Funding Opportunities for Women Business Owners Curated by the WBDC Chicago

Below is a list of current Funding Opportunities curated by Women Business Development Center's (WBDC’s) Access to Capital team in Chicago.  If interested in any of these opportunities, please reach out to the organization via the links or emails provided.

Funding opportunities.

Everything For a Small Business Is Urgent: Where's the Funding For Women Business Owners?

Women's business centers are essential to ensuring women entrepreneurs can start, grow and sustain businesses that strengthen local economies. There are about 150 such centers nationwide.  Without women’s business centers, countless women entrepreneurs would lack a clear path to success. Federal investment is making a difference — and sustained support remains essential.

A preliminary proposal from the Trump administration called for a halt to federal funding for women's business centers nationwide.

The budget uncertainty in Washington, the federal funding situation for both Women Business Centers and SCORE, is concerning.

We salute the Association of Women's Business Centers for their five-city Media Spotlight Tour to showcase the impact of women-owned businesses and the Women's Business Centers (WBCs) that support them.

There's a reason women are defined as resilient and courageous.  If you strip them of funding, there are no alternatives but to become fearless, resilient and courageous to grow a business. We exist.  Show us support will you? 

Women Are Turning Visions Into Ventures

The Center for Women Entrepreneurs at Texas Woman’s University, which provides a variety of financial programs, training and advising services for women-owned businesses, offered both virtually and in person – celebrated its 10-year anniversary with a Visions into Ventures milestone event, highlighting the successes of women business owners who have utilized its resources.  

Since 2018, the CWE has awarded over $2.3 million in grants to women entrepreneurs, Irby said. Grant-funded opportunities include the Veteran Woman Entrepreneur grant, the StartHER and Texas Rural Woman Entrepreneur grants, which are available to women-owned startups or small businesses. 

As one woman business owner says, "In the world in which we live right now, being a woman can be hard and finding community with women makes it worth it."

Enough said.

Grameen America Helps Low-Income Women Business Owners With Loan Capital and Credit-Building

Grameen America is the fastest growing nonprofit microfinance organization in the United States. Atlanta is the 25th U.S. city where the fund has set up operations. The new Grameen America Atlanta office is being funded through partnerships with The Studio@Blue Meridian, Truist Foundation, Investor and philanthropist Robert F. Smith and Regions Bank which donated $1million. 

What does Grameen America do?

Grameen America provides low-income women business owners with loan capital, financial education, asset- and credit-building, and peer support. Since 2008, Grameen America has reached more than 170,000 women living in underserved communities across the United States and recently achieved a record milestone of investing over $3 billion in capital to emerging entrepreneurs. The organization’s repayment rate is over 99% and its members have achieved an average credit score of 653 through participation in the program.

Atlanta is known for its strong women entrepreneur base, so it was a natural that the organization would eventually set up shop here. The fund started making inroads into the metro area in June 2022.

Learn more about the plans for Grameen America and women entrepreneurs. 

If You Want to Get Something Done, Use Your Ecosystem

Interest rates are rising, banks are failing, there’s high inflation, and a dynamic of low unemployment and layoffs. The economy is different than a couple of years ago, and venture capital firms are slowing their funding. 

Companies solely founded by women receive less than 3% of all venture capital investments, and women account for less than 15% of checkwriters, according to PitchBook. 

Yet there is still a glimmer of hope.  The key is having a business that can scale and is durable, one that could survive a recession if it happens.  And, it helps to access and use your ecosystem.  Some examples are the Women Presidents Organization, Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global® and Women Elevating Women.

Learn more about how you can get one step closer to your entrepreneurial goals.  Spoiler alert:  It's not easy.

Go Into the Entrepreneur World Without Any Fear

Over 11 million U.S. businesses are owned by women, generating $1.7 trillion in sales, according to the National Association of Women Business Owners.  Yet women in business are often overlooked or overshadowed as the number of women only tells part of the story.

These numbers don't tell the whole story. Women entrepreneurs are still in the minority, although times have evolved. The theme for 2023's International Women's Month "#EmbraceEquity", is just the start of shedding light to some of the fight women face in a male- dominant area.

Read on to learn how women-owned businesses have influenced the way the globe does business and why other women are deciding to go into the entrepreneur world without any fear.

Women Business Owners Are Making History, Always

Women-owned businesses are essential to economic stability and recovery and supporting them is a smart economic decision.

Women are making history as the primary breadwinners for their families while also leading about 40% of households. With these factors combined, supporting small businesses owned by women from all socioeconomic groups means supporting companies that contribute to local economies and provide good jobs.

Read on to learn how continuing to empower women-owned businesses will strengthen our global economy.

Does Entrepreneurship Fulfill you Emotionally and Creatively?

According to a FreshBooks survey, 88 percent of entrepreneurs accept the challenges to running their own business because entrepreneurship fulfills them emotionally and creatively.

“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.

Call to Action: Profiling Successful Women Entrepreneurs and Business Owners. Is That You?

Here's an opportunity you won't want to miss!  I will be profiling successful women entrepreneurs and business owners on GoDaddy's blog starting this month through early 2020. Think of this as a marketing agency representing you for a one-off moment.

GoDaddy doesn’t just have hundreds or thousands of readers at their blog — they have millions. So this is a very good opportunity for a business owner to get great media coverage and increase their SEO rank at the same time.

If you or someone else you know would like to be profiled on the GoDaddy Garage site (https://www.godaddy.com/garage/) -- send me an email.  This opportunity is on a first-come, first-serve basis on who gets featured and there is a nominal charge involved. No competing firms will be featured under my pen. The first profile is due November 25th and that has already been filled. Take a look at some of my past articles for GoDaddy. My approach will be to have these profiles be similar to the one you see on Lifeway Foods CEO Julie Smolyansky.

Look forward to hearing from you with your interest.

The Fastest-Growing Sector of American Entrepreneurship: Women

Over the past 50 years women have gone from owning 4.6% of all businesses to 40%, according to the American Express 2018 Report on the State of Women-Owned Businesses.  We may own a lot of businesses but we still struggle to get a loan when we need one.  Take Lisa Michele Chretien, CEO of Laguna Beach-based EventMover, a transportation logistics company that moves corporate assets for trade and auto shows, domestically and internationally.

Lisa needed a line of credit to grow her $3.5 million in annual revenue business, was looking for a loan of about three-quarters of a million dollars in credit, but instead, hit a wall.  She went to 25 lenders in Orange County and every single one said no.

See what she did and how she overcame a roadblock, one that persists for the fastest-growing sector of American entrepreneurship:  women.

Hint:  She finally got her line of credit, but only after her accountant approached a lender he had done business with for years.  As she tells it:  "I felt like I had traveled back in time, before 1988 and the passage of the Women’s Business Ownership Act — when women were required to have a male relative sign a business loan."

Online Business Tools to Simplify and Innovate More Efficiently

Finding tools and resources specific to small business owners helps simplify and innovate more efficiently.  Here are a few, including this blog :-).

Read ... online business tools for women business owners.

Oh, and one more good list and don't forget about wegg®, which help women business owners go global.

Why You Should Start a Business in 2019 No Matter What

Starting a business isn't easy and it isn't a decision you should jump into blindly. You'll need savings and a solid plan to make your dream a sound reality. But if you're prepared financially and logistically, there's a good chance you'll wind up more than satisfied with your choice.

The article below provides you with 6 reasons to move forward.

1. You get to call the shots
2. You can control your income
3. You can pursue your passion
4. You can set your own schedule
5. You can make a difference
6. You can shape your destiny (mine)

Read the entire on why you should start a business in 2019.

36 Chicago Resources for Women Entrepreneurs

As a sweet home Chicago kind of gal (born and raised in Chicago), I found the list below of Chicago resources for female entrepreneurs pretty darn good, with the exception of Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global, a nonprofit I founded and manage, being left out.

The population of women-owned startups in Chicago is growing.

Women business owners have opportunities to thrive in Chicago, especially if they happen to be in tech.

Check out the list here.

Giving Women Resources To Succeed

While determination can fuel a company’s growth, other resources can aid women business owners: Programs aimed at women business owners.

Since 2014, Sonabank’s POWER (Potential of Women Entrepreneurs Realized) program has focused on connecting women entrepreneurs and giving them resources to succeed in a male-dominated field.

While the POWER program is run by a bank, helping with loans and other financings, the program has more to offer: A female-focused support system made up of more than 800 other women.

“She [Michelle Simon, senior vice president of Sonabank] told me about the bank and how they supported women,” Brumfield [Michelle Brumfield, CEO of BedCrafters] said. “I know how difficult it can be to run a business and run a house.”

Read more how women lift each other up.

How Can Women-Owned Firms Grow Their Enterprises?

The 2015 State of Women-Owned Business Report (AMEX Open, 2015) estimated that women started 1,200 new businesses every day during the past year, up from an average of 740 a day the year prior. Four out of 10 new firms are now started by women.

Putting the elephant on the table:  The real issue at hand is not getting more women to start a business, but rather providing support to women who are already in business to enable them to grow their enterprises to the next level.

The McKinsey Institute projects that if women business owners achieved the same level of success as their male counterparts, $3.2 trillion in revenues and employ 16 million people.

How can women-owned firms grow their enterprises?  Read more here.

What Leads to Success in Starting a Business?

Is the following what you are thinking?  When I started my business, it's what I thought.

Many people start a business thinking they will start making money immediately they open their doors - only to find that making money in a business is much more difficult than they thought.

Below, women entrepreneurs share basic steps that led to success in their businesses.

How successful women grow their businesses 

The Path to Business Ownership Is Challenging and Rewarding

According to a recent study by the National Association of Women Business Owners, the number of women-owned businesses has grown at one and a half times the national average for new businesses during the last decade.

Find out what kind of an impact that trend is having on industries.

Read:  Women business owners share stories of success

Screenshot courtesy:  Carter & Co. Communications (pictured is Holly Carter)

Women Entrepreneurs: Bring On the Optimism in 2013!

A recent national survey of women business owners conducted by Web.com Group, Inc. and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) found a strong sense of economic optimism, including a prediction by 85 percent of women business owners that more women will become entrepreneurs in 2013 than in past years.

How is that so?  Find out here.

The Early Days of Trish McEvoy's Business

Oh how I try to imagine this:

Working as a make-up artist in the 1970s, Trish McEvoy says she used to struggle to find quality cosmetic brushes. So she would buy brushes from art-supply stores and cut them into the shape she needed to apply eye liners, lipsticks and blushes (as shown).

Trish now has her beauty products in more than 250 stores in the United States and Europe with annual revenue just under U.S. $100 million.  She has 500+ employees.

So don't 'brush off' (pardon the pun) business ownership just yet this year. You never know when you are on to something!  The trick is to keep persevering!

Read: For Makeup Artist Trish McEvoy, Custom Brushes Led to Fortune

Visit: Trish McEvoy's NEW Arrivals

Women Business Owners Help Overall Economic Prosperity

Whether you are interested in starting a business in the United States or as in this case, Pakistan, working women face difficulties.

As a result, the Dawood Capital Management Limited (DCML) in collaboration with the British Deputy High Commission announced the launching of a special fund -- LadiesFund -- catering to the saving and investment needs of women in Pakistan.

The initiative comes as studies show that women are much better savers than men and can help in overall economic prosperity if allowed to start small businesses

Read more here

Illustration credit here.