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Despite inflation, commodity prices and interest rates, women small business owners, or SBOs, have an optimistic view and remain resilient, according to the Bank of America 2023 Women and Minority Business Owner Spotlight. The report found that 63% of women entrepreneurs expect revenue growth over the next year and 73% feel equipped to handle a downturn.
Oklahoma City women are a significant force in the Oklahoma economy. In fact, if all women in the state took off one day of work, the Oklahoma GDP would lose approximately $222.4 million. Women-owned businesses in our state are continuing to grow, seeing a 10% increase between 2015 and 2019.
During Women Small Business Month, it is important to highlight that while they have high aspirations, it won’t come without its hardships. Here are the top three challenges:
• Work-life balance: Women are more likely to be family caregivers, which adds additional responsibilities to running their business. In fact, 34% identify as a caregiver, which leads to burnout (33%), taking time off from their business (31%), and feeling as if they have less time to focus on their business (17%).
As women navigate the balance, it is critical to be in tune with mental health. Fifty-three percent consider their mental health strong, 42% rate theirs fair, and 5% rate theirs poor. Ninety percent allocate time to take care of personal responsibilities.
• Access to capital: Access to capital has been a significant challenge for women SBOs. Fifty-one percent believe they have equal access to capital, while 49% believe they do not. Notably, 31% believe women will never have equal access to capital. On average, they believe they will have equal access to capital to start a business by 2037.
• External challenges: Inflation continues to be the top concern for 78%. Other major concerns include the U.S. political environment, interest rates and commodities prices. However, all economic concerns have held steady year-over-year.
Despite these challenges, survey data shows that women SBOs remain confident. If anything, it has helped shape women’s entrepreneurial spirit. When faced with economic concerns, women learn how to adapt, innovate and, ultimately, thrive.
Bank of America prides itself on supporting women entrepreneurs and believes everyone is invaluable to creating healthy local and national economies. The bank is committed to providing the necessary resources for business owners to achieve their dreams.
Amy Dowuona is small business banker for Bank of America-Oklahoma City.
