associationFOCUS | Volume 8, Issue 2

» Generating supplemental income » Putting their creativity to work » Seeing whether their ideas merit further exploration What is the report’s definition for women-owned businesses? To qualify, one or more women own, control or operate at least 51% of the business. The 2019 report used data from the 2012 Survey of Business Owners, which was conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The report’s writers have adjusted the numbers by going to January of the current year and looking at the annual gross domestic product estimates for that year according to the industry and national, state and metropolitan levels. Writers also compared their report to the reports that were written in 2014 and 2018, so they can better understand trends in the following areas: » The number of firms » Employment » Revenue They consider many factors, including the following: » Company size » Industry » National and state events and situations » Race and ethnicity » Sidepreneurs » The top 50 metropolitan areas What does this year’s report have to say on a national level? Considering the period between 2014 and 2019: » There are more than 12.9 million women- owned businesses. That’s an increase of 21%. » They employ 9.4 million people, which is an increase of 8%. » Revenue was $1.9 trillion, which is an increase of 21%. How do these percentages compare against businesses in general during the same period? » Where women-owned businesses increased by 21%, all businesses increased by 9%. » The number of people employed in general increased by 1.8%. » Revenues (at 20%) were close to the same. The report notes that during the past five years, the annual growth rate for women-owned businesses, at 3.9% per year, has been more than twice the growth rate for all businesses at 1.7% per year. The one-year growth rate for 2018-2019 was 5% for women-owned businesses and 2.3% for all businesses. Taking the long view, women owned 4.6% of all U.S. businesses in 1972. They owned 42% in 2019. Some businesses are owned equally by men and women. If you combine businesses that are owned equally by men and women with businesses owned by women, the results included almost 15.5 million businesses and account for 49% of all businesses. In 2019, these businesses employed continued on page 6 association FOCUS | 5