Women-owned businesses start smaller, but add jobs faster

michaelsogrady
Sep 6, 2014
1 min read

Women-owned businesses tend to start with less capital than their male-owned counterparts; but once they get off the ground, they often grow faster.

That’s the finding of a study of hiring by small businesses since the recession, prepared for the National Women’s Business Council. It shows that women entrepreneurs raise lower amounts of capital to finance their businesses but are more likely to see rapid growth.

According to the study, women-owned entrepreneurs are more reliant on personal rather than external sources of financing—meaning they’re more likely to launch their businesses using mostly or entirely their own savings. Women started their firms with about $75,000 on average, compared with nearly $135,000 for men. In terms of loan approvals, women were much less likely to have their loans approved, especially for the larger, high growth potential businesses.

Anisa Telwar Kaicker is the founder and president of Anisa International. Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Atlanta, the company is a global design and manufacturing firm of private label cosmetic brushes, bags and accessories with a client list that includes Sephora, Bare Escentuals and others. Her company employs over 600 people, but financing was difficult in the beginning.

“I could not get a bank loan at the time,” said Kaicker “I had no collateral, wasn’t making that much money. I had to work at night to pay my rent.”

how to do it themselves.