NEW YORK, NY (October 10, 2016) excerpt via BUSINESS 2 COMMUNITY - Women business owners are on the rise across the United States, as entrepreneurship offers some uniquely attractive benefits.
"For one it allows them to bypass the 'glass ceiling'. The flexibility of being 'your own boss' is an environment which allows many women to thrive – you are in charge of your own career advancement!" the business blog Business 2 Community reports.
However, the blog continues: "Running a business as a woman also comes with a unique set of challenges- particularly financing. Not all women know about their resources and some don’t even bother apply for lines of credit, assuming they won’t get accepted. Instead, they rely on their own personal funding."
Women now make up more than 36% of all business owners in the United States. A 2013 report on the state of women-owned businesses by American Express OPEN points to significant growth in women’s business ownership between 1997 and 2013, growing one-and-a-half times faster than other types of firms, and producing $1.4 trillion in sales in 2012 compared to $1.2 trillion in 2007. Although women are making significant strides as business leaders and entrepreneurs, many continue to face a host of challenges that keep them from scaling their businesses or prevent them from taking the plunge in the first place.
Access to capital remains a major barrier to growth: women account for only 16% of conventional small business loans and 17% of Small Business Administration loans. Of conventional small business loans, women only account for 4.4% of total dollar value of loans from all sources. In other words, just $1 of every $23 in conventional business loans go to a woman-owned business.
SourceFunding.org is working to support women business owners in acquiring financing. Our mission: financial inclusion. Our state-of-the-art matching process and readily accessible assistance from Funding Specialists helps women entrepreneurs to expand their business and create jobs.