All Business has an article by Kathy Murdock, a work at home mom, who questions why 43% of Women Business Owners make less than $10,000 per year.

If I retained anything from my college statistics class, it was that statistics can be skewed to say whatever you want them to say.

My questions:

How did this study define business? Are we counting in the ladies who sell crafts once per year at the holiday fair? Are we counting in the Avon ladies who only sell to their families and friends? If so, then I think that would have a lot to do with the results.

How many women were surveyed?

Were these women all from the same area?

I believe that confidence and commitment have more to do with it than gender but the author seems to disagree a bit.

“I believe that mothers might be a little more hesitant about growing big just because of the time constraints it would place on the family. Men are more likely to have been brought up believing that they need to conquer the job force and make a lot of money because they are the providers, while we were probably more likely to be told that we needed to take care of the house and be available for our families…I truly believe that to grow a company from small to large you have to invest an inordinate amount of time into it, which means hours spent away from the home and in the business (even if your business is in your home). Some mothers may be hesitant to do this-at least while their children are younger and more dependent.”

 

I don’t completely disagree with these sentiments, I just think there is more to it than that. Lots of people (both women and men) want to have businesses, they want to do their own thing, they want to profit from a passion; but they don’t want to put the time into it. As a former business consultant I saw this all of the time. People want the money, the freedom, the prestige of being a business owner but then they don’t treat it as a business. That’s where the commitment comes in.

As for the confidence, the author said “The fact remains, though, that I may never make it past $10,000 a year in revenue.” If you believe that, then you probably never will. If you don’t believe in your business then how can you expect anyone else to?