NAWBO National Survey Shows Women Business Owners Plan to Hire New Workers and Expand their Businesses

Majority of respondents said taxes and regulations are the key issues concerning their business.

Washington, D.C. —Today, the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) is announcing results from their annual membership survey.  This year’s survey shows a positive uptick in the economy for women-owned businesses with more than half of respondents saying they plan to increase locations and hire more staff.

“You can never question how hard NAWBO women are working to improve and strengthen their business when more than 75% of respondents said they work 40 or more hours per week and a third have never even given themselves a raise,” said Kathleen Warnick, NAWBO National Board Chair. “While we know these women are working tirelessly, there are some areas we need them to focus their business lens on. It is startling to see that half of these women have not taken any steps to prevent or prepare for a cyber security incident; and although many of these women are preparing for retirement through savings, more than half of them have not done any succession planning for their business.”  

“NAWBO represents a diverse subset of all business owners, with members across the country, we believe the above results are indicative of a national trend. We need to ensure we are educating business owners and creating policies that ensure these professionals take the steps to prepare for these areas of concern, ” continued Warnick.

Highlights of this year’s survey include:

• 56% plan to increase locations and hire more staff in the year ahead,
• 54% have carried business costs on a personal credit card, 
• 80% have no plans to pursue financing options in 2017, and
• 56% taxes and regulations as the top advocacy issues impacting their business. Workforce issues, including healthcare and pension reform, ranked as the second impactful set of issues at 24%.

To view the 2018 NAWBO Survey Infographic, CLICK HERE.

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About NAWBO

Founded in 1975, NAWBO is the unified voice of America's more than 11.6 million women-owned businesses representing the fastest growing segment of the economy. NAWBO is the only dues-based organization representing the interests of all women entrepreneurs across all industries.   NAWBO develops programs that help navigate women entrepreneurs through the various stages of their business growth.

To learn more, please visit www.nawbo.org.