August 2002

Women never have a half-hour in all their lives (excepting before or after anybody is up in the house) that they can call their own, without fear of offending or of hurting someone. Why do people sit up so late, or, more rarely, get up so early? Not because the day is not long enough, but because they have no time in the day to themselves.

Florence Nightingale, 1852

Women in business is no new concept. Entrepreneurial women have been paving the way for women today for hundreds, if not thousands of years. They have been juggling the responsibility of family and career and will continue to do so.

Whether we’re talking about a woman like Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, a West Virginian slave who bought freedom for her and her son through dressmaking in 1855; or Randice-Lisa Altschul who more recently invented the disposable cell phone – women in business are here to stay.

The number of women-owned businesses in the US is expected to reach 6.2 million in 2002.* This number will continue to grow exponentially in the years to come.

Women have different reasons for starting their own businesses. Some need escape from the corporate world, others desire to stay home with their children or they may have a need for creative release.

Regardless of the countless motives, success begins when women support each other in businesses. After all, Keckley wouldn’t have been able to find freedom from slavery without the generous support of women purchasing her seamstress services.

*Women-Owned Business in 2002: Trends in the US and the 50 States, published by Center for Women’s Business Research (founded as the National Foundation for Women Business Owners)