American women are really taking care of business – often better than men!
Female entrepreneurs are beating the pants off guys when it comes to creating new companies and turning them into rip-roaring successes, reveal statistics from a national business group.
For example, Debbi Somers, 51, began designing custom furniture for terraces and pools after the effects of 9/11 slashed profits from her furniture rental business.
Now her custom line accounts for 50 percent of her entire firm’s revenue, while boasting exotic clients like Las Vegas’ Treasure Island casino.
“If I had cut back and laid people off, I’d probably still be doing OK now,” says Somers. “But who wants to do just OK?”
A study by the Center for Women’s Business Research reveals other gals are also going for the gold.
Women start twice as many companies as men – more than 400 a day, say center researchers. Over the past seven years, female-owned businesses have hired 12 percent more workers than private companies overall while raking in 0.8 percent more total revenue.
Many businesswomen have decided that if you can’t join ’em, beat ’em, says 42-year-old Julia Klein, owner of C.H. Briggs Harware, a wholesale distribution company in Reading, Pa.
Says Klein: “The way a lot of women think about this is: Instead of complaining about the ‘glass ceiling’, I’m just going to build my own house.”