Jacksonville Women’s Business Center (JWBC), an economic and community development program of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, released the results of a groundbreaking study establishing comprehensive data on women-owned businesses in Northeast Florida and identifying their economic impact.

Developed in partnership with Jacksonville University and the Center for Women’s Business Research in Washington , D.C. , the “2007 Report to the Community on the Status of Women Business Owners” concluded that in 2006, women business owners in the seven counties of Northeast Florida generated $18.8 billion in total economic impact and 225,000 jobs.

According to the report, in some areas the region’s women entrepreneurs are exceeding national trends: 13 percent of Northeast Florida’s women business owners gross more than $1 million in sales each year, while only 3 percent of all U.S. women business owners gross more than $1 million in sales each year.

“There’s truly a robust base of women business owners in Northeast Florida ,” said Dr. Gwen Martin, managing director and director of research for the Center for Women’s Business Research. “ Northeast Florida is leading-edge in looking at this research in a regional manner – most communities haven’t invested in the benchmarking that’s really required at the regional level.”

In addition to revealing the powerful impact women-owned businesses have on Northeast Florida ’s economy, these data and findings also provide the JWBC with a foundation to develop programs and services to support the growth of the region’s women business owners.

“From the survey results, we get a picture of women business owners, their aspirations for their businesses, the type of training and development activities in which they participate, what they see as key problem areas, and their educational format and instructor preferences,” said Sandy Bartow, executive director of the Chamber’s Small Business Center and JWBC.

The research indicates that the average woman business owner in Northeast Florida is 50 years old, with a college degree or some college, in business for 5 plus years and operating outside the home. The average annual gross sales are $2,581,848; the median gross sales figure is $150,000 and the most commonly reported annual gross sales figure is $100,000. 

The average business has six employees (the median number of employees is three, mode is one), started as a new personal service or retail business, and currently operates as a sole proprietorship or S-corporation. Women business owners are optimistic about the future of their firms – two-thirds plan to grow their businesses over the next three years.

“Before we could be responsive to the needs of the community, we really had to understand what their needs are,” said Anna Brosche, chair of the JWBC and CPA and chief operating officer of Ennis, Pellum & Associates CPAs. “The JWBC is now in a unique position to propel economic growth by women business owners through targeted education and training.”

Women entrepreneurs identified cash flow, finance, sales volume and time management as critical areas of concern when they started their business, and many business owners are still wrestling with the same issues. While cash flow is a continual problem in many businesses, nearly a quarter of the respondents indicated "insufficient sales volume" as a current financial issue – a topic that lends itself readily to programming. Other needs emerged through the research such as programming in soft management skills like finding and retaining qualified employees, setting goals and measuring performance, motivation and low productivity.

“Through our signature mentoring programs and peer-to-peer advisory councils, we can offer practical entrepreneurial development in these and other areas of interest,” Sandy Bartow said.

Many of Northeast Florida ’s women-owned businesses are grossing incredible sales volumes, yet the majority of women business owners are self-reliant, and 63 percent say they will solve problems themselves when faced with a challenge.

“If those 63 percent took advantage of some of the programming offered by the JWBC, the potential we have in our region is unbelievable,” Brosche said.

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