryan, Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson (at left) have recently realized huge success after the valuation of Gilt Groupe doubled from one year ago to $1 Billion. Not so bad after just four years as an e-commerce merchant!
As you pave the way to success for yourself, pay a visit to Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (pictured) for additional ideas:The Kauffman Foundation is working to further understand the phenomenon of entrepreneurship, to advance entrepreneurship education and training efforts, to promote entrepreneurship-friendly policies, and to better facilitate the commercialization of new technologies by entrepreneurs and others, which have great promise for improving the economic welfare of our nation.See, you are not living in a vacuum. The world is working with you to get that business idea off the ground!
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