SmallBusinessExecutiveInforming, Inspiring and Connecting Businesses
Fast growing women-led firms employ 27,000
BrightStar Care, a Gurnee, Ill.-based staffing services firm owned by Shelly Sun, was named the fastest-growing woman-led business in North America in April. The Top 50 women-led businesses, which were ranked by Women Presidents’ Organization and American Express Open, generated a combined $4 billion in revenue in 2011 and employed 26,883 workers. The number of [...]
Illinois lags in development of women-owned business — but why?
Illinois might be ranked fifth in the nation in number of women-owned businesses, but the state has some catching up to do in other measures of business development. The number of women-owned companies in Illinois totals 366,700, putting it ahead of most states but behind California, New York, Texas and Florida, according to a new report [...]
Women-owned businesses outpacing most in job, revenue growth: Amex report
The growth in the number (up 54 percent), employment (up 9 percent) and revenues (up 58 percent) of women-owned firms over the past 15 years exceeds the growth rates of all but the largest, publicly-traded firms. As of 2012, it is estimated that there are more than 8.3 million women-owned businesses in the United States, generating nearly $1.3 trillion in revenues and employing nearly 7.7 million people, according to the second annual “State of Women-Owned Businesses Report,” commissioned by American Express OPEN.
Resolve to create wicked success in 2012
Business owner Vickie Milazzo offers advice to women entrepreneurs on finding success. Photo courtesy of Vickie Milazzo. By Vickie Milazzo Guest columnist 2011 is drawing to a close and for many recession-wracked American women, it feels like just another mile marker in an endurance race going nowhere. Buck up, girlfriend. You can do a lot more [...]
How to break through business malaise
By Suzanne Ross Guest columnist It’s not news that people are tired of being marketed and sold to in the traditional manner. Yet the malaise threatens organizations from demonstrating their real customer and industry value. As companies build their market leadership, the aim should be to arm teams with what’s of most value to customers [...]
Women share tales from the front at entrepreneurial conference
– Count Sherrie Matthews among those rare women business owners who have passed the $1 million mark in annual revenue and are forecasting more. In the six years since its inception, Matthews’ Crown Point, Ind.-based marketing company, PrintSolutions, has grown to $20 million in revenue and 110 workers. That makes it among the top 2 [...]
Mentoring can push businesses to new markets
By Ann Meyer Entrepreneur Shelly Sun would rather learn from someone else’s mistakes than make her own on the path to expansion. That’s why she was quick to sign up for a mentoring program for women entrepreneurs that the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center offered several years ago. “I was able to triple my business because of [...]
Lillian Bjorseth: Why women leaders need to speak up to be heard
By Lillian Bjorseth Guest Columnist Women, it’s not enough to know what you know. You have to sound as if you know what you know. Have you ever been in a meeting and made a really good point, yet people keep right on talking? Shortly thereafter, a man makes the same point and he is [...]
Groupon adds female Google exec as COO
Groupon has hired Margo Georgiadis, vice president of global sales planning and technology at Google, as its new chief operating officer, Crain’s Chicago Business reported. Georgiadis will take the place of Rob Solomon, a former Yahoo marketing executive who last month announced plans to leave Groupon to return to Silicon Valley. Georgiadis, who currently oversees [...]
How to create an open, honest culture
By Jenny Schade, Guest Columnist True or false: Working for a company that touts a culture of open and honest communication means it’s fine to constantly check and compose e-mails during meetings. The answer is “false.” If you answered “true,” your company doesn’t have an open and honest culture. Why not? Consider how comfortable you [...]
