Boosting Growth for Women Business Owners

Earlier this week I had my say about the new Roadmap to 2020 report and what it will really take for women to overcome entrenched barriers that slow the growth of their businesses. So it's only fair to give the Roadmap authors their say. I talked with both Linda Denny (pictured at left), CEO of the Women's Business Enterprise Council (WBENC), one of the lead partners, and Virginia Littlejohn, CEO of Quantum Leaps, Inc., which is coordinating the project, about the project's goals, what it'll take to get there, and whether the recession has helped women-owned businesses. Q. As another BNET blogger noted, this economic downturn could be called a "mancession." Thanks to relatively steady employment numbers in education and health care, women now are just about 50 percent of the workforce. Have women-owned businesses also gained during the recession?

Linda Denny: About a third of WBENC-certified companies have grown in the past couple years. Another third have held even, and another third have been hard hit. But the average number of employees of WBENC-certified businesses is now 48. It used to be 43.

Q: It seems to me that women-owned businesses are stereotyped by cutesy "mompreneur" companies and slow-growth boutique concepts. Is one aim of the Roadmap to change that stereotype?

Linda Denny: We need to have more definitions of success than just "mompreneurs." We are getting critical mass of certified woman-owned businesses. We had 5,800 at the end of 2007, and now we have 10,000. The average WBENC business has grown from $8.5 million in annual revenues to $10.2 million. The economy has something to do with that. Business owners are looking to anything that can open doors for their businesses, and certification can help.

Q: As you know, my opinion is that transparency in contracting would go a long way towards funneling more contracts and more revenue to women-owned businesses. Why don't big companies openly report how much money they spend with women-owned businesses?

Linda Denny: It's difficult for WBENC to gather evidence of success when companies can't or won't disclose numbers. We do press companies to be more effective. We are making sure that prime suppliers have diversity goals. These aren't household brands -- these are the companies that fly under the radar. It's incumbent on the major corporations to be sure that these prime suppliers have the same diversity goals, and that there are penalties for not meeting those goals.

Q: How will the Roadmap to 2020 consortium itself be accountable for the goals it just outlined in the report?

Virginia Littlejohn: This fall, we'll have a strategic think tank with foundations, academics, and thought leaders. We will map out accountability with our long-term goals.

Q. One point in the Roadmap to 2020 report is that we already have plenty of small groups trying to advocate for women business owners. What we really need is for all these groups to join forces.

Virginia Littlejohn: Yes. It's getting groups to align their goals. There is a lot of duplication right now. Resources are tight. Rather than multiple organizations aiming for small goals, let's agree on one big goal: to create and build good jobs by being more collaborative. We need to take growth into our own hands. We need to share, and in the process, build a global women's enterprise ecosystem.

Q: What's the silver bullet in the Roadmap report? Of all its recommendations, which one would make the biggest difference?

Virginia Littlejohn: Collaboration. And capital. If women entrepreneurs in the U.S. started with the same capital as men, they would add six million jobs in five years. These interviews were condensed and edited.