Marketing is essential to every business, large or small. Sure, you can set up shop and hope for the best, but chances are you won’t be in business very long. No matter how great your business is, you have to promote it.
The statistics show that woman-owned businesses are growing in number. But they’re also growing in size. More and more of them are grossing millions, and even billions, of dollars a year. Not only are women breaking through the barriers that once kept them from even owning a business, they’re pushing their businesses to the top.
The Numbers
The average woman-owned small business has revenues of about half of the average man-owned small business. Many experts have attributed this trend to the types of businesses women run. Nearly half of women-owned businesses are in the service sector, which tends to experience slower growth than other areas.
Still, with the greater number of female entrepreneurs has come greater earning potential for them. In 2008, Canada’s Energy Savings Income Fund, headed by Rebecca McDonald, had revenues of C$1.73 billion. Forty other woman-owned firms in the country grossed C$10 million or more. Just a few years ago, such figures would have been unheard of.
Although the percentage of woman-owned businesses with revenues over $1 million per year is still small, these businesses are growing in leaps and bounds. With the rate at which entrepreneurship in women has been growing, it’s not hard to imagine that an increase in the number of high-grossing woman-owned businesses will follow.
What Does It Take to Move Up the Ladder?
Getting to the top of the marketing ladder isn’t a matter of luck. There are a lot of factors that go into it. Certain types of businesses, such as those in high-growth sectors, have a better chance of making big profits. It also helps to offer products or services that people have an ongoing need for. Selling big-ticket items can also result in bigger profits, but it’s not a sure thing.
But a major factor in the success of a business is how effectively it is marketed. Not how heavily it’s marketed or how much money is spent on marketing, but how well the marketing efforts work. When your business and its profits are small, your marketing budget will be small. But by using it wisely, you will increase your profits. With those increased profits, you can increase your marketing budget. And the cycle continues.
Women have proven that they have what it takes to run successful businesses. They also have what it takes to market those businesses effectively, resulting in high-profit potential. The sky is truly the limit.
