How are women-owned businesses faring these days? As with most open-ended questions, the answer depends on your standards and perspective.
Considering that, before the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, creditors could legally deny women credit simply because of their gender, and that, before the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988, some states required men to cosign business loans for women, it’s easy to surmise that women-owned businesses are doing comparatively well in 2026.
We’re also operating in an era where women’s labor force participation is hitting record highs. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 57.3% of women age 16 and older and 67.7% of men in the same age group are working or seeking work as of December 2025. These figures represent a narrowing of the gap to just over 10%, versus a more than 50% gap in 1950.
The sheer number of women owning businesses has increased, too, especially in post-pandemic years. “The Impact of Women-Owned Businesses” report, released in 2026 by Wells Fargo, shows women own 15.7 million businesses nationally, an increase of 12.1% from 2022 to 2025.
However, despite the growth of women-owned businesses, there’s still a disparity in revenue and employment, the Wells Fargo report states. While the share of women-owned businesses (defined as at least 51% women-owned) sits at 40.6% as of 2025, these women-owned firms hold only 9.1% of total employees and only 4.6% of total revenue.
“Men own 2.6 times more employer businesses than women, employ four times as many workers, and generate 7.4 times more revenue,” the report notes.
Successful women-owned businesses equal economic growth
Equal access to capital, affordable childcare policies and women’s tendency to own non-employer and lower revenue-producing businesses pose challenges to the growth of women-owned businesses.
Why should people care about these challenges? Because not addressing them stimies our country’s potential economic growth.
“This is about the opportunity to grow the overall economy by developing programs that help women-owned businesses succeed,” said Geri Stengel, president of Ventureneer, a firm that partners with Wells Fargo on annual “Impact of Women-Owned Businesses” reports. “Not helping women-owned businesses is leaving economic opportunity on the table.”
Consider this: Wells Fargo’s 2025 “Impact of Women-Owned Businesses” report states that, if women-owned businesses achieved the same average revenue as men-owned businesses, it would add a staggering $10.2 trillion in additional annual revenue for the United States. If minority-women-owned businesses achieved the same average revenue as white women-owned businesses, we’d see an additional $832 billion in annual revenue added to the U.S. economy.
What’s good for women-owned and minority-owned businesses is good for economic growth, which includes employment and global competition. An April 2025 Forbes magazine article puts it this way: “We all need to realize that when women prosper, everyone prospers.”
A Bank of America Institute March 2025 report entitled “Women and Wealth: Growing the Pie, Creating Opportunities” gives further evidence:
• If women participated in the labor force at equal rates of men, the United States could generate an additional $1.1 trillion in annual labor compensation.
• If women’s wages equaled those of men, the United States would see an additional $866 billion in annual labor compensation.
• Closing the labor force and wage gaps could generate an additional $2.1 trillion in the United States.
Women-owned business numbers show growth
The United States has seen growth in women-owned businesses, especially over the last five years. “Women are ambitious, and they’re starting businesses at a faster rate than men,” said Stengel. “Business formations surged during the pandemic, and they haven’t slowed down.”
“The Impact of Women-Owned Businesses” report reveals some encouraging numbers:
• Women own 40.6% of all businesses, or 15.7 million.
• Women-owned businesses employ 12.6 million people and generate $2.8 trillion in revenue.
• From 2022 to 2025, women-owned firms increased by 12.1%.
• Women-owned firms’ employment increased by 11.1% from 2022 to 2025.
• Women-owned firms’ revenue increased by 9.9% from 2022 to 2025.
The report also shows growth for Black and Hispanic/Latino women-owned businesses. Looking specifically at minority women-owned businesses with employees – as those firms generate more revenue and have more growth potential – we see a 37.2% growth in Hispanic/Latino-owned employer businesses and an 18.3% growth in employer firms owned by Black women.
Women are leading the market’s solo entrepreneurship numbers. The report points out that 14.3 million of women-owned businesses – out of 15.7 million total – are non-employer businesses as of 2025. Between 2022 and 2025, women-owned non-employer businesses grew 62.2% faster than their male-owned counterparts. Women-owned solo businesses increased 12.3%, while men-owned solo businesses increased by 7.6%. The trend continued over the last year, with women-owned solo businesses growing by 4.7% from 2024 to 2025 compared to 3.1% growth for men-owned solo businesses.
While the report points out that non-employer businesses typically generate lower revenue, it also notes that these solo women-owned firms demonstrate “strong entrepreneurial ambition.” It goes on to say that “as many of these non-employers evolve into employer businesses, targeted investments in support systems, training and early-stage funding will be critical to unlocking their full economic potential.”
Location matters
Local policies, access to funding, climate, attitudes and other geographic differences affect the success and number of women-owned businesses. A February 2025 report by Printful, an on-demand printing service that supports entrepreneurs, analyzed states’ number of female-owned businesses, women-to-men pay ratio and number of venture capital deals to identify the top locations where women-owned businesses thrive.
The top three states for women entrepreneurs were:
• California, so named for its high number of $1 million female-owned businesses, strong networking opportunities, high number of venture capital deals and high number of women-owned businesses. Challenges here include a high – 27.8% – female unemployment rate and a 78.8% women-to-men pay ratio.
• New York, because of its high number of women-owned businesses and high number of those earning $1 million or more. New York is also known for its high number of venture capital and private equity firms, and reputation for nurturing startups. The women-to-men pay ratio in the state still sits at 78.5%, which is a challenge.
• Maryland, one of the most diverse East Coast states, with a women-to-men pay ratio of 81.3% – one of the highest in the country. The state also has many programs that help minority-owned businesses succeed, boasts a high number of venture capital deals and has a low female unemployment rate.
Printful’s report named a few states with the most difficult conditions for female-owned businesses. West Virginia, where women struggle to secure venture capital and the female unemployment rate is a whopping 31.9%, tops the list, with Alabama and Idaho close behind. The major issue in these states is access to business funding.
The right-sized capital challenge
It’s not surprising that access to sufficient funding is among the top challenges women-owned businesses face. “The Impact of Women-Owned Businesses” report states that women are applying for financing for their businesses and receiving it, but the amount of financing they receive is often not sufficient.
“It’s no longer about obtaining capital; it’s about right-sized capital,” Stengel said.
Women business owners tend to rely on personal savings and credit cards, and to apply for less funding than men do. As a result, the report states, “even when financing is approved, the capital received is often insufficient to support hiring, investment, or expansion at the same pace as men-owned firms.”
The Bank of America Institute’s “2024 Women and Minority Business Owner Spotlight” echoes that story of insufficient capital. In the survey of business owners, 88% indicated a goal to obtain funding in the coming year. Business credit cards were the most common source of funding cited, at 55%, with personal savings a close second at 40% and personal credit cards at 32%. Only 29% said they’d tap into traditional loans, just above the 19% who said they’d ask family and friends.
Another report, the “2024 State of Women’s Small Business Report” by Block Advisors, showed 42% of respondents who applied for a loan were not approved, with reasons ranging from lack of collateral (39%) to poor credit (37%). However, 15% never received an explanation. The report also showed a staggering 89% of respondents funding their business using personal savings and credit.
Both the tendency of women to take on less risk in financing and systemic bias are likely at work. Kim Bode, chief executive officer for 8ThirtyFour, a Michigan-based marketing and communications company, put it this way in an October 2025 blog: “When a woman CEO needs growth capital, she compiles three years of tax returns, completes personal financial statements, and prepares detailed projections before a bank will schedule a meeting. Her male competitor discusses the same credit line over drinks at the country club, where documentation comes up after the handshake, if at all.”
Industry challenges
Female-dominated sectors like hospitality, retail, healthcare and personal services face unique challenges that can stymie business growth. For example, tariffs, sensitivity to reduced household spending, talent shortages and increasing costs affect these industries more acutely than others.
Stengel explained that women often gravitate toward these industries because they require less start-up funding, but they’re also less likely to grow bigger. This phenomenon contributes to the reason women-owned businesses make up a mere 4.6% of total U.S. revenue as of 2025, according to the “Impact” report, even though the number of women-owned firms is growing.
“Centering” women customers
Along with owning more businesses, women are controlling more wealth, according to the Bank of America Institute “Women and Wealth” report. Despite a gender pay gap, with women 16 to 24 years old earning 90.6% as much as men in that age group, 81% for those age 35 to 54, and only 76% for those 55 to 64, “wealth is tilting female,” the report states.
Since women are more educated than ever before, have greater career aspirations, are waiting longer to have children and are staying in the workforce longer, they’re more in control of their finances, the report states. What’s more, it notes, women are projected to inherit $124 trillion through 2048 in what’s known as the “Great Wealth Transfer,” giving them more financial clout than ever.
This financial control will likely lead to higher spending on “experiences and products specifically designed for women” and will “bolster demand for products that have been less valued in the past,” the report states.
Companies like Michigan-based running and sports retailer Gazelle Sports are poised to take advantage of this focus on women in the marketplace. Gazelle recently became a 100% women-owned business, with Jennifer Brummit taking over as chief executive officer, and Cara Cross as chief marketing officer for the 40-year-old business.
Brummit noted that some 65% of Gazelle’s customers are women, so becoming women-owned will only strengthen the business’s appeal. “The majority of our customers are women. As women, we have a deeper understanding of what women are looking for,” she said.
“The running industry hasn’t always leaned into women’s needs,” Brummit noted, explaining that women – and men – might feel intimidated when they first step into a running store. “We feel strongly that if we center the woman runner, we can solve problems for women and men.”
“Centering” the woman runner means creating a woman-friendly environment, explained Cross. For example, the company recently added foot stools in bathrooms for moms with kids, which improves the woman consumer’s experience in stores.
Gazelle is also focused on ensuring store merchandise meets all women’s needs, Brummit said. “Do we have everything she needs? For example, do we have running bras in all sizes?”
Gazelle has historically operated as a community-focused business, and Brummit and Cross intend to continue that trend. With locations in Grand Rapids, Grandville, Kalamazoo, Holland, Birmingham and Northville, Gazelle prides itself on creating stores that reflect their communities and are involved in local running and sports events.
The specialty retailer is also committed to community safety, educating women and men alike about running safety and self-defense, Brummit said, noting that Gazelle will continue to “show up in ways that matter to the community.”
Second-stage business challenges
In addition to running her own marketing company, Bode is the program director for the Small Business Association of Michigan’s Women’s Enterprise Fellowship, which works to encourage second-stage women-owned businesses (in business at least three years) to continue and grow. This stage often requires adding employees, obtaining funding, tackling more administrative tasks and delegating responsibilities, and many women get burned out and quit, Bode noted.
Women’s natural tendencies to be caregivers and organizers, to be humble and to get emotionally attached to their work create unique business challenges, Bode said. One example is women’s tendency to do all the work themselves, creating silos. “They put up walls because they can’t be vulnerable,” Bode said, and that prevents them from seeking and getting the business help they need.
The nine-month program Bode runs teaches women to step back, delegate, set boundaries and share accomplishments. Bode challenges participants to share their accomplishments, write long-term goals and find ways to get away from day-to-day work to focus on growth strategies.
In addition to offering a curriculum focused on meeting women’s unique challenges, the program affords women a tight-knit community of supporters on their business journey, Bode said. She also noted that, these days, women are generally more supportive of one another in the business world, which is a precursor to the growth we’ve seen in recent years.
“When women have access to the right resources, they grow,” she said. “They invest back.”
Building up women-owned businesses
What would help women-owned businesses succeed? A range of policies that would make starting a business and staying in business easier for them.
“The same things that would help women grow their businesses would help small business owners grow their businesses,” noted Stengel.
Since women are often caregivers, affordable childcare policies would certainly help. Stengel noted that some states have implemented childcare policies to maintain affordable childcare for working parents. These include programs like subsidies and employer cost-sharing programs. Stengel said more of these are on the horizon.
Increasing access to right-sized capital is another initiative that would help women-owned businesses. “The Impact of Women-Owned Businesses” report recommends increasing small business loans and credit-building tools, developing more grant and microloan programs for non-employer firms that want to add employees, and making financing agreement language and terms clearer.
Other recommendations from the report include developing mentorship programs for small- and mid-sized businesses, creating educational resources for women entrepreneurs, adding tax relief or wage subsidies for low-margin industries like childcare and investing resources to build entrepreneurship in states ranked low for women-owned businesses.
