Women-Owned Family Businesses on the Rise

Results of the American Family Business Survey published this year contained some telling data on women-owned family businesses.



First of all, they're on the rise. There are 37% more of them than five years earlier. No surprise there. As a society we are becoming more gender balanced in the economic and business arenas. Whether a jump of 37% could have been anticipated may be open to debate, but that debate would center on the size, not the direction of change.



The survey also discovered that women-owned family businesses do more with less. Women-owned businesses had lower revenues on average ($25.4 million) than those owned by men ($30.4 million). However, they generated those revenues far more efficiently. The median number of employees for male-owned family businesses was 50 while that for female-owned businesses was 26. Calculating from those numbers women-owned family businesses turn out to be 1.7 times more productive than those owned by men.



Women-owned businesses also seem to get more out of their boards. Sixty-six percent rated their board's contribution as good or outstanding while male-owned family businesses gave those ratings to only 57%.



If the CEO's retirement is anticipated, woman-owned businesses are also more likely to have chosen a successor (49%) than businesses owned by men (40%).



Women as both owners and CEOs of family businesses is trending higher, and the results they are getting are impressive. Read more on Women in Family-Owned Businesses. Check out the full American Family Business Survey.