The number of businesses owned by women grew nearly 20 percent between 1997 and 2002. Of course the U.S. Small Business Administration is woefully slow in their data collection and analysis, but the trend is clear now. This confirms somethign we’ve seen with our business coaching clients and new members of the Business Owner’s Coaching Club.

Women make more than 3/4 of all buying decisions — in and out of the boardroom

Women are directly and indirectly making 85% of the buying decisions in and out of business. That’s a major point to understand when planning your marketing. And women are running more and more of the small businesses in the US. Another trend that b-to-b marketers better wake up to.

During the five year period women-owned firms grew by 19.8 percent while all US firms grew by seven percent. A good number of those firms were in professional, scientific, and technical services, and in health care and social assistance.

Understanding how all this estrogen is tranforming the way business and marketing is done is essential to being successful in the marketplace of the New Millennium. (Just one more reason why you should grab your free excerpt to our book due for release in October Secrets Of Online Persuasion.)

The U.S. SBA report

Women in Business: A Demographic Review of Women’s Business Ownership uses newly released Census and other data to reveal some intersting trends including:

In 2002, women owned 6.5 million (28.2 percent) nonfarm US firms with 7.1 million employees and $173.7 billion in annual payroll.

Women-owned firms accounted for 6.5 percent of total employment in U.S. firms in 2002 and 4.2 percent of total receipts.

Of all women business owners in 2002, 85.95 percent were White, 8.43 percent African American, 8.33 percent of Hispanic heritage, 5.25 percent Asian, 1.23 percent American Indian and Alaska Native, and 0.18 percent Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (total does not add to 100 due to some double counting across ethnic groups). This means that on average the number of women business startups mirrors the general population.

Here’s where you can grab your own copy of Women in Business: A Demographic Review of Women’s Business Ownership.

Deborah Cole Micek, (the Motivation M.D.) and her partner John Paul Micek (the Commando Capitalist) are founders of the business coaching company RPM Success Group ® Inc.

Deborah is an expert in negotiation, team building, and leadership. With over 17,500 hours of research and study working with thousands of business owners around the world — Deborah and John Paul have created a simple scientific system that maximizes your performance, persuasion, and wealth in just 60-Seconds. They both are in demand speakers, published authors, and certified trainers in persuasion and Self Influence™, and experts in Marketing with New Media. Their latest book ‘Secrets Of Online Persuasion’ is the definitive guide on getting more customers and cash online with New Media. You can reach Deborah by contacting [support@rpmsuccess.com]

	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 License.
Attribution (text and links) must be given to RPM Success Group Inc.and Business Owners Coaching Club. Full copyright is retained by RPM Success Group Inc.

As small business owners, you and I know very well that all “subsidies” from the government have a cost. As a Krazy Capitalist I know there’s no free lunch! Tax breaks are a welcome incentive. But subsidies are an entirely different story. Subsidies come out of your and my pocket, and the money funneled to recipients is rarely well managed or even necessary.

In an unfolding story that surprised me, large national retailers are grabbing up state subsidies to build their stores. But one major retailer of outdoor sporting goods in America, Gander Mountain, opposes tax breaks for retailers and is critical of those who accept them. They compete head on with those who feed at the government trough, and have moved their way up into #3 position in the US.

Allegheny Institute for Public Policy has put together a great overview. Here’s the PDF version of their Policy Brief on Gander Mountain and subsidies for retailers.

If you’re a business person who appreciates keeping responsible ownership, less government intrusion, and true capitalist ideals, this is a good read for you.

Enjoy!

John Paul Micek (aka "the Commando Capitalist") and his partner Deborah Cole Micek, (the Motivation M.D.) are founders of the business coaching company RPM Success Group ® Inc. With four multi-million dollar businesses under his belt and over 17,500 hours of research and study working with thousands of business owners around the world — John Paul and Deborah have created a simple scientific system that maximizes your performance, persuasion, and wealth in just 60-Seconds. They both are in demand speakers, published authors, and certified trainers in persuasion and Self Influence™, and experts in Marketing with New Media. Their latest book ‘Secrets Of Online Persuasion’ is the definitive guide on getting more customers and cash online with New Media. You can reach John Paul by contacting [support@rpmsuccess.com]

	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 License.
Attribution (text and links) must be given to RPM Success Group Inc.and Business Owners Coaching Club. Full copyright is retained by RPM Success Group Inc.

Well, the new Census Bureau figures confirm what we as business coaches have known for the last three years. The US is in the midst of a major boom in self-employment. Many of the people who lose their jobs in massive layoffs choose not to remain victims. They’re going out and starting their own businesses.

We have many business coaching clients who we’re helping leave unfulfilling careers to step out, gain freedom, fulfillment, and financial independence by starting their own small business or solopreneurship. These are people who have had the entrepreneurial drive for years and have finally had it with corporate life.

2004 US Census Bureau data shows that 19.5 million Americans are self-employed, and their numbers are growing. Between 2003 and 2004, the number of self-employed grew by 1 million (about 4.7%). Overall, these businesses without employees account for 70% of all US businesses and generate annual receipts exceeding $887 billion.

E-Bay is clearly having an impact as electronic shopping and mail order houses are among the fastest growing sectors (up 12.7%) for new self-employment ventures. Even faster growth can be found among building finishing contractors (up 22.5%), Internet service providers (up 18.7%) and nail salons (up 14.7%).

Some very positive data for existing business owners too in the July 2006 U.S. Census Bureau report. You can check out the Non employer Statistics at: http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/ns0400a01.pdf.

Deborah Cole Micek, (the Motivation M.D.) and her partner John Paul Micek (the Commando Capitalist) are founders of the business coaching company RPM Success Group ® Inc.

Deborah is an expert in negotiation, team building, and leadership. With over 17,500 hours of research and study working with thousands of business owners around the world — Deborah and John Paul have created a simple scientific system that maximizes your performance, persuasion, and wealth in just 60-Seconds. They both are in demand speakers, published authors, and certified trainers in persuasion and Self Influence™, and experts in Marketing with New Media. Their latest book ‘Secrets Of Online Persuasion’ is the definitive guide on getting more customers and cash online with New Media. You can reach Deborah by contacting [support@rpmsuccess.com]

	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 License.
Attribution (text and links) must be given to RPM Success Group Inc.and Advanced Business Blogging. Full copyright is retained by RPM Success Group Inc.