Women Business Owners are Optimistic About the Future

“We are seeing a new pattern of self-empowerment among women business owners that is very encouraging,” said Beth Marcello, director of PNC Women’s Business Development. “Their own hard work to survive the pandemic is the source of their confidence and optimism today.”

The survey suggests that women have a take charge, can-do attitude. When it was difficult to find employees, 49% of WBOs versus one-third of MBOs say that they or their managers stepped in to cover open staff hours themselves. Additionally, they’re focused on growth: 81% surveyed are Woman Business Enterprise-certified, 73% market their certification, and 88% say that certification has been a helpful business development tool.

“For the first time, we have evidence of increased financial confidence among women business owners. They are two times more likely than men to say they’re considering a new loan or line of credit to support business growth,” said Marcello. “They are monitoring their cash position and have a cash reserve, but they’re investing excess cash rather than stockpiling it; they are continuing to leverage the increased efficiency of the digital financial tools they migrated to during the pandemic; and they are confidently increasing pricing as the economy allows for it.”

Meeting the Challenges

While WBOs have concerns about inflation, profitability and the supply chain, they believe they’re prepared for these challenges. Although similar portions of WBOs and MBOs experienced supply chain issues in the past year, 79% of WBOs believe they have the right amount of inventory they need to succeed.

WBOs also intend to maintain or expand on policies they initiated during the pandemic, including allowing flexible work arrangements (48%), increasing compensation (38%) and implementing employee health or safety enhancements (33%). WBOs are more likely than MBOs to adopt Corporate Social Responsibility policies or practices, including gender pay equity (34% vs. 9%) and diversity and inclusion (29% vs. 14%). These disparities could be an indication of why fewer WBOs (30%) than MBOs (43%) are finding it harder to hire new staff compared to six months ago.

Identifying and addressing challenges faced by women financial decision makers is a component of PNC’s Project 257: Accelerating Women’s Financial Equality, an initiative to help close the 257-year economic gender gap. More information about these efforts as well as helpful resources for women financial decision makers can be found at pnc.com/women. To connect with Project 257, follow PNC on social media: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

While the pandemic created new economic challenges, many with lasting effects, women business owners largely overcame these obstacles, taking away lessons that have inspired their optimism and confidence today.

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