So far, we’ve spent Women’s History Month listening to woman entrepreneurs on Hello Alice who are taking care of themselves, building a legacy for their children, and fearlessly pursuing new ideas. But we also wanted to ask our more than 123,000 woman small business owners a few questions in order to learn more about who you are and what you need.
Based on anonymous profile data and thousands of survey responses, here’s what you told us:
- More than half of woman small business owners on Hello Alice are over the age of 40.
- The top three industries for woman entrepreneurs on Hello Alice are Beauty and Self-Care (14%), Consumer Goods, Retail, and E-Commerce (13%), and Professional Business Services (12%).
- 40% of woman-owned businesses told us that customer referral was their top acquisition channel.
- 84% of woman entrepreneurs expect their business to perform better in 2021 than in 2020.
These data points serve as the foundation for a new data report we’ve published in partnership with EnrichHER and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). Titled “The Woman-Owned Economy,” we’re using this information to advocate for change and to encourage more women to pursue entrepreneurship.
One challenge we’re tackling is the persistent gender funding gap where woman business owners receive significantly less funding than their male counterparts. More than one-third of woman small business owners (27%) told us they have an annual company revenue of less than $25,000, and the majority (57%) said that their path to ownership was through personal savings. According to Hello Alice data, women are searching for funding resources at rates significantly higher than men. Without the same access to capital, woman small business owners are less likely to grow their business or respond to unforeseen challenges like a pandemic.
The first step to solving that problem is acknowledging it exists. In the near term, we encourage you to apply for the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which recently revised its rules to offer forgivable loans to the businesses most likely to be owned by women. You’ll also find thousands of woman small business owners in the EnrichHER community on Hello Alice ready to help you find funding and solve problems.