Women.net: Making It Easier Than Ever To Support Women-Owned Business
We've said it before and we'll say it again. The future is female!
Introducing Women.net: Women-Owned Business Directory
As more people than ever before realize how important it is to recognize female-fronted companies and brands, many people are also realizing that finding these women-owned brands can be difficult! If you're wondering, "where can I find a women-owned business to support?", look no further. We are happy to offer you an easily-navigable network of female achievement through our women-owned business directory: Women.net.
We want to make it as easy as possible to find and shop all the amazing women-owned brands out there, which is why we created Women.net: Women-Owned Business Directory. This free searchable directory aims to connect female-fronted vendors with customers looking for the products and services they offer - so that consumers always have the option to shop women-owned. Women-owned businesses are welcome and encouraged to submit their business listing free of charge, and consumers are able to easily search through our directory by product, brand, or category to find a women-owned business to fulfill their needs.
Created by the team at Women.com, Women.net is truly a sister site — It’s the one-stop destination to support women-owned business. We hope to empower and support as many women as possible by creating the largest network of women-owned brands. Next time you're going to spend money, make sure to check out our directory and support a women-owned business when you can!
Why Is It Important To Shop Women-Owned Businesses?
Coming from a site called Women.net, this question should seem like a no-brainer! Here at Women.net and Women.com, we’re proudly women-owned and majority women-operated… which is far from the norm for most businesses.
That rarity doesn’t begin or end with ownership, it also extends to female CEOs. In 2020, the number of women running America’s largest corporations hit a new high: 37. Out of the 500 companies listed as this year’s Fortune 500. These leaps and bounds (which they are leaps and bounds, even if they feel more like a crawl at times) are great. In fact, the all-male exec boards that used to be the standard at these companies are all but extinct.
With momentum like this, it's more important than ever to keep pushing! So let's discuss further.
Let's look at the numbers:
Stepping back to female-owned, rather than female-led, let’s look at some fantastic numbers regarding female entrepreneurs. Here are some quick facts about women-owned business in the US.
The US has 12.3 million women-owned businesses
US women-owned businesses generate $1.8 trillion a year
40% of US businesses are women-owned
There are 114% more women entrepreneurs than 20 years ago
64% of women-owned businesses were started by women of color last year (2019)
Just as some numbers don’t add up with female-led companies — like women making up 50% of the US population, but only 7.4% of Fortune 500 CEOs — there are some numbers that don’t add up when looking at female entrepreneurs.
Women receive 16% of business loans
Women receive only 4.4% of the dollar value of all loans
Women receive just 7% of venture funds for their startups
What accounts for these massive differences in funding?
Well, women-owned businesses tend to start smaller, stay smaller and bring in less revenue than their male counterparts. Additionally, women tend to turn to personal savings and personal credit to fund their business ventures rather than business loans.
Unless you’re currently a female entrepreneur in need of a business loan or venture fund, there’s probably not a whole lot you can do to change that women aren’t getting them. Educating yourself and spreading this information is a great start, but there are still other ways that you can support women-owned businesses. One of the biggest ways, of course, is to literally support women-owned businesses, i.e. make purchases from them. We are here to make it easier than ever by showcasing women-owned business in a clear, easy-to-use, comprehensive directory.
When women succeed, we all succeed. Supporting women-owned business supports our economy and our communities (um, hello, 1,821 new businesses last year and $1.8 trillion revenue?). Who doesn’t want to set an example for all little girls dreaming of their futures and women entrepreneurs of any age that success is equally possible for them as it is for boys? We won't stop until all of these numbers add up.
So whether you're trying out some new less-sugar candies (women-owned Smart Sweets), ordering a cute new pair of workout leggings (women-owned Spanx), or replacing all of your current beauty products with clean organic ones (women-owned Honest Company), you can do it all with ease through Women.net, knowing you're supporting and empowering female entrepreneurs.