Women have been leading the entrepreneurial trend for years now. This is true for a number of reasons including needing to have flexible schedules due to caring for the family, fewer promotional opportunities in the workplace, and lower income prospects compare to men. According the Associate Press, this trend continues:

“The number of women-owned businesses, many of them one-person enterprises, grew at twice the national rate for all private companies from 1997 to 2002, with the biggest increases in Nevada and Georgia. […]

The report is based on the Census Bureau’s 2002 survey of 1.9 million business owners. It defines female-owned businesses as firms in which women own 51 percent or more of the interest or stock.

The report identified 6.5 million firms with female owners, an increase of 20 percent from 1997. About 13.2 million businesses were owned by men, an increase of 16 percent. The number of all private businesses grew 10 percent to about 23 million. About 2.7 million firms were owned equally by men and women.”