Today’s post is an article written by Nina Burokas of Digerati Branding.
This article is based on the results of a recent survey, Solutions and Sophistication, done by the Center for Women’s Business Research and IBM.
It really shows how women entrepreneurs are embracing technology in record numbers – and there’s also room for growth. Check it out…
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Women Entrepreneurs & Technology: A New Study Sheds a Bright Light
Every minute five women start a business in this country.
Are your perceptions of the American women business owner accurate? Given that women-owned firms are generating $1.9 trillion in revenues, providing employment for 12.8 million people and growing at twice the rate of all firms, you may want to find out.
A Center for Women’s Business Research study released in June provides insight into this vibrant market segment. The study, Solutions and Sophistication: Comparing Women and Men Business Owners’ Use of Technology, provides demographic and psychographic perspective on women business owners nationwide and in four geographic regions. This summary level perspective on the survey findings is based on my interview with CWBR Executive Director Dr. Sharon G. Hadary and Advisory Council Member and xynoMedia Technology CEO Lena L. West.
The good news is, perhaps, not news at all to women in technology: women business owners are on par with men business owners overall in their use of technology. Specifically, 70% of the women business owners surveyed leverage technology to achieve profit, innovation, quality and efficiency goals. What may be less of a given is that women business owners are “hands on� technologists: 83% of women are personally involved in the evaluation and selection of technology. A side note: women business owners are more likely (24% vs. 18%) than women in general to be willing to adopt new technology.
Graphically represented, the technology adoption continuum is a classic bell curve, with 51% of women business owners rating themselves as “average� in terms of their rate of technology adoption, 25% falling behind the curve and 24% at the leading edge. The key insight – and opportunity – is the finding that there is a direct correlation between technology adoption rates and revenue. Net-net, as Lena noted in her Women & Technology Battlecry post on the Lip-Sticking blog, there is an opportunity for 76% of women business owners to improve their business performance through better use of technology.
In general, women are very strategic in their use of technology, focusing on achieving customer service, scalability and efficiency objectives versus the wow factor of speeds and feeds. What is particularly intriguing from a leadership trend standpoint is the finding that the majority of women business owners are using technology to achieve quality of life as well as business performance objectives. For example, 61% use technology to integrate business and personal responsibilities and 44% use technology to enable remote offices and flexible work schedules.
What may be limiting further progress on the technology adoption and deployment front is women’s concern about the protection and security of data, including issues of Internet security, computer viruses, data protection and system failure. Although approximately three-quarters of women-owned businesses rated security their primary technology concern, less than a quarter had a plan to address these issues. This gap represents a significant educational and consulting opportunity for women’s associations and businesses.
Perceiving women-owned business as being less viable, trend- or technology-forward as men-owned businesses or businesses in general is a strategic error that organizations can’t afford to make. To quote Executive Director Sharon Hadary: “Women-owned business is good business. This is a point we can’t afford to miss!� If you consider a tech-savvy, economically vital, entrepreneurial market an attractive demographic from a sourcing, career, community or revenue standpoint, the Solutions and Sophistication survey provides critical market insight.
The Solutions and Sophistication: Comparing Women and Men Business Owners’ Use of Technology survey was conducted by the Center for Women’s Business Research and underwritten by IBM. The Center for Women’s Business Research provides data-driven knowledge that advances the economic, social and political impact of women business owners and their enterprises.
This entry was posted on Friday, October 12th, 2007 at 10:25 am and is filed under Business, Journalism, Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.Leave a Reply
