The annual Biz2Credit Women-Owned Business Study found that although revenues dropped for women-owned firms in 2020, their earnings grew, primarily because expenses decreased during the pandemic.
Women-owned business earnings averaged $330,226, higher than in 2019, but $421,928 less than the average for male-owned firms ($716,842) in 2020. The analysis also revealed that while the average credit score (597) for a female business owner increased from 590 last year, it was 23 points lower than the average score of a male business owner (620) in the study.
The Biz2Credit study reviews 40,0000 credit inquiries from across the country for the full prior year (2020) and examined the financial performance of women-owned small- to mid-sized companies in the United States. Despite austerity imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic many women owned businesses continue to find growth opportunities.
During 2020, the effects of the pandemic were especially notable for women-owned companies, many of whom have been historically less-well financed compared to men-owned firms.
“Lower financial indicators among female business owners are indicative of lacking service and attention provided by traditional financial institutions. This creates a financial opportunity gap among women who are running their own companies compared to men,” said Biz2Credit CEO Rohit Arora, who oversaw the study. “COVID-19 shed light on this trend by exacerbating a gender business funding gap that has long existed.”
The Biz2Credit analysis examined financial indicators, including annual revenue, operating expenses, age of business, and personal credit score, of the loan applicant.
Key findings from the Biz2Credit Women-Owned Business Study:
Performance of Women-Owned Businesses
- Average Annual Revenue dropped from $384,359 in 2019 to $330,226 in 2020.
- Average Earnings (annual revenue – operating expenses) of women-owned business grew to $181,770 in 2020 from $107,804 in 2019, largely because expenses decreased from $276,554 in 2019 to $148,455 in 2020.
- Average Credit Score for female business owners increased from 590 in 2019 to 597 in 2020.
- Top Industry: Services (except public administration) represented 26% of the women-owned companies in 2020.
- The percentage of business loan applications coming from women-owned firms decreased by 2% in 2020, compared to 2019.
Comparison of Women-Owned and Men-Owned Companies
Biz2Credit compared male-owned and female-owned business health in its study, and the numbers underscore a larger problem. Women-owned firms are much less likely to apply for loans. Part of the problem is that, on average, their companies’ earnings were less than half of the earnings of businesses owned by men and their credit scores were lower. Some specifics:
- Women-to-Men Borrowing Ratio: 27% female vs 72% male business loan applications according to Biz2Credit data in 2020.
- Average Annual Revenue Gap: women-owned businesses ($330,226) earned $421,928 less on average than male-owned firms ($716,842) in 2020.
- Average Credit Score: On an average the credit score for women-owned businesses (597) were 23 points lower than male-owned businesses (620) in 2020.
- Average Loan Size for women-owned businesses ($36,981) was 33% lower than the average loan size for businesses owned by men ($55,061) in 2020.
- Average Age of Business for women-owned businesses fiveyears (60 months) was lower than the age of business for male-owned companies 6 years (72 months).
Industry
More than one-quarter (25.8%) of the women-owned companies that applied for business loans during the past 12 months have been in services (except public administration). Retail accounted for 17% of the applicants, followed by health care and social assistance (9.5%), accommodation and food services (9.2%), construction (6.2%), and arts, entertainment, and recreation (5.5%).
Geography
Texas and California were the states that produced the most applications from women-owned companies, followed by Georgia, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, and Tennessee.
“The average funded amount for women-owned businesses ($39,731) was 36% less than the same for male-owned businesses ($61,958) in 2020,” added Arora. “Upon thorough analysis, business-related factors, including lower FICO scores, younger age of business, and higher operating expenses played a more significant role in this gap, rather than gender alone. But there is a gender gap all the same.”
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Round 2: Women-owned vs. Male-owned businesses
In December 2020, Congress appropriated $284 billion for small business COVID relief for a second round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Biz2Credit examined its data from PPP loan applicants and discovered 49% of the applicants for PPP Round 2 were women business owners (compared to all SBA lenders at 31%). The average approved amount for PPP Round 2 applicants who identified as women business owners on the Biz2Credit platform was $22,000, compared to $30,000 for those who identified as male business owners.
Jennifer Moore, a self-described “mom-preneur”, credits the $20,000 PPP loan she got with Biz2Credit’s help as a “lifeline” that kept her home-based business, Stickers By Jennifer, going. The mother of two kids creates planner stickers that she usually sold at craft fairs and other events in and around Wayne, Mich.
“I couldn’t make money locally, and COVID made it unsafe to travel, so I had to figure out how to run my business completely online,” Moore said. “When selling online, the key is speed. Customers want things quickly. I got new cutting machines; now I’m ready to cut and send out the same day by Amazon Prime.”
“PPP funding is betting on businesses like Ms. Moore’s that are putting in hard work, adapting to new market realities, and adopting creative solutions to overcome this pandemic. These loans are helping truly small businesses stay viable,” Arora said. “Biz2Credit is proud to be the nation’s leading provider of PPP loans in terms of the number of loans approved.”
Methodology
The dataset for the 2021 Women-Owned Business Study is comprised of nearly 40,000 completed credit applications received via the Biz2Credit platform from January 2020 through December 2020. The four most important variables in the analysis were: annual revenue, operating expenses, age of business, and personal credit score. The data was then tabulated to examine women-owned and male-owned firms based on annual revenue, operating expenses, age of business, personal credit score, funding rate, and average loan size. The study looked at 20 different industries, as well as geography.
