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SCORE’s latest infographic answers: are women-owned businesses as successful as male-owned businesses?

This infographic highlights the findings of part 1 of "The Megaphone Of Main Street: Women’s Entrepreneurship."

SCORE surveyed more than 20,000 business owners at all points of the business lifecycle: pre-start, startup, in-business and transitioning.

Women are slightly more likely than men to start businesses in 2017: 47% of women started a business in 2017 vs 44% of men.

Top industries for women-owned businesses:

• 19% Professional Services
• 12% Retail Sale/Trade
• 10% Health Care and Social Assistance

Top industries for men-owned businesses:

• 15% Professional Services
• 12% Construction/Manufacturing
• 9% Retail Sale/Trade

Women are just as successful in revenue:

• 59% of male entrepreneurs and 57% of female entrepreneurs predict revenue increases
• 15.5% of both men and women predicting static revenue
• 9.5% of men and 9% of women predicting a decrease in revenue

There is little difference in longevity of men and women-owned businesses. Years in business:

• 1 year: 5% of male entrepreneurs and 4% of female entrepreneurs
• 3 years: 12% of men and 14% of women
• 6 to 10 years: 20% of men and 21% of women
• 11 to 20 years: 17% of men and 15% of women
• 20+ years: 17% of men and 13% of women

Men-owned and women-owned companies experienced similar changes in number of employees:

• No change: 62% of male entrepreneurs and 65% of female entrepreneurs
• Increase: 30% of men and 27% of women
• Decrease: 8% for both

Overall, there is no difference in reported success between men-owned and women-owned businesses. Is your business:

• Struggling? 33% of male entrepreneurs and 34% of female entrepreneurs
• Maintaining its current size? 32% of both men and women
• Moderately expanding in size/revenue? 28% of men and 29% of women
• Aggressively expanding in size/revenue? 7% of men and 5% of women