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Minority Women Business Owners

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Believe it or not, women of color are starting their own businesses at a rate that now exceeds that for white women----that according to a recent report by the Center for Women's Business Research.

These women are living proof of a major national trend that the number of minority women-owned businesses is expected to reach 1.2 million this year, and this growth rate exceeds the national average for small business ownership. In fact, according to the Center for Women's Business Research, 1 in 5 women-owned firms are now minority-owned. By the end of this year, these firms will employ more than 822,000 people and generate more than $100 billion in sales. Between five years ago and this year, the Center estimates the number of firms owned by minority women will have grown by more than 30%, compared to 14% for all women-owned firms, just under 30% for all minority-owned firms, and a meager 7% by comparison for all U.S. firms. Why?

As America's economy becomes more service oriented, more and more women of color are launching firms in the service sector. In fact, now 58 percent of all firms owned by women of color are in the service sector and that's where the greatest growth potential is too - 33 percent between 1997 and this year.

Other industries with the greatest growth for women-owned businesses were transportation, communications and utilities.

Some states appear to be more minority-women owner-friendly. The states with the greatest number of minority women-owned firms this year are California, New York and Texas. The states with the fastest growth in the number of minority women-owned firms are Montana, North Dakota and Maine.

Explains Patricia Ghiglino, a DC-based Latina business owner, of her success, "… I have total confidence, I never take no for an answer. If somebody says 'oh no you're not going to get that job or I won't give you this' and I say 'please don't say no because you don't know who you're dealing with, I'm going to sit down here until you say yes'."

LINKS AND RESOURCES

Online Women's Business Center

Center for Women' Business Research

National Women's Business Council

Asian Women in Business

Professional Black Women in Home Businesses