50 Top Women in Tech

What an extraordinary group of women!

Corporate Board Member has put together this list to help boards redress two common shortfalls: an overall lack of technology experience among directors and a shortage of female directors in general. The women we’re portraying speak about their own adventures in the technology industry, the effects their gender may have had on their careers, and the extent to which things might be different for those who come after them. The ones who have already made their mark are selective about which boards they’ll even consider (for more, see “Stalled Gains for Women in Technology”). Whitman says the growing number of women who earn engineering degrees will push the needed change. Maybe. But compared with 25 years ago, fewer women are graduating in tech-related fields. Recruiters and board members, particularly those serving on the governance committee, should move fast.

A hat tip to Judith Dobrzynski for turning us on to it. Promise me you will read each and every one of the features and that you will pass this brilliant piece along to everyone you know!

Are You a Thinker?

Who is the most influential living management thinker? Is it you? That was the simple question that inspired the original Thinkers 50 in 2001. A lot of hard work and number-crunching later, the answer became the first global ranking of business gurus.

The Thinkers 50 2007 provides a completely new ranking and one that reflects only a handful of women. See for yourself.

I think we should start a Women Entrepreneurs 50 2008 covering the most influential living women entrepreneurs. What do you think?

A Guy-Block in Disguise

Women occupy 40% of all managerial positions in the United States. But only 6% of the Fortune 500's top executives are female. And just 2% of those firms have women CEOs. What's getting in their way?

Perhaps its leadership style?

Put on your boxing gloves ladies!

Escape Suburbia

Every once in a while I stumble upon something that I think is hilarious, odd, interesting, compelling, or, as in this case, so close to home on what we are doing here that I absolutely must share it with you.

Escape From Suburbia. Yes, you read that right. The first link is a film from the Film Connection and the second link is the website that goes along with it.

About the film:

In this sequel to the acclaimed documentary The End of Suburbia, we meet three people and one town in California who are moving forward consciously and responsibly from a lifestyle built on cheap and abundant oil. Its a film about reinventing local economies and rediscovering personal empowerment in our communities as we move into the post-carbon age.

Okay. Let's translate that for Escape From Corporate America:

At this blog, which is associated to the acclaimed article, Escape From Corporate America, we meet women who are fed up with Corporate America and are moving forward consciously and responsibly from a lifestyle built on shattered glass to that of building their own ventures. Its a blog about reinventing local and global economies and rediscovering personal empowerment worldwide as we move into the age of adventure and spirited entrepreneurship!

There you have it.

16 Ways of Looking at a Female Voter

In light of today being Super Tuesday, Linda Hirshman covers what we do and don't know about gender and politics.

Read her comprehensive article in the New York Times Magazine (2/3/08).

In case you don't know about Linda's work, here are a couple of clips:

Unleashing the Wrath of Stay-at-Home Moms

Homeward Bound

And her official site.

Female Ownership Matters

Patricia Karter, Dancing Deer Bakery CEO, thinks a better gender balance in the business world could improve society as a whole.

What do you think? Read more here.

What Women Want

I was going through a pile of newspaper clips last night and stumbled upon this one. It's only about a half-year old. My how time flies and how much things have changed since this was released! See what you think. We do rule. Too bad not many folks know how to woo us.

Help With How to Launch Out of Your Cube

Our friend and colleague at Escape from Cubicle Nation just released her latest creation: A new audio program to help entrenched employees launch out of their cubes.

Sounds like it's right up the alley for Escape From Corporate America readers!

Read more about it and buy it here.

What The Customer Wants You To Know

I am reading a really good book, actually two, by Ram Charan. One is What The Customer Wants You To Know and the other is Know-How which I haven't finished yet. I highly recommend What The Customer Wants You To Know. It's a fantastic book about how to look at sales and new business development in a radically new light. For example, here's a clip from the book:

When I think about our own vendors, all they do is keep trying to beat each other on price," he told Phil. "They tell us how much money we can save if we go with them. But my biggest challenge is building revenues and stemming the erosion in market share. I can't recall any supplier coming to us with ideas for generating more sales or winning more market share, the things really value."

As a business owner, when is the last time you dug deep to find out what your customer's goals, priorities and competitive challenges are? If you can't recall, I suggest you buy this book. It's a door-opener to growing your business. Within the first 40 pages, I dog-eared nearly every other page for reference later.

Excerpt from What The Customer Wants You To Know here.

Just in (1/28/08) and featured in the Wall Street Journal:
Next in Line for Reinvention: The Art of Selling
Consultant Ram Charan Says Focus Is All Wrong; What a Customer Needs

###

A Day in the Life of Corporate Women

We will dare to go to the other side on this post and provide a glimpse of how corporate women manage work-life balance.

When I caught this part:

Nadine McHugh, 42, managing partner at the ad agency MindShare. About four years ago McHugh, mother of a 9-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter, told her employer she wanted to stay home full-time with the kids. Her boss asked her to work part time from home because her key client, Unilever, was concerned about her departure.

A working mom's dream, right? Yes and no. McHugh, of Massapequa, says working from her dining room table made her world feel small. So after a year she told her boss she wanted to return full time.

I thought: She's going for it. Out the door! She's thinking BIG. Start her own business! But no such luck (or happy surprise).

Read the article here. What's your take on it? How long do you think these women will last in corporate America?

Calling All Women Entrepreneurs: Nominate Yourself or Someone Else!

The Doing Business project of the World Bank is conducting a two-year research effort to identify legal and regulatory barriers facing businesswomen in 178 economies. The program will provide analysis on reforms that benefit women in business.

As a part of this effort, team members will be preparing profiles of women entrepreneurs describing reasons for their success, as well as highlighting some of the main legal, regulatory, and practical obstacles they faced in expanding their business. These case studies will help identify strategies to alleviate such obstacles, as well as communication approaches to promote the benefits of reform.

The Doing Business team will select from each region amongst the nominations, contact them, and prepare a profile of the individual. These profiles will be published by Doing Business.

A candidate for nomination is a woman entrepreneur who:

-- Is the founder/owner of the business
-- Is active in her community
-- Has an experience that can offer lessons that can inform reform efforts

When submitting your nomination, kindly provide as much of the following information as available to you:

• Full name of Nominee
• Name and type of business
• Business address, phone number, and e-mail
• Month and year business was started
• A brief biography of the nominated entrepreneur
• A brief description of the business
• A brief summary of the obstacles overcome, discoveries made, and outcomes

Please forward your nominations by no later than (extended) January 25, 2008 to Sushmitha Narsiah (refer to following link).

More information can be found here.

Thank you very much in advance for your support and good luck!

Start Anywhere and Just Get Going

Are you finally going to start a business in 2008? Sure it's a scary time out there with everyone predicting a recession. Heck, we're no longer forecasting it, we're living it. But that doesn't mean you can't start a business. Quite the contrary. The nice thing about starting a business when the economy stinks is that you can only go up from where you begin. And to begin you first need a plan.

Tim Berry, president of Palo Alto Software and principal author of its Business Plan Pro® software for developing business plans, wrote this blog entry, "Plan Your Business As You Go."

Maybe it will help spur you to get started or get going with that business!

King Was All About Achieving Acceptance For All People, Regardless of Race or Nationality

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I will be out of the office learning more about the man who helped achieve civil equality for African Americans. Hope you are doing the same.

There is a great day ahead. The future is on its side. It's going now through the wilderness, but the promised land is ahead.

-- King, Martin Luther Jr.

The Birth of a New Nation
Montgomery, Ala.
7 April 1957

World's Largest Research Project: What a GEM

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor's ninth annual review of entrepreneurial activity and perceptions spans 42 countries and is the world’s largest research project focusing on entrepreneurs and how they affect national economic growth.

See how we stack up here.

How Do American Entrepreneurs Stack Up Against Others Worldwide?

Think entrepreneurs around the globe are all alike? We will find out tomorrow at the crack of dawn when we release the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report.

Stay tuned.

What Mood Are You In?

Are you pessimistic about the economy or jumping for joy that you are putting all sorts of great new ideas into play?

Here's what some folks are saying.

At the same time, find out what the biggest difference is between men and women business owners.

Set-Asides on Women's Contracts Criticized

Still more brewing on this hot topic. Weigh in with your comments or feelings about it. Will it impact how you run your business in 2008? If so, how? Don't you think as business owners we deserve better?

New Year, Less Dollars For Some Women Owners

SBA effort for women owners stirs outrage among backers of a long-delayed program that would funnel more federal contracts to small companies owned by women.

Seven years ago, Congress ordered the SBA to draft guidelines so federal agencies could meet the goal of awarding 5% of federal small-business contracts to female owners -- a goal set by law in 1994. Last week, the SBA proposed a rule to implement the program and was criticized by those who said the guideline would be too restrictive.

The new rule would cover just four industries in which the SBA says women-owned small firms don't get their fair share of federal contract dollars: national security and international affairs; coating, engraving, heat treating and allied activities; furniture and kitchen cabinet manufacturing; and motor vehicle dealers.

Read more about it here.

Some quick facts:

There are 7.7 million women-controlled firms, which are those in which a female owns 51% or more of a company, according to the Center for Women's Business Research. That's about one-third of all U.S. firms. Yet their sizes and sales tend to be lower than average. Women-owned firms account for only about 4% of total company revenue, according to the women's chamber.

Women-owned small firms capture about 3.4% of federal small-business contracting dollars.

And now it may be even less.

Happy 2008: Dive Into Entrepreneurship!

On new year's day and very much predicated on the weather, I go for either a jog or nice long walk by the lakefront which is only about a block or two from where I live. I stop along the way to photograph notable moments, especially ones that strike up powerful emotions.

Well, what a surprise I had today! It's Polar Bear Plunge Day -- or how about Polar People Plunge Day -- in Rogers Park, Illinois where folks on the first day of the new year strip off their clothes and jump into the lake. How wild is that?! And to think they do this when it's 22 degrees F. (need we mention there was a wind chill factor ... why just look at the waves in the water). What uncommon valor these people have.

It reminds me of the toughness (and a certain sort of craziness) that is required to start a business. Doesn't it look like everyone shown below (click on photo to enlarge) is in it for the escape and excitement? Enjoy.

Dare. Dream big. Be inspired in 2008.


Another amazing surprise: In case you missed it, these photos were featured on NBC5.com (WMAQ TV Chicago) at about 10:18 p.m. CDT! Checking to see if we can get the link. Stay-tuned.

Joy to the World of Women Entrepreneurs!

Happy holidays and best wishes for a New Year of happiness in a world of peace.

Let It Snow!

What a beautiful Sunday in Chicago with all the freshly fallen snow. It's a great day to have fun and be as entrepreneurial as possible. Enjoy!

PrimeTime Women

Is that you? Then you will enjoy this book and post.

Do You Hear What iHear?

A good friend and colleague of mine -- Mindy Goodfriend -- is finally reaching the pinnacle of success in terms of what every entrepreneur dreams about: Getting your product featured on QVC.

Her dream comes true Thursday, December 13th, between 5:00-7:00 p.m. EST. The product, iHear, will be a part of the QVC "Practical Presents" Show hosted by Dan Wheeler.

Steve Nelson, co-founder of Cool & Useful Products (co-founded with Mindy), will be demonstrating iHear on the show.

iHear makes driving safer by amplifying the driver’s voice through the car speakers so that everyone in the car can hear. With iHear you can also make hands-free cell phone calls and play music from your iPod.

How cool and useful is that? Watch and BUY, that's all I have to say! And best wishes to Mindy!

Girls With Goals

As I see it, girls with goals turn into real women entrepreneurs. What do you think?

Supporting Budding Women Entrepreneurs

Over 360 women attended the first National Women's Enterprise Day, in the Mullingar Park Hotel, Mullingar (Ireland), yesterday. Aimed at encouraging and motivating women to start up a business, the event facilitated discussions between aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs about the challenges faced when starting up a business in Ireland.

And I love this quote because it applies to all of us:

Businesses exist to succeed but success can only exist with a strategy and a plan to drive it. I would encourage anyone, be they in business or considering a start-up, to believe in themselves as, with this allied to a well-planned business strategy, anything is possible.

Read the short piece here.

Study Debunks Myths About Women Leaders

A major research study released November 30th by Babson College and The Commonwealth Institute finds that woman-led businesses in Massachusetts are strong engines of economic growth, consistently outperforming national and state growth rates for each of the six years that the study was conducted. The Top Woman-Led Businesses in Massachusetts: 2006 Results study found that woman-led businesses are key drivers of Massachusetts’ revenue and employment as well as strong sources of philanthropic activity. The companies reporting revenues in the survey generated $10.2 billion, and together, all of the companies surveyed employed more than 24,000 people in Massachusetts.

Following are key trends that the study uncovered:

* Woman-run businesses continue to grow.

* Debunking the perception that women predominantly run lifestyle or retail businesses, the CEOs in the study lead companies in every sector of the Massachusetts economy.

* In contrast to the perception that women business leaders are risk averse, women CEOs in Massachusetts on average are proactive and more likely to make bold decisions to maximize potential opportunities.

* Women leaders in Massachusetts stand out from their national peers in their degree of education and professional experience.

* In contrast to cost-benefit approaches to management that rely on cost cutting, women CEOs drive profitability through customer relationships, enhanced products/services and higher margin products.

* Nearly 80 percent of the leaders are personally active in nonprofit, civic and philanthropic organizations.

My favorite quote is by Dr. I. Elaine Allen, Associate Professor of Statistics & Entrepreneurship at Babson College and co-author of the study:

“These businesses are among the highest performing in the state and we can learn a lot from the CEOs leading them. They are focused on building strong businesses for the long-term and have committed themselves and the resources of their organization to growth. They take an entrepreneurial approach to business and are not afraid of taking risks to take advantage of business opportunities.”

Read more and download complete listing of companies and executive summary of the 2006 findings here.

Outlook for Women

Bleak outlook for women looking for top positions in Chicago workplace but for women who wish to start and run a business, the outlook is good.

Here's what Hedy Ratner, co-founder of the Women's Business Development Center in Chicago says:

According to Ratner, more women are starting business for themselves instead of trying to move up the corporate ladder because of the resistance they face there.

Read more.

Why It's Time for Women to Lead in America

A hat tip to Tom Peters for turning me on to Vicki Donlan and her new book which I have not read yet so I cannot comment on its content. However, you may read more about it here.

... Donlan argues that women are poised to shatter the glass ceiling ...

Contributions of Women Business Owners Have Long Gone Understated

A new two-part study by the National Women’s Business Council examining the economic impact of both women-owned and women-led firm reveals that the contributions of women business owners have long gone understated. For the first time, these reports include data on women-led firms, where a woman owns a percentage of the business at least equal to any other owner and where a woman or women managed day-to-day operations.

According to the studies, there were over 1 million women-led businesses generating in excess of $300 billion in revenues in 2002, or about 3% of the U.S. GDP. These firms employed 2.5 million employees and paid nearly $56 billion in payroll. Combined, women-owned and women-led (WOWL) firms totaled over 7.5 million in 2002, employed 9.6 million people and generated nearly $1,240 billion in revenues, or about 12% of the U.S. GDP.

Click here to learn more or here to view both reports.

Work Life Balance

I am so tired of issues pertaining to work life balance for women at the top of the ladder. Have you ever seen an article, "What It's Like for Men At the Top of the Ladder? Is work-family balance possible?"

Why can't we focus on just getting things done? Isn't that what entrepreneurship is all about?

It's Not a Glass Ceiling,

It's a Sticky Floor: Free Yourself From the Hidden Behaviors Sabotaging Your Career Success.

I served as a panelist today on the topic of "Going Global with Your Idea" at the Ninth Annual Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Conference at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship. When I was done with the program, I visited their bookstore and found all sorts of new books that I was unaware of.

It's Not a Glass Ceiling, It's a Sticky Floor is one of them. Looks interesting. Haven't read it yet. Check it out.

Here's what Publishers Weekly says:

Forget the old boys' club: women are the ones holding themselves back from top-level career success, advises Shambaugh, president and CEO of consulting firm Shambaugh Leadership. Though more businesswomen are in successful positions of power, they are still lagging behind men at the highest levels: more than a third of Fortune 500 managers and more than half of those with multidisciplinary master's degrees are women, yet women hold only 13% of Fortune 500 CEO positions. This lack of forward motion is due more substantially to women's own career-inhibiting behavior than to cultural impediments, Shambaugh claims. Women are more likely than men to shy away from leadership roles, to get bogged down in perfectionism and to avoid career-boosting changes out of a misplaced sense of loyalty. Through a series of exercises and self-appraisals, Shambaugh guides readers with executive suite aspirations through an evaluation of their own behaviors and skills, gauging which serve their ambitions and which are holding them back. Emphasizing strategic relationships, communication and the elements of executive presence, she writes in an encouraging tone with a refreshing lack of blame, making this a satisfying read for women stuck in middle management limbo.

This is definitely not a read for women entrepreneurs or women business owners. We know better.

All The More Reason To Become An Entrepreneur

When Valerie Frederickson, a Silicon Valley human-resources consultant, heard Hillary Clinton assert that she could "take the heat" after getting pummeled by opponents in a recent debate, she recalled the times in her own career when a roomful of men disrespected her.

Once, at a national sales meeting for a large construction-products company, a male colleague passed around photographs of her in a bikini that he'd secretly taken on a prior business trip. "Instead of quitting, I focused on being better, on outselling the guys three-to-one," says Ms. Frederickson, who later founded her own firm, Valerie Frederickson & Co.

This is why we started this blog. Go Valerie! Stop worrying about gender and move on to doing your own thing.

Global Entrepreneurship

U.S. Commerce Department and Kauffman Foundation announce public-private partnership on entrepreneurship! The new web resource and symposia will advance entrepreneurship and economic growth in United States and throughout world.

What's Ahead In Our Brave New Cyberworld

See for yourself. But it definitely applies to global entrepreneurs. My favorite part of this post for the Small Business Trends blog is the Express Yourself video. After all, isn't that what we are doing everyday as women entrepreneurs?

Five Ways Working Mothers Can Carve Out Some 'Me-Time'

Contrary to what this article purports, I believe all women, whether employed at BIG companies or running their own show (business), should create a:

"to stop" list!

Now go carve out time to carve your pumpkin. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Giving Notice

Giving Notice: Why the Best and Brightest are Leaving the workplace and How You Can Help Them Stay by Freada Kapor Klein appears to be an eye-opening book (haven't read it yet) filled with tell-it-like-it-is approaches for solving the current imbalance and challenges us to change our hidden biases in the workplace.

It should be required reading for all corporate folks in top executive positions and especially for those who head up HR or diversity responsibilities! After all, we want to understand why more and more people are escaping corporate America for entrepreneurship.

Freada Kapor Klein (San Francisco, CA) is an internationally noted consultant and diversity expert. She has been quoted in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and on the Today show, Nightline, and NBC Nightly News.

Does Birth Order Matter On Becoming An Entrepreneur?

Do you think it matters whether you are first-born or last (the baby of the brood) when it comes to becoming an entrepreneur?

According to Jeffrey Kluger in a Time magazine article, he thinks it does. It's murky but the conclusion is such that birth order affects fundamental personality traits and we all know that certain characteristics such as the ability to sell something and to take on well-thought-out risks are vital to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Of all the things that shape who we are, few seem more arbitrary than the sequence in which we and our siblings pop out of the womb. Maybe it's your genes that make you a gifted athlete, your training that makes you an accomplished actress, an accident of brain chemistry that makes you a drunk instead of a President. But in family after family, case study after case study, the simple roll of the birth-date dice has an odd and arbitrary power all its own.

I am the youngest of four children and definitely fit the bill on what Kluger says on later-borns also are more willing to take on risk (I am the only entrepreneur within the family). For instance, research by Ben Dattner, a professor at New York University, shows that firstborn chief executives prefer to make incremental improvements, while later-born CEOs are more likely to make transformational changes.

Read more here and feel free to weigh in with your thoughts. Curious to know whether you agree or disagree based on your birth order or that of others who you track.

No Room for Entrepreneurs

I saved this clip, "No Room Room for Entrepreneurs" by Mary Anastasia O'Grady published in the Wall Street Journal October 8th (available only to subscribers but I just found a reprint of it online at the Hispanic American Center for Economic Research) because I have always been a fan of the work of economist Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950). He was one of the most brilliant minds who ever lived, and had an electrifying personality to go along with it. Without his knowledge, we would never have understood the concept of what it means to be an entrepreneur.

Schumpeter felt entrepreneurs are not moved by a wish to grow rich but rather the desire and will to conquer, to prove oneself superior to others and to succeed by utilizing one's energy and ingenuity to make something progressive happen -- not for the sake of success alone. I really believe in that theory.

But back to O'Grady's fine opinion piece.

In a speech last year to European finance ministers in Vienna, Mr. Schramm explained Schumpeter's fears: He "worried that entrepreneurial capitalism would not flourish because the bureaucracies of modern government and big corporations would dampen innovation -- the process of 'creative destruction' would be too ungovernable for a modern, Keynesian-regulated economy to tolerate." As a result, Mr. Schramm said, Schumpeter thought that "the importance of entrepreneurs would fade over time as capitalism sought predictability from governments who would plan economic activity as well as order social benefits."

Schramm is president of the Kauffman Foundation of Entrepreneurship.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

How To Get A Better Handle On Your Customer Base?

If you're a BIG company, put more women on your board! Why? Because your company will perform better. Read more here.

Let the Grant Process Begin

The Small Business Administration plans to approve grants for older Women's Business Centers by mid-January, finally implementing a program signed into law four months ago.

In all, there are 98 Women's Business Centers across the country. Last year they provided training and counseling to nearly 130,000 small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs.

A worthy cause that should never be an issue or in question.

More here.

A Gender Pay Gap Matters

Whether it's in the United States, Japan or Canada, a gender pay gap matters. When you read this, you'll understand why more and more women are starting businesses at twice the rate of men.

Who wants to wait it out -- that is for pay equality?

We Bike Hard For The Money!

Great little article on Rebecca Herwick, President of Global Products (who I know and became acquainted with after moderating a global business discussion where she was as a panelist)!

"I've always been a biker girl," says Rebecca Herwick, who is one of the few certified women business owners with an official license to manufacture and distribute Harley-Davidson novelties, giftware and headwear to dealers worldwide.

Read more about her success story here.

Who's A Better Inventor?

If you want to create a really useful invention, you should:

a. Hire men.
b. Hire women.
c. All of the above.

Find out here.

Are Male and Female Entrepreneurs Really That Different?

The SBA Advocacy funded paper "Are Male and Female Entrepreneurs Really That Different?," by Erin Kepler and Scott Shane finds that gender does not affect new venture performance when other factors are controlled for. However, several factors -- differing expectations, reasons for starting a business, motivations, opportunities sought and types of businesses -- vary between the genders, and these result in differing outcomes. Such observations should be taken into account when comparing the outcomes of ventures across genders.

The data used for the study was from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) focusing on businesses started in 1998 and 1999.

A full copy of this report is available at here (immediate download of a PDF file).

Only The Good Die Young

Entrepreneur Anita Roddick dead at 64.

Our hearts pour out to her family during this sad time.

Anita was an inspiration to us all. Long live her ethical entrepreneurial legacy.

Entrepreneur Carla Eng Keeps Up Success Her Way

Carla Eng has some advice for budding women entrepreneurs: Have a solid business plan, fight adversity and don't give up. Sound familiar?

Read more here.

Dreading 9-5 Clock Watching

Theresa writes:

Dear Ms. Delaney:

Upon reading your article, I was really moved and agreed with being, "A refugee of corporate America."

I worked as an administrative assistant for a private investment firm and left several months ago to pursue my business venture.

The product line is high-end women's t-shirt collection with licensed images of art paintings.

This venture which I felt so very proud of, unfortunately, had to put on hold due to financial reasons.

I dread the fact of going back to my 9 to 5 corporate job but need a steady income.

What do your recommend? Should I seek investors? A business loan?

I would greatly appreciate any advice.

Kind regards
Theresa

I already responded to Theresa but what are your questions or ideas for her? Thanks in advance and hope you had a good Labor Day escape.

Women Business Owners Work Hard For Their Money

Today’s high-powered women executives make it a point to weave social entrepreneurship into their businesses.

The Women Presidents’ Organization Chicago chapter, recently announced the results of a survey of its members. Those survey results were especially interesting because on the one hand they indicated substantial growth. Eighty-five percent (85%) reported that their revenues grew over 25% in 2006. Roughly the same percent predicted their businesses would also grow in 2007, sometimes up to 70% growth.

Clearly, these are women focused on the top line and bottom line.

Read more at the ever popular Small Business Trends blog and weigh in with your comments if you wish. You will also see that I serve as the facilitator for the WPO Chicago chapter.