Women Owned Businesses

There are well over 10 million women owned businesses in the US today representing close to 30% of all businesses. And women owned businesses are increasing at a more rapid rate than are male owned businesses. A business is considered to be a women owned business if it is more than 50% owned by a woman or women.

There are women owned businesses in every field, from consulting to clothing to insurance and publishing, to professional services and body care. Various web sites post numbers of types of women owned business, and offer opportunity for other women owned businesses to post information. The National Association of Business Women offers information and services to its members everywhere, as well as networking opportunities for operators of women owned businesses.

One would expect many women owned businesses to be involved with products and services particularly related to women', It is true that there are women owned businesses of this type, but there are millions of women owned businesses which offer products and services of every kind. Certainly publishing, insurance and consulting women owned businesses offer services and products of interest to the general population.

Women owned businesses related to health and body care show an awareness of ecological issues, with many personal care products being organic in composition. This is a welcome change from many of the personal and cosmetic products on the market which contain harmful ingredients. One web site which posts information on women owned businesses lists two dozen companies producing body care products, many of which have organic ingredients..

Many women owned businesses have been developed after a woman has achieved success in a non-business field, such as television or radio media, or in films, or perhaps as a designer. Oprah Winfrey is an example which comes immediately to mind, as this media star has used her income from that source to found a number of woman-owned businesses, as well as institutions for philanthropic endeavors. Movie star Elizabeth Taylor has used her star status as a jumping board to promote her perfume line and add her name to the roster of women owned businesses.

The number of women owned businesses is increasing daily. Of interest is the fact that women of color and other minorities are increasing business ownership at a faster rate even than that of their white counterparts. Women in business and women owned businesses are a major factor in the US and world economies.

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