SCORE, mentors to America’s small businesses, has published original survey data showing that women entrepreneurs are less likely than men to seek and obtain financing, even though they are starting businesses faster than men. In addition, the findings show that their businesses are just as successful in terms of business starts, revenue growth, job creation and longevity.
This difficult financial climate for women entrepreneurs makes them more likely than men to rely on credit cards as a source of business funding. The following are some of the other conclusions in this report:
Key Survey Findings
- 62% of women entrepreneurs depend on their business as their primary source of income, challenging old assumptions that women entrepreneurs are more likely to run “lifestyle businesses” that only provide supplemental income.
- Over the lifespan of their business, men were more likely to seek financing (34% of men compared with 25% of women).
- Among all business owners seeking financing, male entrepreneurs were more likely to receive it (with 34% of men acquiring loans or equity financing in the past year compared with 31% of women).
- Entrepreneurs’ reasons for seeking financing were very similar across genders, with one exception: Men were more likely than women to seek financing to launch a new product (26% of men compared with 22% of women).
- The most popular funding sources for business owners across genders included other (non-SBA) loans, personal savings and credit cards (with more women relying on credit cards than men).
About The Megaphone of Main Street
This report constitutes the third installment of SCORE’s Megaphone of Main Street data report series, which presents original, statistically significant survey data on the American small business landscape. Survey data was collected from 20,000 small business owners in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., representing small businesses of varied sizes in a broad coverage of industries.
The final infographic in this series, exploring the positive impact of mentoring on business success across genders, is slated for release in two weeks.
About SCORE
Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 11 million aspiring entrepreneurs to start or grow their businesses. Each year, SCORE’s 10,000 volunteer business experts provide 450,000+ free small business mentoring sessions, workshops and educational services to clients in 300 chapters nationwide. In 2017, SCORE volunteers provided 3.6 million hours to help create 54,506 small businesses and 61,534 non-owner jobs.
