In addition to National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October is also the home for another women’s cause- Women’s Small Business Month. Women-owned small businesses employ 23 million people and have an economic impact of $3 trillion. In a study released this month, it is clear that women businesses are playing a huge role in our economic recovery efforts.
The study, The Economic Impact of Women-Owned Businesses in the United States, marks the first time research has been conducted on the impact of women owned businesses and the purchasing power of their employees.
A few statistics that stood out to me from the report:
- If women-owned businesses were their own country, they would have the 5th largest GDP in the world, ahead of countries including France, the United Kingdom, and Italy.
- If women-owned businesses were their own country, they would have a greater GDP than Canada, India and Vietnam COMBINED.
- Women-owned firms employ or generate a total of 16% of the jobs in our nation's economy
You can check out the entire report from the Center for Women’s Business Research. Let's hear it for women business owners! How many of you are women business owners?